Breaking: Tinubu leaves for African Union’s meeting in Kenya

President Bola Tinubu will on Saturday, July 15, 2023, depart Abuja for Nairobi in Kenya to participate in the Fifth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (5th MYCM) of the African Union (AU), the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Regional Mechanisms (RMs), and the African Union Member-States.

Tinubu, as the ECOWAS Chairman, will join Heads of State and Government, Foreign Ministers of the AU Member-States, and high-level dignitaries at the mid-year meeting slated for Sunday, July 16.

This was contained in a statement issued on Friday, July 14, by the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake.

Alake noted that the president will present a report on the status of regional integration in ECOWAS, highlighting actions carried out during the period under review by ECOWAS institutions, member-states, the private sector, and other stakeholders to deepen integration through trade, free movement of persons, investment promotion, infrastructure development, peace, security, and stability.

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The presidential spokesman added that the 5th MYCM, which is convening under the AU’s theme for 2023 christened “Acceleration of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Implementation”, will bring together the Bureau of the AU Assembly, comprising the Heads of State and Government from Comoros, Botswana, Burundi, and Senegal, as well as the leaders of the eight RECs.

He listed the regional economic communities to include ECOWAS chaired by Nigeria, the East African Community (EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN SAD), the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

Alake noted that the meeting will also involve the African Union Commission and the RMs.

He added that President Tinubu, who will be accompanied by senior government officials, would return to Nigeria at the conclusion of the meeting.

The Star