Africa leaders who’ll attend Scotland meet
Several Africa’s Heads of State will travel to Glasgow, Scotland, to attend the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), one of the first major face-to-face meetings to take place since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
COP21 led to the historic signing of the Paris Climate Agreement, while the fifth edition of the world summit – which could not be held in 2020 due to the pandemic – promises to be the perfect occasion for countries to take stock, review and revise their objectives.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta will be attending the event. So is DRC’s Félix Tshisekedi, Mohamed Bazoum (Niger), Denis Sassou Nguesso (Republic of Congo), Ali Bongo Ondimba (Gabon), Mohamed Ould Ghazouani (Mauritania), Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé (Togo), João Lourenço (Angola), Faustin-Archange Touadéra (CAR), Andry Rajoelina (Madagascar) and Umaro Sissoco Embaló (Guinea-Bissau).
From elsewhere in Africa George Weah (Liberia), Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria), Abdel Fattah al-Sissi (Egypt), Julius Maada Bio (Sierra Leone), Hage Geingob (Namibia) and Filipe Nyusi (Mozambique) will be in attendance.
Ministers
Other presidents have instead opted to send their environment ministers. They include Macky Sall (Senegal), Paul Kagame (Rwanda, who is also expected to send his prime minister, Édouard Ngirente), Kaïs Saïed (Tunisia), Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire), Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (Burkina Faso), Patrice Talon (Benin) and Prithvirajsing Roopun (Mauritius).
Tunisia’s Head of State will be sending his foreign minister, Othman Jarandi, while Algeria’s Abdelmadjid Tebboune will send Ramtane Lamamra. King Mohammed VI will be represented by Leila Benali, his minister for energy transition and sustainable development.
On the institutional side, representatives from major international donors will also be present in the Scottish city. David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group, is expected to speak on the role of climate in relation to the supply and demand of energy in the world.
Senegal’s Makhtar Diop, who became the head of the International Finance Corporation – the WB’s main subsidiary dedicated to the private sector – on March 1, and IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva will also be in attendance.
Their counterparts from the continent are also expected, even though the introduction of drastic measures linked to the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a reduction in the size of the African delegations.
