AU chairman to meet Hollande

AU Chairman Boni Yayi.

AU Chairman Boni Yayi.

Published May 23, 2012

Share

Benin's president and the current African Union chairman Thomas Bonyi Yayi will travel to Paris next week for talks with French President Francoise Hollande, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Boni Yayi was named to the rotating AU post in January.

“In addition to questions related to Franco-African cooperation, the Beninese president will discuss with his French counterpart subjects related to bilateral cooperation,” Boni Yayi's spokesman Vincent Dassi told AFP.

He said the president is expected to meet Hollande on Monday.

The AU is trying to revive talks between Sudan and South Sudan after border clashes that erupted last month threatened to push the region back into all out war.

The continental body has also sought to restore democratic rule in Mali and Guinea-Bissau, following military coups in the two west African states.

Benin, a republic on the Gulf of Guinea, was previously a French colony named Dahomey that gained independence in 1960. It was renamed in 1975. – Sapa-AFP

Related Topics: