Face of Truth: On the Verge of Returning to the African Union
Ibrahim Shglawi
After more than three years of suspension, it seems that Sudan is on the verge of returning to the African Union, driven by a series of political and diplomatic transformations that have begun to yield more understanding positions from the continental community regarding the Sudanese crisis. This return is not separate from regional and international contexts, and it also reflects a fierce struggle between efforts to stabilize the nation-state and attempts to circumvent it. In this article, we review the indicators of this potential return and the contexts that make it a necessity to accelerate the transition.
In recent months, Sudan has become close to returning to the African Union, after more than three years of suspended membership following the measures of October 25, 2021. This potential return is being read as a reflection of transformations within the Sudanese political scene and the interaction of various regional and international indicators and data.
On May 19, 2025, President Al-Burhan appointed Dr. Kamal El-Tayeb Idris as Prime Minister, in a move described in several international statements as a positive signal toward restoring the constitutional path. The Chairman of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssef, welcomed this appointment and considered it a step towards a government that may contribute to creating a political environment for comprehensive civilian transition, according to an official statement issued by the Commission and published through international media outlets, including Reuters.
This development came in a busy diplomatic context of Sudanese efforts aimed at rebuilding trust with the African Union, which was clearly evident last week through Sudan’s official participation in the “Africa Day” event at the Union’s headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The participation included a notable Sudanese cultural pavilion and was the first since the suspension decision in October 2021. It garnered clear attention from African leaders, most notably the Chairman of the Union Commission and the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, as confirmed by media coverage from BBC Africa.
The Summit on Peace and Security for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region, recently held in Entebbe, Uganda, also adopted a special clause titled “Solidarity with Sudan” in its final statement. The statement expressed support for the Sudanese government’s roadmap and affirmed Sudan’s sovereignty while rejecting externally imposed solutions, a wording that implicitly condemned any direct regional interventions, particularly those by some countries supporting the militia.
Official media outlets, such as Al-Sharq, reported statements from the Sudanese delegation led by Malik Agar, in which the United Arab Emirates was accused of supporting the rebel Rapid Support Forces militia, and called on it to halt the support provided.
However, the most prominent shift in the relationship with the organization came in the visit of the African Union Peace and Security Council delegation to Port Sudan in October 2024, headed by Ambassador Mohamed Gad, Egypt’s ambassador to the Union. According to observers, this visit was considered the most significant milestone in the path of normalizing relations between Sudan and the continental organization. The importance of the visit lies in it being the first since the outbreak of the war, and also as it represented an implicit recognition by the Union of the need to review its previous positions toward Sudan—especially after President Al-Burhan expressed a firm stance on the Union’s description of the events of October 2021, considering that Sudan is facing a proxy colonialism through a regionally supported rebel militia.
In this meeting, Al-Burhan stated that part of the country is “under the occupation of a rebel militia supported by foreign mercenaries,” a description that found its way into the internal discussions of the council, according to leaks reported by Jeune Afrique in its coverage dated May 26, 2025.
At that time, Ambassador Mohamed Gad, in statements to international media outlets including Al-Hadath channel, indicated that the delegation sensed during its visit a wide understanding of the necessity for Sudan to regain its membership, considering it a fundamental condition for supporting peace efforts and opening channels of cooperation, stressing that the visit lays the foundation for a “new roadmap” for Sudan’s return to the African system.
These developments coincide with ongoing grave violations committed by the Rapid Support Forces militia, as confirmed by human rights and international organizations, most notably Human Rights Watch, which documented in recent reports that these forces committed war crimes in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. The latest condemnation came yesterday from the U.S. State Department due to the militia’s shelling of a World Food Programme facility in Darfur. The U.S. Treasury Department had previously imposed sanctions on its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and seven of his companies based in the United Arab Emirates.
From what we observe from the #Face_of_Truth, Sudan’s regaining of its seat in the African Union would be the culmination of a major political and diplomatic transformation, and a genuine success for the African Union in departing from the position of “passive observer” to becoming a real partner in restoring security and peace in Sudan. Accordingly, the coming days will be decisive in determining the nature of the relationship between Sudan and the African Union. Should this be achieved, Khartoum will have made a significant stride toward reclaiming its position as a pivotal state on the African continent.
Sunday, June 1, 2025
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