• Submitted by: admin
• Africa
• international
• 05 / 26 / 2010

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HAVANA, Cuba, May 25 (acn) The Cuban Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN) ratified on Tuesday the island’s interest in further strengthening cooperation and friendly ties with all African peoples.

The statement was part of a communiqué issued at the UN headquarters on Tuesday on the occasion of Africa Day.

Africa Day is the annual commemoration of the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on May 25, 1963, when leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In 1991, the OAU established the African Economic Community (AEC), and in 2002 the OAU established its own successor, the African Union (AU or UA). However, the name and date of Africa Day has been retained as a celebration of African unity.

The Cuban document notes that 17 African countries celebrate in 2010 the 50th anniversary of their independence.

They are Cameroon, Senegal, Togo, Madagascar, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire), Somalia, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Mali, Nigeria, Mauritania and Ivory Coast.
 
Source: ACN