The African Union
Learn about the African Union — the continental organization that succeeded the OAU and works to promote African unity, peace, and development across 55 member states.
The African Union (AU), established in 2002 as the successor to the Organization of African Unity (1963), represents the continent's collective effort to overcome the legacies of colonialism and build a more prosperous, peaceful, and integrated Africa. With 55 member states, the AU is the world's largest regional organization, spanning a continent of 1.4 billion people with extraordinary linguistic, cultural, and economic diversity.
The OAU, founded in the wave of decolonization, focused primarily on supporting liberation movements and defending sovereignty. The AU adopted a broader mandate, including the right to intervene in member states to prevent genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity — a direct response to the international failure during the Rwandan genocide. The AU has deployed peacekeeping missions in Darfur, Somalia, and the Central African Republic, with mixed results.
Africa's 21st-century trajectory includes both remarkable progress and persistent challenges. The continent has experienced sustained economic growth, improved governance, expanding education, and a demographic dividend as its young population grows. Yet poverty, conflict, climate vulnerability, and institutional weakness remain. The African Continental Free Trade Area, launched in 2021, represents the world's largest free trade zone by number of countries and could transform the continent's economic future.