South African President Thabo Mbeki to Participate in German President Horst Köhler's Africa Initiative, Bonn, Germany, Saturday, 5 - Sunday, 6 November 2005

Tshwane - South African President Thabo Mbeki will depart from South Africa on Friday, 4 November 2005 for Germany where he will participate in German President Horst Köhler's "Partnership with Africa" Initiative in Bonn, scheduled from Saturday - Sunday 5 - 6 November 2005.

President Mbeki's participation in the Forum comes within the context of South Africa's objective to consolidate partnerships with countries of the North in order to assist in creating the conditions for the developmental agenda of Africa in particular and the South in general to be achieved.

Other participants in the "Partnership with Africa" Initiative will include Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo; Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi; former President and now special envoy for the African Union, Joachim Chissano; chair of the Commission of the African Union, Prof Alpha Omar Konare; Gertrude Mongella, President of the Pan-African Parliament;and Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Author and 1986 Nobel Literature Prize Laureate.

Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will participate in a panel discussion on Sunday, 6 November 2005 entitled, "Partnership with Africa - Concept and Reality."

Other themes to be explored during the forum include, "The Partnership Principle - A Critical Assessment," and "Partnership in Practice - the Peers, the Processes, the Policies."

President Mbeki will return to South Africa on Monday, 7 November 2005.

Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853

Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Tshwane
0001

3 November 2005