Malabo, Equatorial Guinea · 13 July 2025 — The Heads of State and Government representing the Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) and the Chairpersons of the eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms (RMs) convened on 13 July 2025 at the Sipopo Conference Center in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, for the Seventh Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (7MYCM).
The meeting, a fixture in the AU calendar since 2017, serves as the primary platform for coordinating the work of the African Union with that of the RECs — the building blocks of continental integration. It brings together continental leadership to assess progress, align priorities, and address the structural challenges that continue to impede the realisation of Agenda 2063, the AU's flagship development framework.
Continental Integration at a Crossroads
The 7MYCM took place at a pivotal moment for African integration. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), operational since 2021, has reached a critical implementation phase. As of mid-2025, 49 countries had deposited their instruments of ratification, and the Secretariat reported that over 12,000 certificates of origin had been issued. Yet intra-African trade remains stubbornly low — approximately 15 to 16 per cent of total African trade — constrained by non-tariff barriers, infrastructure deficits, and inconsistent implementation of tariff liberalisation schedules.
The Mid-Year Coordination Meeting provided a platform for leaders to assess the alignment between the AfCFTA's continental framework and the regional trade protocols already operating within individual RECs such as ECOWAS, the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Institutional Reform and the AU-REC Relationship
A central agenda item was the ongoing institutional reform of the African Union, initiated under the leadership of AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat. The reform process aims to streamline the AU's organs, improve financial autonomy through the implementation of the 0.6 per cent import levy, and enhance the division of labour between the AU and the RECs.
The meeting reviewed progress on the division of labour principle, which assigns primary responsibility for conflict prevention and resolution to the RECs, with the AU's Peace and Security Council intervening when regional efforts are insufficient. This framework was tested in 2025 by ongoing security crises in Sudan, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Sahel region, where the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger from ECOWAS in January 2025 raised fundamental questions about regional security architecture.
Peace and Security Agenda
The leaders discussed several active conflict situations requiring coordinated AU-REC responses:
- Sudan: The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, ongoing since April 2023, has created one of the world's largest displacement crises, with over 10 million people displaced.
- Eastern DRC: The M23 insurgency and the deployment of the East African Community Regional Force and its replacement by the SADC Mission in the Congo (SAMIC) underscored the complexity of overlapping REC mandates.
- Sahel: The formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) by the three withdrawn ECOWAS members signalled a reconfiguration of regional security arrangements away from Western-aligned frameworks.
The meeting also addressed the AU's financial sustainability, with progress reports on the Peace Fund, which supports African-led peace operations, and the continued rollout of the AU's 0.6 per cent import levy, which now funds a growing share of the AU's operational budget.
Agenda 2063 and the 2026 Theme
Looking ahead, the leaders prepared for the 2026 AU theme: "Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063." This thematic focus reflects growing recognition that water security is a cross-cutting challenge affecting agriculture, health, industrialisation, and conflict prevention — all priority areas for the AU's continental development agenda.
The 7MYCM also reviewed the implementation of the 2025 theme, "Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations," which has focused on historical injustices, the transatlantic slave trade, and colonial-era exploitation. The theme has generated significant continental discourse and engagement with the African Diaspora.
The Path Forward
The Mid-Year Coordination Meeting concluded with a set of decisions aimed at strengthening the AU-REC partnership, accelerating AfCFTA implementation, and reinforcing the continent's conflict prevention architecture. The outcomes will feed into the next ordinary session of the AU Assembly, scheduled for February 2026.
As Africa navigates a period of significant geopolitical realignment, economic transformation, and security challenges, the Malabo meeting underscored both the ambition and the fragility of the continental integration project. The gap between aspiration and implementation — a persistent theme in AU deliberations — remains the central challenge that leaders must address if Agenda 2063 is to move from blueprint to reality.
Sources
- African Union, Seventh Mid-Year Coordination Meeting: Heads of State and Government Conclude Significant Discussions on Development and Continental Integration, 15 July 2025. Available at:
- African Union, 7th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (7MYCM), Malabo, 13 July 2025. Available at:
- African Union, African Integration Report 2025, launched 3 October 2025. Available at:
- LSE Africa at LSE, Sahelexit raises questions about the future of West African integration, 5 September 2025. Available at:
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