French FM to visit Central African Republic, Ethiopia

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will start an official visit to the Central African Republic (CAR) and Ethiopia on Monday to discuss issues of mutual concern.

In statements on Friday, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said Fabius, during his fifth visit to Bangui in the last two years, will discuss with the CAR President Catherine Samba Panza preparations for the upcoming elections in the African country.

Also in the visit, the French foreign minister will conclude an agreement with CAR Prime Minister Mahamat Kamoun to donate the African country a sum of 8 million euros, that will be mostly used to fund the planned elections, Nadal added.

Fabius will also meet with personnel of the French Sangaris force, deployed in the CAR since 2013 to support the restive African country's stability.

In Addis Ababa, Fabius, accompanied by Minister of State for Development and Francophonie Annick Girardin, will attend the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development.

This is the first of three conferences in 2015 that aim to restate the world’s vision of shared, sustainable prosperity, and re-energize efforts towards achieving it.

The aim of the conference is to agree on the financial and non-financial means of implementation that will support the post-2015 development agenda.

The post-2015 framework will succeed the Millennium Development Goals and integrate the follow-up to the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, both processes merging into the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals.