Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher is due to arrive in Lusaka Friday to head his country’s delegation to the 37th Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit, according to the Arabic daily Al Gomhuriyya.
The heads of state summit is expected to formally endorse the transformation of the OAU into the African Union, a continental body aimed at boosting development by strengthening ties among African countries, according to an AFP report.
Of the 53 countries in Africa, 36 have signed the agreement to create the African Union, which was for years the pet project of Libyan leader Muammar Kadhafi.
"All that is remaining is the proclamation and to decide the transition period as well as determine the organs of the union," Zambia's ambassador to the OAU, Simataa Akapelwa, told the agency.
So far, 38 countries have confirmed their participation in the forthcoming summit, Zambian Information Minister Venon Mwaanga told journalists Monday.
But preparations for the historic meeting have lagged behind schedule, leaving it unclear how much the government will be able to complete, according to AFP.
"As it is, Zambia still needs a lot of luck in order for the meeting to go smoothly," said an editorial of the Monitor, a leading privately owned weekly newspaper – Albawaba.com
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