AU chairperson says Africa a ‘collateral victim’ of Ukraine war

African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat holds a joint news conference after an international conference on the Sahel in Brussels, Belgium on February 23, 2018 [Eric Vidal/Reuters]

Africa has become a “collateral victim” of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, further denting the continent’s ability to fulfil its “enormous promise and potential”, top officials of the African Union and United Nations have said in messages for Africa Day.

Every year, May 25 is marked as Africa Day, the anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on May 25, 1963, which became the African Union in July 2002.