Togo and Gabon become Commonwealth Association members.

• The Commonwealth of Nations now has 56 member nations after the admission of Togo and Gabon.
• The two historically French-speaking nations were formally admitted to the union at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which was presided over by Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali, the country’s capital.
• According to Patricia Scotland, the organization’s secretary-general, admission is determined by evaluations of a number of standards, including the democratic process, effective leadership, and rule of law.

KEY POINTS:

• The choice was taken following the heads of state and government’s consultation at the meeting.
• Never were the two African nations British colonies.
• According to Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, the goal of the country’s membership in the Commonwealth is to broaden its network of diplomatic, political, and commercial relations.
• According to Michael Moussa Adamo, the foreign minister of Gabon, joining would strengthen economic diversification while retaining ties with France.
• President Ali Bongo of Gabon thinks modernization is a goal of joining the Commonwealth.
• While Togo, a country in West Africa, began the process of legally entering the Commonwealth in 2014, the Central African nation’s formal application procedure began five years earlier.