CHOGM preparations to proceed despite coronavirus outbreak
Friday, March 13, 2020

Preparations for Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will continue as planned despite the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in optimism that it will have been contained by June this year.

According to Rwanda Development Board Chief Executive, Clare Akamanzi, the government and private sector partners will not halt the planning and preparation process.

As the plans continue, she noted that they will keep monitoring developments on the virus's trends across the world to make further decisions.

The final decision will be made at the end of April.

A task force made up of government officials from different departments and supported by the Commonwealth secretariat is overseeing preparations for the summit scheduled for June.

The taskforce with an office at Camp Kigali is currently involved in coordinating affairs around the preparation of the summit including private sector involvement.

The meeting will have a number of side events including; Commonwealth Youth Forum, Commonwealth People’s Forum, Commonwealth Women’s Forum and Commonwealth Business Forum.

Akamanzi said that the forum has opportunities for the private sector including the provision of services, goods and supplies.