2025 AU Summit: An Affirmation of Nigeria’s Digital Footprint and Leadership

By Keem Abdul

The Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, was the venue of the annual gathering of African Heads of State and Government, a number of past leaders, as well as policymakers, captains of industry and intellectuals, at the 38th Summit of the African Union on February 15 and 16, 2025. The Prime Minister of the Caribbean nation of Barbados, the Hon. Mia Mottley, joined her African counterparts at the meeting – as did the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres.

The key focus of this year’s gathering was reparatory justice and racial healing, as indicated in the theme, “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.” Far from being a rehashing of past atrocities such as slavery, colonization, apartheid, and genocide, however, the theme was in line with the AU’s commitment to the ongoing pursuit of justice and equity. In recent years – and especially since the 2020 murder of the African-American George Floyd, as well as the global protests and racial reckoning that followed – the conversation about reparations has emerged as a critical and transformative dialogue requiring the collective attention and action of Africans and all people of African descent. The scope of this conversation goes beyond historical injustices and into the current fabric of societies around the world. The key components of this conversation, according to the AU Agenda, were as follows: Historical Acknowledgment; Financial Reparations; Land Restitution; Cultural Preservation; Policy Reforms; International Accountability; Community Empowerment; and Continued Advocacy.

But the 38th Summit wasn’t all about mitigating the impact of past injustices; it was also about leveraging on present opportunities in order to meet the challenges of the future – a future which, delegates agreed, would be shaped by technology and trade, to name just two phenomena that are changing paradigms and narratives about the way we work, live and communicate with one another.

Always a leading player at the AU since its earlier incarnation as the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Nigeria has also been a leader in the African tech ecosystem – with Lagos, its commercial capital, being a growing hub and ecosystem for tech startups. With tech already identified as a key component of the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which seeks to foster African integration through trade and collaborations, Nigeria’s position as a major driver of AfCFTA in this regard was given glowing recognition at the Addis Ababa Summit. The country, Africa’s most populous, was endorsed as the Continent’s Digital Trade Champion under AfCFTA’s Digital Trade Protocol in recognition of the Nigerian Federal Government’s impressive record in promoting digital enterprise and innovation.

Beyond the recognition, Nigeria was in focus in other areas as well – an indication of the determination on the part of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration to recover the country’s voice (long muted in recent decades with the waning of the country’s overall influence) and assert said influence in line with her economic and strategic interests, as well as its obligations towards enhancing regional and continental development. Among the Nigerian delegation’s interventions at the Summit were as follows:

Nigeria backed current moves to reform the structure of the AU, in a bid to make the organization more vibrant, viable and responsive to the needs of member-states in the face of rapidly-changing global socio-economic realities.

Nigeria recommended the establishment of a Combined Maritime Task Force for the Gulf of Guinea, with its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria.

Nigeria signed an agreement with the AU to provide Strategic Sea Lift Services for AU peace support operations, natural disaster support, humanitarian actions and personal movement.

The country also reached an agreement with the AU to upgrade the Nigerian National Counter-Terrorism Centre to a Regional Counter-Terrorism Centre.

An agreement was reached to establish the African-led Credit Rating Agency (ACRA) which is expected to provide fairer and more transparent credit assessments of African economies.

President Bola Tinubu made a case for a focused AU reform implementation system where agreed reforms would be implemented in phases instead of taking on everything at once.

Nigeria scored a diplomatic victory when its delegation secured the re-election of Ambassador Bankole Adeoye as the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security – thus retaining Nigeria’s seat on the AU’s Peace and Security Council in a reaffirmation of the country’s leadership and commitment to peace and security on the African continent.

The 38th AU Summit also provided Nigeria with yet another psychological boost with the address to the body’s plenary by the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, who is set to step down from the role in September this year – after 10 years in charge. In his compelling farewell address, Adesina, a former minister for agriculture in his native Nigeria, highlighted a decade of driving Africa’s economic transformation and underscored the impact of the Bank’s High 5s Agenda: Light up and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialize Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa, which he said has impacted more than half a billion lives across the continent. As a testimony of their gratitude for Adesina’s stewardship at the Bank, several African governments and AU officials paid tribute to his strong global advocacy for Africa.

There were other high-profile speeches, one of the most notable of which was by the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, who officially opened the Summit by urging continued unity in addressing Africa’s challenges. In a world marked by rapid change and multiple challenges, he said, Africa finds itself at the crossroads of both uncertainty and opportunity – a situation which, he added, called for the strengthening of collective resolve and resilience across Africa.

Also speaking, UN Secretary-General Guterres reiterated calls for reform of the international financial architecture, which he said was hampering the development of many African economies, as they are beset by expensive debt repayments and high borrowing costs, which limits their capacity to invest in education, health and other needs.

In her remarks, Barbadian PM Mottley emphasized the strategic role of Africa – a continent that controls 40% of the world’s minerals – in shaping global economic trends. She stressed the importance of addressing emerging challenges like artificial intelligence (AI) and urged African nations to take a proactive role in technological advancement, so as not to become ‘victims of technology.’

The Summit ended on a high note with the delegates’ endorsement of the Dar Es Salaam Energy Declaration, the adoption of the African Financing Stability Mechanism (which when implemented, would result in approximately $20bn in debt servicing savings for African countries by 2035), and the adoption of the Strategic Framework on Key Actions to Achieve Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa, which outlines key actions required to enable Africa to achieve and sustain an annual growth rate of at least 7% of GDP over the next five decades.

One of the key highlights of the final day of the 38th AU Summit was the election of Djibouti’s Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf as Chairperson of the African Union Commission, while Algeria’s Ambassador, Salma Malika Haddadi, was elected Deputy Chairperson, as they were tasked with driving the next chapter of Africa’s growth and evolution.

• Keem Abdul, publisher and writer, hails from Lagos. He can be reached via +2348038795377 or Akeemabdul2023@gmail.com