Africa's peace-building efforts pick up pace
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (left) and President Isaias Afeworki of Eritrea celebrate the opening of the Eritrean embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on July 13, 2018. PHOTO | MICHAEL TEWELDE | AFP
What you need to know:
- In South Sudan, the final peace pact was signed just over two weeks ago between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar.
- Recent peace-building initiatives across Africa have revived hopes of stability and progress in the continent’s most volatile regions.
Angola’s hosting of a central and southern Africa heads of state summit that began on August 14 and ended last weekend bodes well for revamped regional peace initiatives.
The summit, presided over by President Joäo Lourenço, was attended by the leaders of Congo, DR Congo, South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda, Gabon and African Union Commission boss Moussa Faki Mahamat.
According to Angolan foreign affairs minister Manuel Augusto, the summit mainly focused on security issues such as the violence in the Central African Republic.
Also in the agenda was the rapidly evolving electoral process in the DR Congo.
Poignantly, soon after the Luanda summit ended, Mali's constitutional court confirmed President Ibrahim Keita's win in the run-off.
MNANGAGWA WINNER
By rejecting fraud claims by opposition candidate Soumaila Cissé, the ruling cleared the way for Keita to begin his second five-year term on September 4.
Keita had been declared winner of the election on August 16, but Cissé contested the results of the August 12 vote.
As widely expected, Zimbabwe's Constitutional court on Friday dismissed a bid to have the results of the presidential election annulled.
The opposition said the vote was rigged in favour of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The Zanu-PF candidate won the poll with 50.8 per cent of the vote, beating Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change.
The Angola forum came hot in the heels of other peace building initiatives, particularly in the Horn of Africa and South Sudan.
SOUTH SUDAN PEACE DEAL
After 20 years of hostilities there was a welcome rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
In South Sudan, the final peace pact was signed just over two weeks ago between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar.
On Wednesday South Sudan's Information Minister Michael Makuei said conflicting parties have reached consensus on a final deal draft expected to be signed in Khartoum on August 27.
All in all, recent peace-building initiatives across Africa have revived hopes of stability and progress in the continent’s most volatile regions.
