Osinbajo leaves for ACP summit in Papua New Guinea

Abuja – The 8th Summit of Heads of State of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States begins in Papua New Guinea on Monday, a statement said in Abuja on Sunday.. The statement from the Spokesman for the Vice-President, Mr Laolu Akande, said that President Muhammadu Buhari would be represented by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, at the two-day event. Osinbajo left Abuja early on Sunday and is expected to return on Thursday, Akande said.. According to the statement, Osinbajo will join leaders from 78 other countries to address the summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, which will discuss the future of the ACP Group. The discussions will focus on the group as a “revitalised cohesive force advocating the interests of member-states in the international arena,” the statement said. It also said former President Olusegun Obasanjo was expected to participate in the summit to present a report on the future of the Group as the Leader of its Eminent Persons Group,. According to Akande, a statement from the Secretariat of the organisation states that discussions at the summit will review recent key international developments. The statement listed the developments to include Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, issues of migration, climate change and the fight against terrorism. “One of the main objectives of the ACP group is the “sustainable development of its member-states and their gradual integration into the global economy. “It entails making poverty reduction a matter of priority and establishing a new, fairer and more equitable world order,’’ the statement said.. The ACP is an organisation created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. It is composed of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states, with all, except Cuba, as signatories to the Cotonou Agreement, also known as the ‘ACP-EC Partnership Agreement’, which binds them to the European Union. There are 48 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific in the ACP.