Beginning of February 2026, ECES had the pleasure of participating in the African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, represented by our Founder & Executive Director Fabio Bargiacchi, together with Piero Scarpellini, Senior Advisor for Africa to Professor Romano Prodi, Erastus Mwencha, member of our Strategic Advisory Committee, and Giovanni Barbera from our ECES office in Ethiopia.
A special mention goes to Erastus Mwencha, former Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission and former Secretary-General of COMESA, and today Chairman of Equity Bank Kenya, one of Africa’s largest banking groups. His combined institutional and financial leadership experience continues to be invaluable.
During the Summit, ECES had the opportunity to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — a moment of particular personal significance for our Founder as an Italian, and also because Italy has been funding ECES for the past six years to support and collaborate with the African Union Commission through the project Pro-Electoral Integrity, including work on electoral conflict prevention and civic voter education.
We also had the opportunity to meet Évariste Ndayishimiye, President of Burundi and current Chairperson of the African Union.
In addition, we had the privilege of meeting former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who continues to play an important role in African Union high-level mediation initiatives; former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, currently serving as AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa; former President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, engaged in regional mediation efforts; former President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, Chair of the Board of the Global Partnership for Education; President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic; and António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Being present at an African Union Summit is never simply about attending as a delegate. It is about listening, understanding the geopolitical direction of the continent, and strengthening long-term partnerships built on trust and institutional cooperation.
For ECES, this engagement reflects more than a decade of close cooperation with the African Union Commission and African partners, working together to support democratic governance, institutional dialogue and capacity development across the continent.
