Western President Amit Chakma will join David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and a delegation of Canadian public and private sector leaders on state visits to the Republic of Ghana, May 13-16, and the Republic of Botswana, May 16-19.
“It’s a tremendous honour to accompany the Governor General on this outreach to Africa on behalf of all Canadians,” said Chakma, who also serves as World University Service of Canada chair. “Western University has many important institutional connections and partnerships on the African continent, and I look forward to this opportunity to raise the profile of Canada’s bilateral cooperation initiatives in the countries we will be visiting.”
Chakma joins a delegation of Canadian public and private sector leaders in the fields of business, education, innovation, social justice and development who will share their experiences and knowledge with their counterparts and play an active role in highlighting Canada’s involvement in the two host countries.
The delegation is flush with other Western ties, including Perrin Beatty, BA’71, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer, and Craig Kielburger, LLD’11, Free the Children co-Founder. Paul Davidson, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada president; Derek Evans, Cuso International executive director; Jean Lebel, International Development Research Centre acting president; and Rodney N. Thomas, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada first vice-president, will also be joining the trip.
Follow the state visits online at the Governor General’s website, where speeches and photos will be posted.