Heads of government from Commonwealth countries will meet in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on Friday and Saturday to tackle challenges from climate change and poverty to the food security crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine. The Kigali summit was supposed to be held in 2020 but was twice delayed because of the COVID pandemic.
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 countries that evolved gradually from the British Empire and has existed in its modern form since 1949. It has a combined population of 2.5 billion.
Most heads of government of Commonwealth countries will be there, including Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, Britain’s Boris Johnson and Canada’s Justin Trudeau.
But South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, India’s Narendra Modi, Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif, Australia’s Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern are not expected, raising questions about the relevance of the organisation for those countries.
The Gambia, Pakistan and Maldives previously left but have rejoined the body.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
