The African Union (AU), the umbrella union for the 54 countries of Africa, have elected a new chairman in the person of President Felíx Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

The new chairman replaces his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, following the AU’s 34th summit on Saturday. The tenure of office is just one year.

But Tshisekedi faces big challenges this year with the Corona virus pandemic hitting health services and economies hard.

The continent has so far been hit less hard than other regions as it has recorded 3.5% of global virus cases and 4% of global death, according to the African centre for disease control and prevention (Africa CDC).

Many African countries are battling damaging second waves while straining to procure sufficient vaccine doses. They are also speaking out against hoarding by rich countries at the expense of poorer ones.

“There is a vaccine nationalism on the rise, with other rich countries jumping queue, some even pre-ordering more than they require”, said Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of AU’s Commission in a recent interview.

Other issues that Tshisekedi-led union is expected to confront is the lingering Nile Dam dispute as well as the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray, the Sahel and Central African Republic.