AAI Delegation to Attend African Union Summit to Celebrate 50th Anniversary

africa-summitNEW YORK – May 20, 2013 – AAI President and CEO Amini Kajunju will travel to Ethiopia with an AAI delegation to attend the African Union (AU) Summit, which officially opened May 19, at its headquarters in Addis Ababa. Leaders from African nations will meet for the weeklong summit to put forth a forward-looking agenda to accelerate development progress on the continent.

In addition to Kajunju, members of the AAI delegation include Dorothy Davis, President of The Diasporan Touch and Executive Producer of AAI’s 60th Anniversary Awards Dinner Gala and former Africa Channel executive Mark Walton, Managing Director of Onyx Global Marketing and the consultant to AAI’s First Annual Career Expo.

U.S. Secretary of State John P. Kerry will lead the U.S. delegation to the African Union Summit, which will be held from May 19-27. Kajunju is expected to meet with key leaders and stakeholders from across the continent during the Summit.

The AAI delegation will engage in Summit deliberations as an institutional partner and will mark the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Organization of African Union (OAU), the predecessor to the African Union, on Africa Day, May 25. The theme of the Jubilee Summit and 50th anniversary is “Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance”.

“The Africa-America Institute and the African Union have shared a long history of mutual engagement starting from Africa’s liberation from colonialism and apartheid to efforts to bolster socio-economic development and progress on the continent through human capacity building and women’s empowerment,” said Kajunju. “At the AU Summit, I hope to strengthen our partnership and engagement with the African Union.”

The African Union’s 50th Anniversary year coincides with AAI’s 60th Anniversary. Held during the UN General Assembly opening week, the AAI 60th Anniversary Awards Dinner Gala will present the African Union with its first AAI Institutional Legacy Award, in recognition of the organization’s intertwining histories since their respective creation and to pay tribute to the tremendous success of the OAU in liberating African countries and in fostering development, peace and security in Africa.

Under the theme, “Unlocking Africa’s Greatest Asset for 60 Years”, the AAI Awards Gala will be held on September 25, at the Hilton New York Hotel. H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the first female Chair of the African Union Commission, will accept the award on behalf of the African Union.

Other gala honorees will include Chevron for the 2013 AAI Corporate Award and Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella, Director-General of the United Nations Industrialization Development Organization (UNIDO) and newly-appointed Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, will receive the 2013 AAI Distinguished Alumnus Award.

The gala program will feature a Conversation on Africa’s Past, Present and Future. Invited panelists are H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Chair of the African Union, H.E. John Dramani Mahama President of Ghana, H. E. Goodluck Jonathan, President of Nigeria and H.E. Jacob Zuma, President of  South Africa.

For more information on the AAI Awards Gala, please continue to visit www.aaionline.org.

 

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