Accra – Angolan Head of State João Lourenço arrived Saturday in the city of Accra, capital of Ghana, where he will participate, on Sunday, in the 6th biannual coordination meeting between the African Union (AU), the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the Regional Mechanisms (RM).
Upon arrival in the homeland of Kwame Nkrumah, one of the main historical leaders of Pan-Africanism, the statesman, who is accompanied by the First Lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Lourenço, received greetings from senior entities of the Governments of Angola and Ghana.
At this 6th coordination meeting, which was preceded by the 45th ordinary session of the AU Executive Council, African statesmen will assess the state of continental integration and coordinate efforts to accelerate the process.
The implementation of a clear division of labour and effective collaboration between the African Union, RECs, RMs and Member States in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, complementarity and comparative advantage are also part of the agenda.
Likewise, African leaders will address the best paths for the African Union and the RECs on issues related to priority programs, the resources needed for the implementation of these programs, as well as assess the status of implementation of decisions and legal instruments related to the relations between the AU, REC and the RM.
João Lourenço participates in the event as president of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and champion of peace of the African Union, hence his involvement as a mediator for peaceful solutions to the different conflicts, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Also in this area, the country assumed, at the beginning of the month, the rotating presidency of the AU Peace and Security Council, which implies a greater engagement of the country in continental peace and security issues.
The African Union currently has eight recognised economic communities, which are the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the East African Community (EAC), the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and, more recently, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
As part of the process for effective integration of the continent, they must work collaboratively with the organisation at different levels.
The Biannual Coordination Meeting was conceived in 2017 as the main forum for the AU and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to align their work and coordinate the implementation of the continental integration agenda, replacing the June/July summits.
This year, the event takes place under the motto “Educate and Empower Africa for the XXI Century”, and the event was preceded by the 45th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council, which took place from 18 to 19 July 2024 in the same city of Accra (Ghana).
The African Union (AU), the continent's main organization, was founded in 2002 and is the successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), created in 1963.
It brings together 52 republics and three monarchies, with a total population of around 1,068,444,000 inhabitants. SC/ART/DOJ
