The African Union will pick a new chairperson during the February African Union Assembly. Raila Odinga of Kenya, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti, and Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar seek to be chairpersons of the 55-member state African Union.

They participated in a two-hour debate on Friday, December 13, in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. In it, they all advocated for two permanent seats for African countries in the U.N. Security Council to effectively represent the continent with the youngest population.

The debate was conducted in French and English, with simultaneous interpretation provided to the candidates and the audience in all the six working languages of the African Union - English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swahili.

The African Union (AU) is the successor organization of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Whereas the OAU was centered around African leaders, the AU is organized around African people, with six regions, five on the continent and the sixth being the African diaspora. The OAU was also based in Addis Ababa.

At the center of the AU's plans is Agenda 2063. Formulated in 2013 during the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the OAU/AU, Agenda 2063 is Africa's blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future in 50 years.

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