In her last speech at the AU executive council of ministers’ meeting on Wednesday, Dlamini-Zuma, the outgoing African Union Commission Chairperson has said that that a Donald Trump’s administration threatens global progress on climate change and women’s rights.

Africa should counter this by establishing the planned continental free trade area this year, she said.

“We seem to be moving towards a multi-polar world as the US under the new administration threatens the consensus on climate change, attack hard-won women’s rights and move towards protectionism.

“Africa’s only protection in these treacherous global waters is to honour the decision to commence its own Continental Free Trade Area in 2017,” she said.

Trump was inaugurated last week and has already indicated that he would cancel some of the free trade agreements the United States has entered into.

Dlamini-Zuma said Africans should “revive and strengthen the spirit of pan-Africanism, unity and solidarity” if it wanted to achieve the goals set out in its 50-year plan, Agenda 2063.

A dinner to conclude the AU gender summit on Tuesday night was used to say farewell to Dlamini-Zuma and to honour South African struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who could not attend in person.

The summit is set to conclude with the assembly of heads of state on Monday and Tuesday, when the elections for the new AU Commission chair will be finalized.