How Macky Sall’s UN Bid Became a Stress Test for AU Diplomacy

The bid by former Senegalese President Macky Sall for the position of UN Secretary-General has stalled after the African Union (AU) failed to provide a formal endorsement. In a statement issued on March 27, the AU said 20 of its 55 member states either objected to the candidacy or requested an extension of the narrow 24-hour deadline.

Rather than signaling African disunity, the outcome highlights the AU's capacity to regulate and manage endorsements for international positions, writes Djiby Sow, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). Sow said the failure of the draft decision effectively ends an "atypical diplomatic sequence" regarding Africa's sole candidacy to succeed António Guterres.

The researcher argued that the submission of Sall's name to the UN on March 2 by the Burundi government, which had just assumed the AU's rotating presidency, "blurred the line" between a national initiative and a continental mandate. Another "key factor was the absence of formal backing from Sall's own country, Senegal, where his political legacy continues to be contested," Sow wrote.