Rwandan President Paul Kagame is among three African leaders scheduled to take part in the G7 Summit in France over the weekend as observers, an official source disclosed Friday in Kigali.
Rwanda was invited along Egypt, South Africa, Senegal, Burkina Faso and the African Union Commission (AUC).
Kagame’s invitation comes in light of Rwanda as former chairmanship of the African Union, it said.
It said that Rwanda was invited as the former chair of the African Union, Egypt was invited as the current chair of the Union and South Africa as the incoming chair.
Confirming the participation of President Kagame at G7 summit, the State Minister in Charge of East African Community at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe said that Kagame will address the topics proposed: women entrepreneurship, digital transformation and transparency in public procurement and common fight against corruption.
It said the summit’s events schedule include an informal dinner of G7 leaders to discuss foreign policy and security affairs on Saturday evening, followed by a session on the global economy Sunday morning that was added at the last-minute request of the United States.
The 45th G7 summit will be held on August 25–27, 2019, in Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
The G7 is a collective of seven of the world’s most industrialized and developed economies.
Their political leaders come together annually to discuss important global economic, political, social and security issues.
On the sideline of the summit, , the European Union (EU) will also seek to provide further support to African states hosting some 5,000 EU co-financed troops in an area known as the Sahel.
The troops are said to be there to fight terrorism, although conflict and strife throughout the region has surged since the start of the year.
CU/abj/APA