Said Chakwera: “As Africans, we can take special pride in the progress we have made through the African Union to advance the cause of our common unity, security and prosperity.

“But we must never forget that ours is a fragile continent susceptible to disturbances from within and shocks from without. As such, creating the Africa we want must be a collective effort which means we need the African Union now more than ever before to maximise our resilience as Africans."

The President emphasised the importance of unity as the Continent advances the aspirations of its people.

"To open the gates of trade, we must unite. To build bridges of peace and security, we must unite. To water the seeds of democracy, we must unite. To root out corruption from our States, we must unite. To protect our people from pandemics, we must unite. To leverage the youths’ dividend in our arts, culture and heritage, we must unite. Let us unite and build the Africa we want," said Dr Chakwera.

Africa Day is commemorated annually on May 25. The day, formerly known as African Freedom Day and African Liberation Day, is the annual commemoration of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on May 5, 1963.

The organisation was later transformed into the African Union on July 9, 2002, in Durban, South Africa, but the holiday continues to be celebrated on May 25. It is celebrated in various countries on the African continent as well as around the world.

This year it is being commemorated under the theme of ‘Arts, Culture And Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want,’