The current efforts to elect a new Chair of the AU Commission have been caught in the crosswinds of the impact of illicit capital outflows, the question of reseating Morocco in the AU and the challenges that Africa will face during a period of the ascendancy of the ideas of Donald Trump and Marie Le Pen. The AU will survive this turbulence. But the rise of the Pan African Movement will likely sweep away the present crop of leaders.

The International Preparatory Committee considered the historical precedent set by various PACs and in particular the 2^nd PAC that was held in phases. Subsequently the meeting unanimously agreed to follow the historical precedent of the 2^ndPAC of 1921 that took place in phases in different cities including London, Brussels and Paris and organize the 8^thPan African Congress in a two-phase process. Phase I was the meeting convened in Ghana, March 2015. Phase II, earlier set for not later than May 2016, will now be convened in June/August 2017.