Pan-African Parliament Advances Integration Agenda at AU Meeting, Explores Cooperation with AfDB

PAP President Fateh Boutbig leads a delegation to the AU coordination meeting in Egypt and holds AfDB talks on Africa’s development priorities.

New Alamein, Egypt, 4 October 2026 — The President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), H.E. Dr. Fateh Boutbig, is leading a high-level delegation to the Eighth African Union Mid-Year Coordination Meeting, bringing a parliamentary perspective to continental discussions on integration, policy coordination and development.

The meeting brings together the African Union (AU), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Mechanisms (RMs) and Member States to assess progress towards integration and strengthen cooperation across continental, regional and national institutions.

For PAP, the gathering provides an opportunity to connect parliamentary priorities with the programmes and decisions that shape Africa’s development. Its participation also highlights the contribution of parliamentary diplomacy to translating continental commitments into action that responds to citizens’ needs.

Connecting parliamentary resolutions with continental programmes

During the meeting, Dr. Boutbig is engaging stakeholders on the key resolutions and recommendations adopted during the First Ordinary Session of the Seventh Legislature of the Pan-African Parliament.

These engagements seek to align parliamentary priorities with continental and regional programmes and encourage coordinated follow-up and implementation. They provide a platform for presenting PAP’s recommendations to institutions whose cooperation is essential to advancing the Parliament’s work.

The practical importance of this engagement lies in the relationship between continental commitments and national implementation. Integration requires sustained action within Member States, including appropriate legislation, budgetary support, institutional cooperation and public accountability. National parliaments can contribute to these processes, while PAP provides a forum for dialogue and the development of shared approaches.

Dr. Boutbig is also drawing on recent bilateral visits to national and international parliaments and engagements with partners across Africa and beyond. Through these exchanges, PAP seeks to build cooperation, mobilize support for common priorities and strengthen parliamentary participation in continental integration.

Within the coordination meeting’s broader agenda, PAP contributes through legislative dialogue, oversight, advocacy and citizen representation. Its participation aims to strengthen parliamentary support for Agenda 2063, promote intra-African trade and help ensure that integration produces tangible improvements in the lives of African citizens.

Parliamentary engagement can also help bring citizens’ concerns into discussions that might otherwise focus primarily on institutional coordination. Questions about access to markets, employment, public services and opportunities across borders are central to whether continental integration delivers meaningful benefits.

The PAP delegation comprises Hon. Djidda Mamar Mahamat, Third Vice-President; Hon. Arlette Burgess, Fourth Vice-President; and Hon. Mohamed Halawa, Chairperson of the Committee on Trade, Customs and Immigration Matters. The delegation is supported by the Clerk of the Parliament, Ms. Lindiwe Khumalo.

PAP and African Development Bank explore institutional cooperation

On the margins of the meeting, Dr. Boutbig held talks with Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, President of the African Development Bank Group, on strengthening engagement between the two institutions.

The discussion focused on promoting closer links between parliamentary action and Africa’s development efforts, in support of sustainable development and prosperity. It also provided an opportunity to explore institutional cooperation and the contribution of parliamentary diplomacy to the achievement of Agenda 2063.

The engagement reflects PAP’s efforts to strengthen relationships with development partners and support initiatives that respond to the needs and aspirations of African citizens.

Closer dialogue between parliamentary institutions and development partners could help connect development priorities with the legislative, budgetary and accountability processes needed to support implementation. Parliamentarians can communicate community concerns, scrutinize public policy and encourage the national action required to sustain development programmes.

For PAP, such cooperation offers an opportunity to reinforce the relationship between continental development objectives and parliamentary engagement. The talks were exploratory; the release did not announce a formal cooperation agreement or specific joint programme.

Egypt and AU Commission formalize hosting arrangements

Earlier, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt signed the Host Country Agreement for the Eighth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting.

The agreement was signed on behalf of the Commission by H.E. Amb. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the AUC, and on behalf of Egypt by H.E. Mohamed Abubakr, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for African Affairs.

Following close preparations between the Commission and the Egyptian Government, the agreement formalised the hosting arrangements for the gathering in El Alamein.

The meeting is being convened pursuant to Assembly Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.964(XXXIX), through which the AU Assembly decided that Egypt would host the eighth coordination meeting in 2026.

The Mid-Year Coordination Meeting serves as the principal forum for the AU, RECs and RMs to align their work and coordinate implementation of the continental integration agenda. The eighth meeting provides an opportunity to review progress, including implementation of the division of labour among these institutions, and consider priorities requiring continued coordination.

A clearer division of responsibilities can help institutions organize their contributions, reduce duplication and improve follow-through on shared commitments. The meeting also considers the resources and partnerships required to deliver priority programmes.

The AUC expressed appreciation to the Government and people of Egypt for their cooperation and support throughout the preparations.

PAP’s participation brings an additional parliamentary dimension to these discussions, linking institutional coordination with the legislative dialogue, public accountability and citizen representation needed to advance Africa’s integration agenda.