The bloc’s 15-member Peace and Security Council said on Twitter it had voted “to suspend the participation of #BurkinaFaso in all AU activities until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country”.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, had already condemned the coup the day it happened and before it was clear who was taking charge.

The West African bloc ECOWAS suspended Burkina Faso on Friday and sent a delegation to meet with the ruling junta Saturday.

The coup is the latest bout of turmoil to strike Burkina Faso, a landlocked state that has suffered chronic instability since gaining independence from France in 1960.

A jihadist insurgency that spread over Mali’s border has killed more than 2,000 people and forced 1.5 million to flee their homes since 2015.

Mali and Guinea, also in West Africa, have also seen coups in the past 18 months that have prompted AU suspensions.

Sudan is also suspended following a coup there in October.

The spate of coups is expected to be a major point of discussion at the AU summit in Addis Ababa this weekend, diplomats say.

The United Nations Generation Unlimited Global Champions, lend their voices to support the creation of public-private partnerships globally and in countries to co-create and support investment opportunities, programmes and innovations at a large scale, and to help young people become productive in life.

The statement read in parts “Williams also joins GenU leaders such as the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame; President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta; First Vice President of Costa Rica, Epsy Campbell Barr; African Union’s Moussa Faki Mahamat, and others to steer the United Nations Generation Unlimited vision as a Global Champion.”

Speaking at the launch of the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge for Nigeria in Lagos where he was first introduced, the Debola reminded stakeholders of their role in securing the future by empowering Africa‘s New Tribe.

Debola said “Only us can build our own countries, and the future we envisage will only be realised if we empower these very important ones and give them all they require to achieve impact — that is why the Generation Unlimited challenge is so crucial. Our continent will be the youngest in a few decades, this is a blessing of ideas, energy, creativity, and power. What are we going to do with it? It can either be a generational blessing or generational burden. At whatever cost, we must defend the interest of a generation that depends on us to be unlimited.”