Yerevan, 11 October 2018
President Kagame today joined other Heads of State and Government from member states of the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF) for the opening of the 17th edition of Francophonie Summit.
During this year’s Summit, Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo will be presented as Africa’s candidate for the Secretary-General of OIF. This follows the unanimous decision of the 31st African Union Heads of State Summit held in Nouakchott, Mauritania in July this year to present her as the African Union’s candidate.
The 17th Francophonie Summit is held under the theme “Living together in solidarity, sharing humanist values and respect for diversity: source of peace and prosperity for the Francophone Community.”
Yesterday, President Kagame met with the Premier-designate of Québec François Legault following the latter’s endorsement of Louise Mushikiwabo. Today, on the sidelines of the Summit, the President held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.
OIF was created in 1970 to promote the French language, peace, and sustainable development. Rwanda is a founding member. The Organisation’s 84 member States and Observers represent over one-third of UN Members States and account for a population of over 900 million people, including 274 million French speakers.