African Union: the battle of the giants
The pan-African intergovernmental organisation headquartered in Addis Ababa has increasingly become a political arena where the continent's heavyweights South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria jostle for power. In order to impose their views and place representatives in key positions in the African Union and other international organisations, these nations compete for influence and build coalitions. On the sidelines of these strategic manoeuvres, a few smaller countries such as Rwanda are carving out a niche for themselves.