The African Union’s fifth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (MYCM) kicked off in Nairobi on Sunday, bringing together various regional economic groups and mechanisms to accelerate continental integration.
The theme of this year’s meeting is the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The meeting is being led by Kenyan President William Ruto with the participation of the President of Comoros Ghazali Osmani, who currently presides over the African Summit.
The summit aims to address crucial issues of African integration, division of labour, and the roles played by the African Union and regional economic groups on the continent.
During the opening session, Ruto urged African countries “to provide leadership towards a new industrial age for Africa.” He also called upon the IMF and World Bank to come up with a fair financial system, saying that “some of the financial debt crisis we have is because of the unfair financial system that makes Africa pay higher interest than others.”
The agenda also included a review of the implementation of continental and regional declarations in Africa.
The ministerial-level meeting preceding the heads of state’s participation adopted the theme of education for the AU in 2024.
The MYCM, established in 2017, serves as the primary platform for the African Union, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Mechanisms (RMs), and member states to jointly assess and accelerate continental integration.
Egypt’s participation
In addition to Presidents Ruto and Osmani, notable participants in the meeting include President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, who chairs the African Heads of State and Government Committee for development issues in the continent, as well as President Ali Bongo of Gabon, President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
President El-Sisi, who arrived in Nairobi on Saturday, is expected to deliver a speech presenting Egypt’s ambitious two-year roadmap as the current chair of the Steering Committee of the African Development Agency (NEPAD).
He will also emphasize the need for African countries to collaborate in its implementation. Moreover, he will deliver a second speech during the session on the environment, climate change, and the blue economy.
___
Source here