Guinea Bissau Carlos Lopes, 58, has just been appointed High Representative of the African Union in negotiations with the European Union post-Cotonou Agreement.
The former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa will have to manage relations between the African continent and its European partner.
The appointment of this progressive economist, recorded during the last AU summit held on 1 and 2 July 2018 in Nouakchott, offers a unique opportunity to establish coherence between the major inter-African trade treaties (case of the ZLECA) and agreements with Europe that had previously been in competition with, or even in contradiction with, the desire for integration displayed at the African Union summits.
