Brussels, 12 April 2017/ ACP: The ACP Committee of Ambassadors welcomed their newest member, the new Ambassador of Burkina Faso, H.E. Mrs Jacqueline Marie Zaba Nikiéma on Wednesday 12 April at the ACP headquarters.

A career diplomat, Ambassador Zaba Nikiéma served in her country’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs for many years before joining the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). She served as Special Representative of the ECOWAS Commission President in Guinea, where she was heavily involved in the political dialogue process in the Republic of Guinea.

In her inaugural address to fellow African, Caribbean and Pacific envoys, Ambassador Zaba Nikiéma welcomed recent major events in Burkina Faso co-organised with the ACP, including the Cotton Summit marking the conclusion of the ACP-EU Partnership on Cotton, at which the President of Burkina Faso agreed to be spokesperson for the meeting to other leaders and partners, as well as the Panafrican Film Festival FESPACO, where a joint ACP-EU prize of €15,000 was awarded to three winning works.

The Ambassador also recognised the current challenges and opportunities faced by the ACP Group in terms of forging a future as a dynamic and effective force in the international arena, including negotiating future relations with the European Union when the current ACP-EU partnership closes in 2020. With the UK’s decision to leave the EU making the situation more complex, Ambassador Zaba-Nikiéma called for strengthened South-South and Intra-ACP cooperation.

She confirmed her delegation’s commitment and contribution to achieving the objectives of the ACP Group of States.

– ACP Press