President Ruto departs for Angola to attend the AU–EU Reforms Summit. Photo Courtesy 
By Andrew Mbuva
President William Ruto has this afternoon departed for Luanda, Angola, for two high-level engagements that will shape Africa’s future cooperation with Europe and advance the continent’s institutional reforms.
The Head of State will attend the 7th African Union–European Union Summit and later co-chair the Second Session of the Ad Hoc Oversight Committee on African Union Institutional Reform, where he serves as the AU Champion for Institutional Reform.
At the AU–EU Summit, President Ruto will join other African and European leaders in reviewing two decades of Africa-Europe cooperation. The discussions will focus on shifting geopolitical dynamics, emerging security threats, funding gaps, and long-term development priorities.
Kenya is expected to push for predictable financing for African-led peace operations, deeper counter-terrorism collaboration, enhanced border security, and stronger joint climate action.
On the sidelines of the summit, President Ruto will hold bilateral meetings with European leaders aimed at expanding trade, strengthening investment ties, and accelerating the implementation of the Kenya–EU Economic Partnership Agreement.
He will also promote opportunities anchored in Kenya’s economic transformation blueprint, including large-scale irrigation projects backed by mega dams, new investments in clean and industrial energy, and major infrastructure upgrades involving roads, ports, airports, and railway systems.
President Ruto will thereafter co-chair the AU Institutional Reform Ad Hoc Committee of Heads of State, where he will update his peers on progress made in implementing wide-ranging reform mandates.
These reforms seek to enhance the Union’s governance systems, improve continental peace and security frameworks, and reinforce the AU’s financial autonomy.
According to State House, the reforms being pursued are designed to strengthen African unity and equip the continent to respond decisively to an increasingly volatile global environment.
The President is accompanied by senior government officials and is expected to underscore Kenya’s commitment to playing a leading role in Africa’s diplomatic, economic, and security agenda.
