The celebrations will be held under the theme “Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance” and will run in tandem with the 21st African Union Heads of State Summit.
Several other important meetings are taking place including a working breakfast of Heads of State of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and a working dinner of the Forum of Heads of State and Government of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
Among the prominent dignitaries attending the celebrations in Addis Ababa is former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, who was Chairperson of the African Union in 2003 and 2004.
Speaking briefly to journalists, Chissano said that over the last fifty years Africa has created the foundations to consolidate progress and independence.
Chissano pointed out that the structural changes that have taken place in many African countries since the end of the 1980s have led African governments and organisations to take control of their own processes. He stated that this trend was accelerated with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
He added that “later, the western powers began to show their vulnerability and began to have a new relationship with African countries, which raised self-confidence”.
Chissano also noted a growing concern for good governance, social development, respect for human rights and the development of the democratic process.
President Guebuza is accompanied during his trip to Ethiopia by Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi, Minister of Planning and Development Aiuba Cuereneia, Minister of Culture Armando Artur, Minister in the Presidency for Social Affairs Feliciano Gundana, and Deputy Health Minister Nazira Abdula.
Post published in: Africa News