Former president, Thabo Mbeki, will be the keynote speaker at the 2016 Africa Day Expo on Wednesday at the Ditsong Museum of South Africa in Pretoria.

“The former South African statesman, who is famous for his efforts to reform the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), will focus on the 120 years of the Adwa African Victory,” said Adziliwi Nematandani, the media and external communication officer at the Human Sciences Research Council (‎HSRC).

The fun-filled Africa Day Expo is an educational support project initiated as a platform for presenting tangible access to relevant information about the entire continent, said Nematandani.

“The event will provide ordinary members of the African community with an opportunity to network with various African embassies, African icons, influential government departments and organisations, as well as African artists and cultural groups.”

Nematandani said included in the first session will be educational presentations for learners, exhibitions, African food tasting and live cultural performances. The second session will be a seminar comprising formal presentations and discussions.

The Expo, which forms part of the Annual African Unity for Renaissance conference, is celebrated annually on 25 May to mark the commemoration of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), represented since 2002 by the African Union (AU).

The event is organised by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in partnership with the City of Tshwane, Department of Science and Technology (DST), National Research Foundation (NRF), Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI), BrandSA, Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), Ditsong Museums of South Africa, International Council for Science – Regional Office for Africa (ICSU), and the University of Johannesburg (UJ).