Southern African Events of International Significance – 2010

Abstract

The 14th summit meeting of the African Union (AU) was held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, from 31 January to 2 February under the theme ‘Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development’. The summit was preceded by meetings of the permanent representatives committee and the executive council. President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi was elected as the new AU chairperson, replacing Libyan leader Col Moamer al-Kadhafi who had been electedto the post at the Union’s 12th summit  meeting held in February 2009 in Addis Ababa. Kadhafi made a bid for a second term as AU chairperson and was aggrieved at the election of Mutharika. In his address to the summit, Kadhafi said: ‘I do not believe we can achieve something concrete in the coming future’.