Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, Acting Assistant Secretary for African Affairs at the State Department
The Acting US Assistant Secretary of State ambassador Donald Yamamoto is scheduled to meet president Paul Kagame in Kigali next week.
In January 2018 Kagame will take over as president of African Union. He is currently leading the continental body’s institutional reforms, in order to wean it off aid dependence.
When Ambassador Yamamoto meets Kagame in Kigali on December 13-14, they’ll discuss Kagame’s term as AU head.
Rwanda will take over the leadership from Guinea on January 30, 2018. The President of Rwanda will then replace President Alpha Condé of Guinea for a period of one year.
It’ll be the first time that Rwanda chairs the Union since it was established in 2001 and launched in 2002 as African Union (AU), replacing the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
Kagame’s term is expected to see the block embarking on how to finance all of its activities instead of relying to foreign donors which hinders the speed and execution of planned agenda.
Ahead of Yamamoto’s meeting with Kagame, the US diplomat is having a heavy agenda through which he attended the Somalia Security Pact Review in Mogadishu yesterday December 4th.
“After Somalia, Yamamoto flew to Kenya to meet representatives of Kenya political forces and encourage all sides to participate in a national dialogue following the disputed presidential elections”, reads the announcement by the secretary of state spokesperson in a communiqué.
After Kenya, Yamamoto will meet with senior leaders of the Ethiopian government and of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from December 7-9th and discuss with them about regional concerns, including food security, peacekeeping and refugee matters.
Before he flies to meet Kagame, Ambassador Yamamoto will be in London to attend the gathering of P3 Africa Directors meeting on December 11-12th to discuss current policy issues with defense and development colleagues from France and the UK.
