MONTREAL, Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads to Africa Thursday, aiming to tighten relations as the country campaigns for a United Nations Security Council seat, his office said.
Trudeau is to visit Ethiopia and Senegal, as well as Germany, before his
trip ends on Feb 14.
In Addis Ababa he is to meet Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel
Peace Prize winner appointed after several years of anti-government protests, and Sahle-Work Zewde, the country’s first female president.
He will additionally meet leaders attending the African Union summit.
On the other side of the continent, in Senegal, he will meet President
Macky Sall and “participate in a series of events to further our two
countries’ already strong ties through La Francophonie,” his office said.
The final leg of the tour will take Trudeau to Germany for the Munich
Security Conference.
“As we pursue our candidacy for election to the United Nations Security
Council, we will continue to advance shared global interests, and unlock new opportunities for people and businesses in Canada and around the world,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
It added the visits “will focus on economic opportunity and prosperity,
climate change, democracy, and gender equality”.
Canada is seeking a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a
position it has not held since the year 2000. “In a rapidly changing world,
Canada needs to be a leader on the international stage,” Trudeau said in the
statement. — NNN-AGENCIES