If you have ideas or suggestions for the site, please let us know.

If you have ideas or suggestions for the site, please let us know.

The African Union summit enters its second day in Accra, Ghana, focusing on the idea of a pan-African government. Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is championing the idea, but many African leaders do not support his initiative. Some leaders fear the issue will push the crises in Zimbabwe, Somalia and Darfur off the agenda. Ghana’s President John Kufuor said in his opening speech that the question of unifying Africa was not in doubt, but the key issue was how to attain it. “I am confident that at the end of our deliberations, we should be able to arrive at a common understanding on the sort of continental government we want for ourselves, and a roadmap with timelines on its realisation,” he said. But some leaders believe that by putting so much energy into the unity debate, urgent issues are being neglected. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu, has put his name to a petition calling for the presidents to focus their attention on the conflict in the Sudanese region of Darfur. The petition says African heads of state have a decision to make - be weak and turn away while innocent people suffer, or be strong and take responsibility for protecting them. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is missing the summit following the death of a close aide in a car crash, His absence will not help change the minds of those who doubt all the African leaders are willing to work closely together, let alone form a united government, reports the BBC’s Will Ross in Accra. Financial controversy On the eve of the three-day summit, foreign ministers heard critical reports on the way the AU handles money. A report by the international auditing firm Ernst and Young found that the African Union could not account for almost $3m it spent on a conference for African intellectuals. The firm also said the AU could not verify how much it paid members of the Pan-African Parliament, an AU body. Another report, by AU financial experts, showed that only seven of the 53 member states were up-to-date with their payments to the AU. This summit is the ninth since the AU was created five years ago. “For Africa, the matter is to be or not to be,” President Gaddafi told students at the University of Ghana on Saturday. “My vision is to wake up the African leaders to unify our continent,” he said, describing himself as a “soldier for Africa”. The idea of a single pan-African government was first promoted by Kwame Nkrumah, who led Ghana to independence in 1957, and the Libyan leader has long been an enthusiastic proponent of the idea.

The African Union summit is opening in Accra, Ghana, focusing this year on the idea of a pan-African government. Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is championing the idea, but correspondents say many African leaders do not support his initiative. There are fears the issue will push the crises in Zimbabwe, Somalia and Darfur off the agenda. Foreign ministers meeting on the eve of the summit heard critical reports on the way the AU handles money. A report by the international auditing firm Ernst and Young found that the African Union could not account for almost $3m it spent on a conference for African intellectuals. The firm also said the AU could not verify how much it paid members of the Pan-African Parliament, an AU body. Another report, by AU financial experts, showed that only seven of the 53 member states were up-to-date with their payments to the AU. This summit is the ninth since the AU was created five years ago. ‘Soldier for Africa’ “For Africa, the matter is to be or not to be,” President Gaddafi told students at the University of Ghana on the eve of the summit. “My vision is to wake up the African leaders to unify our continent,” he said, describing himself as a “soldier for Africa”. The idea of a single pan-African government was first promoted by Kwame Nkrumah, who led Ghana to independence in 1957, and the Libyan leader has long been an enthusiastic proponent of the idea. President Gaddafi arrived in Ghana after a week-long tour of West Africa, during he visited Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Liberia.

Abu Dhabi,27th June 2007

The Ambassador of the Republic of Djibouti in the Unied Arab Emirates H.E. Mr. Idriss Ahmed Chirwa and his wife Mrs. Saada Douksieh held a reception last night at Hilton Hotel in Abu Dhabi to celebrate the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the National Day of their country which coinsides today the 27th of June 1977 .

All the heads of missions of the diplomatic community & their spouses plus high ranking officials of the UAE government in general and in particular the Djibouti community living in Abu Dhabi attended. Members of the Somali cultural Association also partcipated the event in full .

As was the custom, the national anthems of both the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Djibouti were played, and Ambassador Chirwa with the guest of honour Minister cut the cake infront of all the guests.

Abu Dhabi,27th June 2007

The Dean of the African Diplomatic Group, Ambassor Cheikh Tidiane Sy of Senegal held yesterday noon at Abu Dhabi Hilton Hotel (Terrace Hall ) a farewell cocktail reception for departing colleagues, His Excellency Osman Mohamed Omar, Ambassador of Eretrea and His Excellecy Yousoufu S. Toure, Charge D’Affairs a.i. of the Republic of Benin respectively .

The Dean of the African Diplomatic group made a brief statement about how he regards the high esteem of the departing colleagues, their personality and their working relationship with the rest of the group and as habitual presented each one with a memorable gift from the group .

The Departing Ambassadors thanked the group for the generous gesture & gift and hoped they will have another opportunity to see each other again and meet in another capital city .

The launch of the new web site (www.africame.org) is a wonderful news and opportunity for all African communities residing in the Middle East to receive relevant information in general and in particular to those living in the United Arab Emirates .

From What we gathered,This Site offers online information about Embassies and their Consulates and NGOs operating in the Middle East region. Consular and visa forms and other documents will be available online.Location and contac phones plus other particular information of each mission can also be viewed on this site.

Although we understand that this is a new site which needs considerable effort on the part of the web master to constantly update the page till it becomes fully established, nevertheless the selection of the Somali Embassy in Abu Dhabi on its first presentation should be taken as a great leap forward for the somali community in the Emirates.

Salutaions to you, the webmaster of africame and many thanks to the Somali Embassy officials for this wonderful achievement.We also congratulate the sponsorship of CRD of Somalia . Keep up the good work.