AFRICA: New AU President to Prioritize Women, Conflict-Free Africa

African Union's incoming President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, unveiled his vision for Africa late Monday, saying issues of youth unemployment, women and ending conflicts would mark his one-year reign. The Equatorial-Guinean President, representing the only-Spanish speaking country in Africa, reiterated that Africa would not guarantee peace and security, unless it stuck to the full implementation of the “Shared Values", the theme of this year's Summit.

Speaking during the closing ceremony of the 16th session of the AU Ordinary Session, which dwelt on the issue of Shared Values, a close examination of democracy, good governance and the fight against corruption, Nguema urged leaders to follow those steps.

“If our states are based on the principles of sovereignty and the intangibility of our borders, the states will not allow division if the Shared Values are closely respected,” the long-serving Equatorial Guinean President said.

He said it was also regrettable that the African countries could not guarantee the full implementation of the past decisions reached to enhance democracy, good governance, despite the approval of those decisions by the respective bodies of the African Union.

Nguema said he hoped that under his leadership, Africa would enjoy stable leadership, and called for the adherence to the principles and rules governing the AU.

“We have started my mandate with the adoption of the various instruments, to confer to the AU powers and instruments to monitor the independent decisions we make,” President Nguema said, calling for the full enjoyment of liberties.

He warned African leaders against taking AU decisions as “rubber stamps” and urged them to come up with strategies that would enable the continent to follow up on the implementation of the agreed outcomes of the Summit.

"I will not encourage new decisions, but will emphasise the implementation of past ones," he said.

He pledged to follow up on the work initiated by his predecessor, Bingu wa Mutharika, whose agenda was food sufficiency for Africa, saying "I will also work to eradicate hunger."

However, his main strategy would be to work towards the strengthening of the AU as an institution, bolstering the role of the African civil society “as the locomotive of our development” in Africa.

He called for the holding of a special youth conference during his presidency.