Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma became the First Female Chairperson of African Union Commission

African Union Commission (AUC) on 15 July 2012 elected South Africa's home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as its new Chairperson, making her the first female head of the union. In a closely fought contest Dlamini-Zuma beat incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon 37-17.

Dlamini-Zuma, wife of the former South African President Jacob Zuma, was declared winner following a third round of voting. In election held in January 2012, neither of the two candidates got the two-thirds majority, which was required to be elected as the organization head. Consequently, Ping got an extension of another six months in the office.

African Union Commission

The African Union Commission is the Secretariat of the African Union responsible for executive functioning. The commission is composed of 10 Officials: A Chairperson, a Deputy Chairperson; Eight Commissioners and Staff members. The AU Commission is made up of Portfolios. They are: Peace and Security; Political Affairs; Trade and Industry; Infrastructure and Energy; Social Affairs; Rural Economy and Agriculture; Human Resources, Science and Technology; and Economic Affairs. Amara Essy of Cote D'Ivoire was the first Chair of AUC. 

African Union

African Union, the successor to Organisation of African Unity, came into existence in 2002 at Durban summit in South Africa. The Union is headquartered at Addis Ababa Ethiopia. A pan-African organization, AU aims at promoting unity and cooperation among African nations. The association also strives to spread democracy and good governance in the continent. At present the African Union has a total of 54 members. Morocco is the only African country which is not the part of the Union. Yayi Boni of Benin is the current Chairperson of African Union.