Ethiopia: New African Union Building Inauguration Ceremony
Built on a 110,000 sq of land donated by Ethiopian government to the AU, the over 100 meters tall new African Union Conference Center (AUCC) financed by the Chinese government was inaugurated on Saturday January 28, 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
With a budget of $200 million dollars, around 350 Chinese and Ethiopian workers started the construction project in June 2009. The AUCC is a standard international conference center and it has 2,500 seat big conference hall, a 650 seats medium conference hall, five press conference rooms, two VIP rooms, water fountains, a garden, theatre, parking area, libraries and medical centers among many other facilities. Several African leaders and dignitaries attended the inauguration ceremony Saturday. Ethiopian Prime Minister hailed the new building as “a symbol of the rise of Africa.”
The building also has a helicopter landing pad so that African leaders can be flown from Bole International Airport directly to the AU building to avoid traffic. The office tower next to the conference halls will become the new home of about 1,000 African Union staff members.
The inauguration ceremony was followed by the laying of the first stone of the AU Memorial for Human Rights and the unveiling of the Kwame Nkrumah Monument, in honor of the first Ghana president. Along with Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, President Kwame Nkrumah was one of the founders of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor of the AU. Underneath the golden statue of Kwame Nkrumah is a biblical quote and the inscription: “Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God, Africa must unite,” a statement on the founding of OAU, the predecessor of the AU, the Organisation of African Unity in May 1963. Former Ghana President Jerry John Rawlings and President Mills were guests of honor at the ceremony.
African Union leaders meet on Sunday, January 29, 2012 for the 18th African Union Summit and the first summit since the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi, who wanted to change AU headquarters from Addis Ababa to Sirte town of Libya. Gadaffi was a strong promoter of the idea of the “United States of Africa (USA),” a concept first initiated by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1964. During the 2012 Summit, AU leaders will vote to select the next Chairperson of the 54-nation AU executive council.
South Africa’s Minister Ms. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is the main challenger to unseat the current AU executive Chairperson Mr. Jean Ping, the former foreign minister of Gabon.
Source: The Ethiopiantimes