Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE ATTENDANCE OF THE ECOWAS HEADS OF STATE SUMMIT ON 30 - 31 OCTOBER 1998 BY PRESIDENT MANDELA
President Nelson Mandela, accompanied by Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo, will attend the annual summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria, on 30 and 31 October 1998.
President Mandela, who has been invited by the Chairman of ECOWAS, General Abdusalami Abubakar of Nigeria, will attend as an observer and in his capacity as the Chair of the Southern African Development Community. It is expected that the summit will address a wide range of issues, including conflict situations in the West African sub-region. The summit will afford President Mandela an opportunity to brief West African Heads of State on a variety of SADC developmental and conflict issues, and it is expected that the Heads of State will also investigate avenues to promote closer economic and technical co-operation between ECOWAS and SADC in order to promote the ideals of the African Renaissance.
President Mandela will also use this opportunity to bid farewell to Heads of State of the ECOWAS regional group, as he has done at the European Union summit in Cardiff, Wales in June 1998, the MERCUSOR summit in Ushuaia, Argentina and the CARICOM summit in St Lucia in July 1998 and his planned visit to the ASEAN summit in Vietnam in December 1998.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 27 OCTOBER 1998