President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has arrived Bissau, capital of Republic of Guinea-Bissau, for the 63rd Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The visit was made known in a statement by his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, on Saturday.
President Tinubu also used the opportunity of the summit to visit the Nigerian contingent stationed in the country under the ECOWAS Stabilisation Force.
The 63rd Ordinary Session summit, which will open on Sunday July 9, 2023, will be the first international engagement of the President within the African continent since he assumed office on May 29, 2023.
President Tinubu’s whose plane touched down at the International Airport in Bissau at exactly 5.30pm local time will be the centre of attraction at the summit.
The 16 regional leaders are expected to address memoranda on pressing sub-regional issues including Report of the 50th Ordinary Session of the Mediation and Security Council (MSC) covering security challenges faced by the member countries, Report of the 90th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Council of Ministers on the financial situation of the body and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Other matters slated for consideration by the leaders are the Report on the status of Transition in the Republics of Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, Memoranda on the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme and the Report on Obstacles to Free Movement of Goods on the Abidjan- Lagos corridor.