The Africa- France summit opens Monday in France’s southern city of Nice with over 40 African heads of state and government expected to attend the High -profile gathering.
The two-day meeting of the leaders of Africa and France will focus on issues such as Africa’s place in world governance, re-enforcing peace and security together as well as Climate and development.
Running parallel to the summit will be five workshops on business environment, the financing of companies in Africa, vocational training, the social and environmental responsibility of business, and the sources of energy of the future.
The five workshops will be attended at ministerial level of the various countries that are participating at the Nice Africa France summit 2010.
The Nice Summit will also assume its traditional mission of dialogue between France and its African partners in preparation for upcoming international meetings, such as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals summit in September, Africa-European Union summit in November, Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, early December.
The summit will also create a platform for France, which has supported the interest of Africa at the global stage, to discuss with African countries and raise the issue of reform of the UN security council.
The summit dubbed Nice Africa- France summit 2010 has also attracted the participation of representatives from the African Union (AU), United Nations (UN) and the European Commission.
President Banda is already in Nice to attend the conference of African leaders and France to be held at the ultra modern Nice Acropolis Convention Centre in the Heart of the the resort city.
It is the first Africa- France summit organised by the host President Nicolas Sarkozy since coming to power in 2007. His predecessor Jacques Chirac held the bi- yearly summits aimed at pushing to a new heights the economic and political ties between France and the African continent.
President Banda’s delegation include the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kabinga Pande, Minister of Energy and Water Development Kenneth Konga, Deputy Minister of Finance and National Planning Chileshe Kapwepwe, deputy minister of Works and Supply Christopher Kalila and Southern Province Minister Daniel Munkombwe.
President Banda will be among other African leaders who include South African President Jacob Zuma, Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Moubarak, Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Swaziland’s King Mswati III and Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete.
ZANIS
RB number to arrive and lst to leave
Insoni pleaseii imweee. Ba tata abaa. Ba tupesha na bu easterna. So be na bale ende na mu towni ne shati na ba mangula. Yaaaa. Navi onelanji
France..RB cant pass this one, too nice. First to arrive and last to leave and maybe hope to next one to ‘save costs and maximise before his return’ bwafya bane.