Activities marking the day will be officially launched on May 25 at the MINREX.

The Secretary General of the African Group of Heads of Diplomatic Missions in Yaounde who doubles as the Algerian ambassador to cameroon, Milat Toufik, has unveiled the programme for this year’s Africa Day on May 25, 2012. Milat Toufik in a press conference at the Algerian Embassy in Yaounde May 23, told journalists that though Africa is perceived by many as a continent rocked by socio-economic and political crises, it was time to denounce such discernment and celebrate the ingenuity of the people and their unique achievements.

By organising a week of activities dedicated to the continent, Heads of Diplomatic Missions in Cameroon, intend to celebrate Africa in its entirety, the role its leaders play in giving the continent the image it deserves though faced by difficulty. It is a continent of hardworking people rocked by pandemics. Nevertheless, there is need to promote Africa’s solidarity, Milat Toufik stressed.

For five days running beginning May 25, the day the African Union was created and eventually observed as Africa Day, developing relations between African countries accredited to Cameroon will be reviewed. Challenges faced by the continent will however be the point of focus when experts meet to chart the way forward for the continent. The concertations between government and the group will x-ray themes such as security and the role of small and medium-size enterprises in the execution of giant projects in the country. The week-long events placed under the coordination of the Ministry of External Relations will also seek ways of promoting activities of the African Union while putting more emphasis on the socio-political and economic growth of the continent.

Activities will be officially launched on May 25 at the Ministry of External Relations (MINREX) followed by a weekend full of sporting events. Draws for the matches at the press conference by the Ambassadors of Chad and Congo to Cameroon keenly observed by some members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of some ministries, showed that a team from MINREX will lock horns with a team from the European Group while the African Group will face a team from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC) for semi- final. The week will open with a quiz at the University campus where students will be questioned on their knowledge of the continent and the African Union. A lecture will hold at IRIC on Tuesday on relations between Africa and China. Activities marking the event end on May 31, 2012.