[3] The headquarters of the AU Peace and Security Council, part of the AUCC compound, were built separately as a €30 million gift from the German government, under the auspices of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, and opened in October 2016.

[2][5] The complex also contains the African Union Grand Hotel, funded by the Ethiopian-Saudi billionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi and managed by Westin, which is primarily for hosting presidents and diplomats during AU summits.

[6] In January 2018, six years after the opening of the AUCC, a report in the African edition of Le Monde, confirmed by the Financial Times, claimed that the AU's IT department had discovered in early 2017 that the site's computer systems were connecting nightly to servers in Shanghai and uploading AU files as well as recordings from microphones embedded in the walls and furniture.

[9] The Chinese government denied that they bugged the building, with China's ambassador to the AU, Kuang Weilin, calling the article "ridiculous and preposterous" and that the allegations were intended to put pressure between Beijing and the continent.

[11] Following the allegations, the African Union signed a further Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)s to expand their technology partnership with Huawei in February 2022.