French President Emmanuel Macron hosted his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame to dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Monday ahead of the sixth European Union (EU)-African Union (AU) Summit scheduled to take place on 17-18 February 2022.
The meeting was a preparatory drive to determine the nature of the next EU-AU summit of leaders whose objective as outlined in a joint communique “Towards a Comprehensive Strategy with Africa“, is to work on five key global trends.
These are Green Transition and Energy Access; Digital Transformation; Sustainable Growth and Jobs; Peace; Security and Governance and Migration.
On Sunday, Kagame joined in Brussels, Belgium the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, AU Chairperson, President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi, Chairperson of AU commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, and other officials in a meeting that prepares for the African Union (AU)-European Union (EU) Summit.
The summits between EU and AU heads of state and government take place traditionally every three years and alternate between Africa and Europe.
These summits take stock of the progress being made in implementing commitments and provide political guidance for further collaboration between countries on the two continents.
Amid the continued challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, African and European countries agreed to enhance cooperation in their response to the pandemic.
CU/as/APA