On September 9, 2008, at the First Permanent General Assembly in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the African Union (AU) laid the decisive cornerstone to consolidate the institutional architecture of the AU by launching the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the Union (ECOSOCC). 

 
The presiding Chair of the Union and President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, in his keynote address emphasized that  " with the establishment of ECOSOCC we are creating a people-oriented, people-centered, and people-driven community in the African Union in which all stakeholders are effectively represented". Moreover, he added " this event today has its uniqueness and significance in the annals of international organizations. This is the first time that an institution such as the African Union that began as an intergovernmental organization is incorporating non-state actors as full partners in the policy making process."

Africa's potentials beckon her Sons and Daughters to rise for the Renaissance and build.  Who should heed to the clarion call? All who trace their ancestry to Africa or call Africa home and reside outside Africa.

 

Africa Diaspora: 
African Solution for African Development.

 
Professionals, Representatives of Organizations or Businesses, Africa Diaspora Media are  Invited to: 
Africa Diaspora Stakeholder Exchange
Date: Friday May 29, 2015
Time: 12:30 pm to 4:00pm
Venue: African Union Mission to the United States. 

1640 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20007

 

 

This program will bring together leaders of major constituencies to explore innovative ways for Africa Diaspora 1) to be constructively engaged as integral constituents in Africa's development; 2) prioritize and actualize AU policies on  Africa Diaspora; 3) build communicative networks among Civil Society groups in order to facilitate timely dissemination of vital information and collaboration that maximizes outcomes. It is also a new opportunity to sensitize Vision 2063, which has been articulated by Dr.  Nkosazana  Dlamini - Zuma,  Chair of the African Union Commission.  For some attendees, it would be the first time to interface with other constituencies. 

One of the outcomes is to determine baseline data (both qualitative and quantitive). What has been accomplished and available?

Reservation is required by May 26, 2015. Space is  limited. Please bring information about your entity, if applicable. 

Lunch will be served. 
Make your free reservation by email:  africanservices@aol.com 
Or call 240-706-6885
We look forward to the collaborative forum.




The ECOSOCC serves as the main link between the Civil Society and the AU.  Africa's potentials beckon her Sons and Daughters to rise for the Renaissance and build. Who should heed to the clarion call? All who trace their ancestry to Africa or call Africa home. 

  
Dr. Joseph Chilengi, Presiding Officer of AU ECOSOCC
Dr. Joseph Chilengi, Presiding Officer of AU ECOSOCC

The  ECOSOCC of   the African Union is a separate organ of the Union. For example, both the African Union Commission headed by Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and the ECOSOCC headed  Dr. Joseph Chilengi have respective sphere of work and authority. Both report directly to the Executive Council of the African Union and the Assembly of Heads of State and Governments. 

Learn about who leads what organ of the African Union: Read more

For the previous edition and AU ECOSSOC Historic Appointments of Special Advisors, President Uhuru Kenyatta in the News on African integration: Read

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry to lead delegation to the Presidential Inauguration in Nigeria.

US Secretary of State with outgoing Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan

US Secretary of State with incoming Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari

 

Secretary of State John Kerry will lead the US delegation to the inauguration of Nigerian president-elect Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on May 29, 2015. A large number of African and Western leaders are expected to attend the ceremony. The historic election was widely praised by domestic and foreign observers and defied the doomsday outcomes fanned in mostly Western press. In the wake of the peaceful outcomes, based on news reports and public opinions, the narratives depict  the unprecedented civilian transfer of power in Africa's most populous country and top economy  as a development that solidifies her democracy with positive influence in Africa.

 

With effect from May 29, 2015, the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler, expressed his wish to drop the title "general" from his name. The retired Army general, has chosen to be addressed as President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Federal Republic of Nigeria.  This was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Media and Publicity of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Council, Mallam Garba Shehu, in Abuja, on Sunday May 17, 2015.

 

The statement read, "As from May 29, 2015, the President-elect and Vice President- elect are to be respectively known and addressed as Muhammadu Buhari, President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Federal Republic of Nigeria and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria." 

 


ECOWAS LEADERS PAY TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT  JONATHAN  OF NIGERIA


African young girl presents flower to President Goodluck Jonathan at the airport in Accra, Ghana




President Jonathan inspects Guard of Honor



TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT JONATHAN BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE ECOWAS HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT PRESENTED AT THE 47 ORDINARY SESSION, ACCRA, GHANA, MAY 19, 2015



I am reading this on behalf of the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS at our 47 meeting in Accra. We pay a vibrant tribute to His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for the determination he demonstrated during his tenure as Head of State and for all the necessary reforms for the development of his country.

We wish to express our profound gratitude for his outstanding contribution to the deepening of the integration process in West Africa and the preservation of Peace and Security in our Region, particularly in the qualities demonstrated as Chairman of ECOWAS and Chairman of the regional contact group on Guinea Bissau and as Co-mediator in the Malian crisis.

Furthermore, we wish to express our warmest congratulations for his exemplary behavior expected of a Statesman that contributed in a decisive way to the maintenance of peace that followed the declaration of results of the presidential election in Nigeria.



We, the ECOWAS Heads of state and government hereby express our goodwill to President Jonathan for all his future undertakings at the end of his noble mission as the head of his country.

Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.
Accra, Ghana
May 19, 2015





President Jonathan acknowledges Tribute from the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government. May 19, 2015.










 




Africa unmoved by US President Obama's 
link of foreign aid and trade with homosexual policies.

Trending: 
Kenyan Vice President William Ruto strongly rebuffs Obama on gay 'marriage': 'We believe in God'
  • As President Obama prepares to visit Kenya this summer, controversies about constant attempts to equate homosexuality with human rights bearing economic consequences are brewing anew.  In the latest round, Kenya's Vice President William Ruto indicated that  Mr. Obama cannot impose his agenda in Kenya and Africa. The Vice President was applauded by the clerics who were relieved from the fear of Mr. Obama's ideas.
     
    In  June 2013,  President Obama, in front of hundreds of reporters, traded barbs with President Macky Sall of Senegal on the topic, with people on the street weighing  in.  The episode, also reported in Western press, made headlines.  The press in  Senegal, and in other African states,  lined up firmly on the same side. This happened during the opening leg of Mr. Obama's visit to sub-Saharan Africa. He urged African nations to embrace homosexuality on the same basis as fundamental rights. While Mr. Obama was speaking in Dakar, Senegalese newspapers backed up their president. One read, "Macky Resists Light Pressure from Obama and clashes with the USA," and another: "Obama Makes the Case For Gays, Macky Says No!" 
     
    In 2014, when Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni signed the anti- Homosexuality bill into law, the matter was more grave as President Obama had threatened economic repercussions. The choir of condemnation of Mr. Obama's views by African lay people and clerics seemed bound for a showdown.  

    During this period, US Ambassador to Nigeria, James F. Entwistle, calmed the heated African polity when he denied his country will impose sanctions on Nigeria over homosexual rights. The US diplomat spoke  in pidgin English on the subject, among others, to the delight of Nigerian and other African reviewers.
     
     
    In all instances, based on the polls, Africans have supported African presidents on their opposition to Mr. Obama's construction of gay rights as human rights. Some have asked, rhetorically, whether African nations can impose sanctions on the West based on anti-polygamy policies. But one thing is clear: Mr. Obama cannot subject US economic relations with China, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and other strategic global partners on whether or not their public polices offend homosexual advocates.  




Saturday June 6, 2015
3:00pm to 6:00pm
Africa Diaspora  - Jewish Dialogue with the American Jewish Committee.

Read AJC Africa Institute's
 Mission to promote mutual understanding and developments between the Jewish community and Africa / Africa Diaspora, including economic exchange. Join us for an insightful and interactive forum where informed knowledge unlocks doors of partnerships for progress.

AJC will be holding its 2015 Global Forum from June 5-9, in Washington, DC. Learn more

Hillary Clinton at AJC Event
H.E. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany will address the Forum via video, and H.E. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Prime Minister of Ukraine will address the audience in person.  Last year, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton addressed the 2014 AJC Global Forum.




 


 The second five-year term of office for Mr. Kaberuka, a former Rwandan Finance Minister, comes to a close  in August 2015.  The  African Development Bank's Board of Governors will elect the new President on May 28 during the Bank's annual meeting in Abidjan at the Bank's  headquarters.

The candidates for the next President of the African Development Bank  are:

First row from left to right. 
Akinwumi A. ADESINA, Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture; Sufian AHMED, Ethiopia's Minister of Finance; Jaloul AYED, former Finance Minister, Tunisia;  Kordjé BEDOUMRA, Chad's Minister of Finance.

Second row from left to right:
Cristina DUARTE, Cape Verde's Minister of Finance; Samura M.W. KAMARA, Sierra Leone's Minister of Foreign Affairs;  Thomas Z. SAKALA, a Vice President at the African Development Bank, from Zimbabwe; Birama Boubacar SIDIBE; Vice President of operations for the Islamic Development Bank, Mali.