African Summit to be launched on July 3

Twenty-four African leaders are expected to attend the 29th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union from July 3-4 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The information was given on Thursday by Meles Alem, spokesperson for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) during which he also revealed that Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to attend the conference.

According to MoFA, the list of African leaders that are expected to attend the summit include Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and King of Swaziland Mswati III.

The AU summit will also consider the peace and security activities in Africa; look at the status of the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and implementation of AU's 2063 Agenda.

AU 2063 is a 50-year strategic framework for the socioeconomic transformation of the continent unveiled in 2013 that seeks to implement continental initiatives for growth and sustainable development.

In the same context, the African Union Summit opened on Tuesday with the 34th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representative Committees in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.

In attendance was the AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat who called for a more political solution to Africa’s security problems

He opened the session which will prepare the agenda of the AU Summit with appropriate recommendations for consideration by the Executive Council.The meeting, which included the 55 African Union member states based in Addis Ababa and other key AU officials, ends Wednesday.

It is followed by the 31st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council from June 30 to July 1; and then the 29th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government from July 3 to 4.

The heads of state and government will focus on the renewed conflict in South Sudan, Somalia’s al-Shabaab insurgency and the implementation of Agenda 2063 as well as the establishment of continental free trade area (CFTA).