The African Union Commission (AUC) acts as the executive/administrative branch or secretariat of the African Union (and is somewhat analogous to the European Commission). It consists of a number of Commissioners dealing with different areas of policy. The African Union Headquarters are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It should be distinguished from the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, (based in Banjul, Gambia), which is a separate body that reports to the African Union.
On September 13, 2005 an agreement was reached by the Commission and France whereby France would donate €5 million for the furtherance of African Union activities. Some of the initiatives this money will go to are an African Communication Policy and an African Common Defence Force. The signatory on behalf of the Commission was Bernard Zoba.
The African Union Commission became a part of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2012. FOCAC is the main multi-lateral coordination mechanism between the African countries and China.[1] Since joining FOCAC, the African Union Commission has increasingly played a coordinating role, although each African country in FOCAC continues to represent itself individually.[2]