By John Okeke
President Muhammadu Buhari will participate at the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 (Video-Conference) at 12:50pm on Wednesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will preside over the 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.
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.
