New AUC Chair faces old challenges as he seeks to rebuild trust with regional blocs

Nearly four months into his tenure, African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf is attempting to reset the tone between the AU and its regional counterparts.

In a first-of-its-kind meeting with Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Mechanisms (RMs), and AUDA-NEPAD, Mahmoud called for deeper coordination and collective action, describing these bodies as the "backbone of the Union" and central to Africa's goals of integration, peace, and resilience.

The AU has long struggled with disjointed relationships with regional blocs—a dysfunction that has often bred mistrust, competition, and in some cases, outright friction.

Mahmoud's outreach appears to acknowledge this, but the task ahead is considerable.

Tensions between the AU and regional blocs were laid bare earlier this year during a high-level leaders' meeting on the conflict in eastern DRC, co-hosted by the EAC and SADC in Dar es Salaam.

The former AUC Chair Moussa Faki, who attended the session at the invitation of Kenyan President William Ruto, and chair of the East African Community, was abruptly ejected from the closed-door discussions without explanation.

His exclusion sparked quiet outrage in Addis Ababa and signalled the AU's waning authority in some of the continent's most urgent peace processes.

This episode reflected a broader trend: while the AU aspires to continental leadership, regional blocs are increasingly asserting themselves as the primary drivers of conflict resolution.

The result is a patchwork of overlapping initiatives, conflicting mandates, and fragmented diplomacy.

Mahmoud, a seasoned diplomat and former Djiboutian foreign minister, emphasised the need for unity amid rising global shocks.

"Let us move from parallel efforts to joint leadership," he said. "Let this coordination committee meeting mark a shift from partnership to true unity."

He also stressed that Africa's voice at the G20 must be "united and strategic."

That vision, however, is challenged by the continent's protracted conflicts, many of which remain stubbornly unresolved.

In Sudan, a brutal civil war driven by a power struggle between the army and the Rapid Support Forces has entered its second year with no viable roadmap for peace.

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• AUC Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf
• New AUC Chair faces old challenges as he seeks to rebuild trust with regional blocs
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Despite being the continent's flagship institution for diplomacy and mediation, the AU has remained conspicuously absent.

Its deference to IGAD, tasked with overseeing peace in Sudan and its neighbours, has yielded little beyond statements calling for ceasefires and vague political transitions.

As a result, peace, though regularly invoked in AU communiqués, remains largely aspirational on the ground.

Mahmoud's call for a unified African voice at the G20 echoes a broader aspiration for a more assertive role on the world stage.

Yet, only South Africa, currently chairing the G20, is a permanent African member.

The rest of the continent's presence is mediated through the newly admitted African Union seat, a symbolic gain that has yet to translate into collective leverage.

The challenge for Mahmoud will be transforming that symbolism into strategic unity, especially as global competition among great powers continues to shape diplomacy, trade, and security in Africa.

For now, the new chair must contend with a fragmented house, where overlapping mandates and regional assertiveness continue to limit the AU's authority.

Whether he can convert goodwill into coherence remains the central question.