Briefing Paper

Leading through Consensus: South Africa Chairs the AU

South Africa will chair the African Union (AU) in 2020 while also serving as a non-permanent
member of the United Nations Security Council. This will be an opportunity for South Africa to
improve AU-UN relations and drive its priorities for the continent. However, it will have to show
progress in the fight against xenophobia back home in order to achieve consensus at the level
of the AU.