Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly will attend on Sunday the African Union’s (AU) 14th Extraordinary Session on silencing guns in Africa on behalf of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

Sunday’s session, which will be held via a videoconference, will see statements by AU Chairperson and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Zaki.

It will also include an update on the implementation of the 2020 AU theme of the year: “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conductive Conditions for Africa’s Development.”

The session will also witness statements by heads of state and government and an expected adoption of draft outcomes, including the adoption of the Johannesburg Declaration on Silencing the Guns in Africa.

The AU endorsed in 2019 the African Union Master Roadmap of Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa by year 2020.

This roadmap, developed by the AU Peace and Security Council, outlines a series of mechanisms to end the conflict on the continent by the target date.

Madbouly participated on Saturday in the AU’s 13th extraordinary summit on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

He renewed, in a speech during the virtual event, Egypt’s commitment to providing all forms of support to African countries to ensure the success of the AfCFTA.

The agreement establishing the AfCFTA, signed in March 2018 in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, came into effect on May 2019 during the Egyptian chairmanship of the AU.

33 African countries have ratified the AfCFTA agreement which aims to create a market of 1.27 billion consumers with a cumulative GDP of approximately $2.3-$3.4 trillion.