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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari will on Wednesday participate at the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 (Video-Conference) at 12:50pm.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will preside over the extraordinary summit in Beijing and deliver a keynote speech.
The summit is jointly proposed by China; South Africa, the rotating chair of the African Union (AU); and Senegal, co-chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
Leaders of African countries, including members of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government and rotating chairs of major African subregional organizations, and the chairperson of the AU Commission, will attend the summit upon invitation.
The secretary-general of the United Nations and the director-general of the World Health Organization will attend the meeting as special guests.
The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement that: “China has consistently attached great importance to the friendly relations of cooperation with Africa and is ready to work with African countries to build a closer community of shared future.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian noted that since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and African countries have offered assistance to each other and joined hands in fighting COVID-19.
He said: “Currently the pandemic remains severe globally and the epidemic continues in Africa, adding that convening the summit at this crucial time shows once again the brotherhood between China and Africa.
The summit will not only consolidate consensus between the two sides on solidarity against COVID-19 and advance China-Africa cooperation, but also inject a new impetus into multilateralism and global cooperation against COVID-19.
China is willing to work with all participants to make the summit a success, Zhao said.
