President Tinubu Off To Kenya For AU Meeting
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, regarded as the most powerful man in Nigeria, is planning to leave the nation.
On Saturday, July 15, the President will fly to Nairobi, Kenya, to attend the Fifth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (5thMYCM) of the African Union (AU).
The president will attend the mid-year meeting on July 16 along with heads of state and government, foreign ministers from AU Member States, and other high-level dignitaries, according to a statement from the president’s spokesperson, Dele Alake, on Friday. The president is the chairperson of ECOWAS.
He said President Tinubu would 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.
Alake 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.
According to him, these regional economic communities 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).
The presidential spokesman said the meeting will also involve the African Union Commission and the RMs.
President Tinubu, who will be accompanied by senior government officials, is expected to return to the country at the conclusion of the meeting.