Italy's foreign affairs ministry will on Thursday host an event to mark Africa Day 2019 marking the 55-member African Union's 55th birthday and aimed at strengthening ties with African countries, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry's director general for globalization and global Issues, Luca Sabbatucci, will open the event and will read out a message from Italy's president Sergio Mattarella, according to the statement.
Speeches will follow from deputy foreign minister Emanuela Del Re, Burkina Faso's minister for women and the family, Helene Marie Laurance Ilboudo, by Equatorial Guinea's ambassador Cecilia Obono Ndong and by Egypt's ambassador Hisham Mohamed Moustafa Badr, representing the African Union presidency.
The event's closing remarks will be made by Gigi Pezzoli, curator of the 'Ex Africa - Stories and identities of a universal art' exhibition taking place at the Bologna's Archaelogical Museum through 8 September.
The exhibition is one of the most important African art exhibitions ever to be held in Italy, the statement said.
