Tinubu departs for AU’s fifth mid-year coordination meeting in Kenya Saturday

Akinwande Soji-Ojo

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

A statement issued on Friday by Dele Alake, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communicationsand Strategy, said as the Chairperson of ECOWAS, the Nigerian leader will join Heads of State and Government, Foreign Ministers of the AU member states, and high-level dignitaries at the mid-year meeting which will take place on Sunday, July 16.

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.

According to the statement, 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.

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

The meeting will also involve the African Union Commission and the RMs.

Tinubu, who would be accompanied by senior government officials, is expected to return to the country at the conclusion of the meeting.