ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, March 18, 2016/APO (African Press Organization)/ —
The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, appoints Ambassador Abdou Abarry, a Diplomat from the Republic of Niger, as her Special Representative and Head of the AU Office in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Ambassador Abarry succeeds Ambassador Emmanuel Mendoume Nze of Gabon.
Prior to his current appointment as the AU Liaison Officer to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ambassador Abarry, a career diplomat, served his country in positions including Ambassador of Niger to Belgium accredited to the European Commission, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), Luxembourg, Netherlands, Greece, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland. While serving as Ambassador in Belgium, he participated in several international election observation missions to ACP member states. He was also part of several fact-finding and preventive diplomacy missions to ACP member states, such as those to Togo in 2005, Mauritania in 2005, and to Djibouti, Tchad and Soudan in 2007. Prior to these, he served as Counsellor in the Embassy of Niger in New York, and from 1999 to 2003 he was Diplomatic Advisor to the President of his country.
The Chairperson of the Commission expresses her gratitude to the outgoing Special Representative, Ambassador Emmanuel Mendoume Nze of Gabon for his able and diligent service to the Commission in strengthening the collaboration between the Commission and the DRC.
