Africa’s Regional Economic Communities’ permanent representations to the African Union met the AU Partner Embassies Group in Addis Ababa on 30 October 2026 to strengthen dialogue on matters of common interest.
According to a report from the Economic Community of West African States, the agenda centred on two strands: evaluating institutional synergies between the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities, and reviewing the status of major current affairs handled this year under the leadership of the organisation’s Burundian Presidency.
Addressing the meeting, the Permanent Representative of ECOWAS pointed to what the bloc described as historic and tangible progress within its regional space, particularly on the free movement of persons.
The representative also raised a concern with partners that ECOWAS said hinders the momentum of continental integration: low adherence to, and an insufficient rate of ratification of, the African Union Protocol on Free Movement of Persons.
The Burundian Presidency presented a mid-term review of its mandate, which it described as satisfactory and marked by major sectoral progress.
The flagship achievements it listed were the adoption of the African Water and Sanitation Policy, the development of an operational implementation matrix aimed at translating security and humanitarian early warnings into concrete actions, and the deployment of structural initiatives dedicated to women’s empowerment and youth inclusion.
The Partner Embassies Group praised the transparency of the exchanges and restated its commitment to supporting the coordination dynamic between the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities, which it described as essential for achieving the goals of Agenda 2063.
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