President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak via telephone to two African leaders Monday, Feb. 13.
Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on vacation in the United Kingdom, and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma are the two leaders in question. The U.S. president’s first African engagement was a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh Al-Sisi.
A journalist with The Globe and Mail, Geoffery York, referred to the sessions as Trump’s “Africa Day.” The call to Buhari will be at 9:45 a.m. EST, which translates to 3:45 p.m. Abuja time.
No details of what the meetings will center on have been released yet. The two presidents head Africa’s largest economies. Both also were on very good terms with the erstwhile administration of Barack Obama.
Trump scheduled to speak by phone to Zuma today at 5:10 pm, after speaking to Buhari first.
— Geoffrey York (@geoffreyyork) February 13, 2017
It will be recalled that Trump’s first physical meeting with an African leader was reported to be with Republic of Congo’s Sassou Nguesso in January days before he took office. The information relayed by Congo’s government spokesperson was disputed by the Trump team later.
Thierry Moungalla disclosed via Twitter that there was a meeting scheduled between Sassou and Trump. He said at the time that the meeting between the two leaders was to center around Libya’s security situation and other African issues but failed to disclose any further details.
Trump officially took office as President on January 20 after winning the polls in November 2016. He has since ruffled African feathers by his travel ban, which affected three African countries — Libya, Somalia and Sudan.
The ban, however, been suspended by a U.S. federal judge.
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