AFRICAN UNION

June 4, 2021

The African Union suspended Mali’s membership in response to last week’s military coup and threatened sanctions, if a civilian-led government is not restored. West African regional bloc ECOWAS had also suspended Mali.

Mali

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa. Its capital is Bamako.
Mali borders Algeria to the north-northeast, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso to the south-east, Ivory Coast to the south, Guinea to the south-west, and Senegal to the west and Mauritania to the north-west.

African Union

The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. In 2017, the AU admitted Morocco as a member state.
Timeline:
- The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya in 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union.
- The bloc was founded in 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- It was launched in 2002 in Durban, South Africa.
Background: The AU replaced the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was established in 1963. The OAU was disbanded in 2002.
The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.