What’s new? In the third week of February, the African Union (AU) will hold its annual heads of state summit. The meeting affords African leaders a chance to assess the AU’s readiness to confront the numerous internal and external challenges the continent faces in the year ahead.

Why does it matter? Recent years have been marked by bloody civil wars, armed insurrections, coups and other crises that have spread instability and cost thousands of lives on the continent. External shocks have contributed to instability. While agreements reached in 2022 offer hope in some places, renewed hostilities have flared elsewhere.

What should be done? This briefing sets out eight priorities the AU should focus on in 2023: reforming its own institutions; nurturing agreements in Ethiopia and Sudan; urging regional cooperation around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam; easing tensions in the Great Lakes and Central Africa; and steering talks to unlock Libya’s stalemated transition.

Source: International Crisis Group