African leaders gather at an African Union summit this weekend to try to forge a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and a spate of military takeovers from Sudan to the Sahel region.
The bloc, formed 20 years ago to promote international cooperation and harmonise member states’ policies, has struggled to address six coups or attempted coups in Africa over the past 18 months, and the power grabs are high on the summit agenda.
