Buhari to Attend Peace, Development Forum in Egypt

President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja on Tuesday for Aswan, Egypt, in order to attend the Aswan Forum designed to set ‘An Agenda for Sustainable Peace and Development in Africa’.

In a statement issued yesterday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the president will be accompanied by Governors Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State; Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, and Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State.

Also on the delegation are the Minister of Defence, Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd); Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada; National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), and the Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.

The Forum which will hold on December 11 to 12, 2019, is an initiative to address the interconnections between peace and development in Africa while also promoting Africa-led solutions through strengthening policies and practices.

Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, will launch the initiative in his capacity as the Chairman of the African Union (AU) and as an advocate of Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development in Africa-a recurring theme of his tenure as the AU chairman.

The peace and development forum is also grounded in the AU’s Agenda 2063: ‘The Africa We Want, and the search for African solutions to African problems’.

 

The gathering is expected to bring together heads of state and government, leaders from regional and international organisations, financial institutions, private sector, and civil societies as well as scholars, visionaries and prominent experts for action-oriented discussions on security threats, challenges and opportunities.

It is also expected to end with a declaration on the theme of the Forum and would become an annual event.

The Speaker of the Egyptian House of Representatives, Ali Abdel Aal, had delivered President el-Sisi’s message to President Buhari in Abuja on October 28, 2019, inviting him to the inaugural Aswan Forum.

President Buhari is expected back in Abuja on Friday.