Tinubu exits Nigeria for 5th mid-year AU meeting in Kenya

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has jetted off to Nairobi, Kenya, for the 5th mid-year coordination meeting of the African Union (AU).

This development was revealed in a statement issued on Friday, July 14, by President Tinubu's spokesperson, Dele Alake.

As contained in the statement, the event is slated for Sunday, July 16 and will be attended by other African leaders.

Deliberations will be held by the regional economic communities (RECs), the regional mechanisms (RMs), and the African Union member states, Daily Nigerian reported.

President Tinubu, the new chairman of ECOWAS, would be given the avenue to give reports on the status and activities of the sub-regional body.

This report will highlight actions carried out by ECOWAS during the year under review. These activities include trade, free movement of persons, investment promotion, infrastructure development, peace, security and stability. This year’s AU mid-year meeting is themed; “Acceleration of African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, Implementation”, and it aims to foster togetherness in the Bureau of the AU Assembly.

As reported by Premium Times, these bureaus include the Heads of State and Government of Comoros, Botswana, Burundi, and Senega and leaders of the eight RECs.

The RECs are ECOWAS, chaired by Nigeria, the East African Community, EAC, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, IGAD, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, COMESA.

Others are 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.

President Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria immediately after the meeting on Sunday, July 16.