The charter establishing the AU was signed in

Analyze the question: The question asks where the charter (Constitutive Act) establishing the African Union (AU) was signed.

Explain the concept: The AU replaced the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was founded in 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The transition happened in stages:

• Sirte, Libya (September 1999): The Sirte Declaration called for the creation of an African Union.
• Lomé, Togo (July 2000): The Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted and signed at the OAU summit.
• Lusaka, Zambia (July 2001): The Act's implementation roadmap was adopted.
• Durban, South Africa (July 2002): The AU was formally launched.

Step-by-step solution:

1. The "charter" here refers to the Constitutive Act, the founding legal document of the AU.
2. The Constitutive Act was adopted at the Lomé Summit in Togo in 2000.
3. Libya hosted the declaration (not the signing of the Act), South Africa hosted the official launch, and Ethiopia hosts the AU headquarters (Addis Ababa) and was the birthplace of the OAU.

Answer: The Constitutive Act was signed in Lomé, Togo, which is option A.

Exam tip: Remember the sequence S-L-L-D: Sirte (declaration) → Lomé (Act signed) → Lusaka (roadmap) → Durban (launch). Also note that Ethiopia and South Africa are common distractors, because one hosts the headquarters and the other hosted the launch.