Ethiopia elected Rwanda to lead the Union in 2018 after the 29th ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union ended yesterday.
After the closing ceremony, the country’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo made the announcement on her twitter account.
#African Union Summit now in closing;among many decisions,#Rwanda elected to lead the Union in 2018.We are honored and express appreciation!
— Louise Mushikiwabo (@LMushikiwabo) July 4, 2017
Rwanda will take over leadership from Guinea on January 30, 2018. The President of Rwanda will then replace President Alpha Condé of Guinea for a period of one year, the New Times reports
#Rwanda has been elected to the African Union Chairmanship for the year 2018 #AUSummit pic.twitter.com/cfhIZYQLxo
— RPF Inkotanyi (@rpfinkotanyi) July 4, 2017
This is the first time that Rwanda will be chairing the Union since it was established in 2001 and launched in 2002 as African Union (AU), replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
This summit however saw a low turnout of presidents including Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta among other key leaders.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, the AU Commission chairperson said in his speech that Africa would deploy all its efforts to make 2020 the year of “silencing the sounds of guns”, by adopting unified stances that promote peace in the continent.
