African Union Countries Full List: Morocco Joins Continental Bloc After 33-Year Absence

The African Union readmitted former member Morocco after a 33-year gap, following months of lobbying and a heated debate at the 28th African leaders summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday.

Morocco — the only country in Africa that was not a member — left the organization in 1984 after the African Union (AU) recognized the independence of Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. Morocco maintains that the former Spanish colony is a part of its historic territory.

Morocco attempted to rejoin the 54-nation continental bloc for several years, finally submitting its formal bid for membership last year. A number of AU leaders feared that the country may seek the expulsion of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) — which claims sovereignty over the disputed territory — before joining.

However, Agence France-Presse quoted SADR Foreign Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Salek as saying that “from the moment that Morocco did not impose conditions ... we take their word for it and accept that Morocco be admitted to the African Union.”

The leaders also voted for the next head of the AU commission, a position that was previously occupied by South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Chadian Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat emerged victorious, beating Kenya’s Amina Mohamed after seven rounds of voting.

Outgoing commissioner Dlamini-Zuma also addressed U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order that puts travel restrictions on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, three of which are members of the AU.

“The very country to which many of our people were taken as slaves during the transatlantic slave trade has now decided to ban refugees from some of our countries,” she said, during the meeting. “What do we do about this? Indeed, this is one of the greatest challenges to our unity and solidarity.”

Here's the full list of African Union members:

Algeria

Angola

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cabo Verde

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros