Gabon and Togo joined the Commonwealth on Saturday, becoming the latest nations with no historic ties to Britain to enter the English-speaking club headed by Queen Elizabeth II.
The 54-nation group of mostly former British colonies accepted Togo and Gabon’s application for membership on the final day of its leadership summit in Rwanda.
While speaking at the closing press conference of the summit, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said, “We have admitted Gabon and Togo as new members, and we all welcome them to the Commonwealth family”.
The French-speaking West African states are the first new members to join the Commonwealth since Rwanda in 2009.
Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said membership opened the door to 2.5 billion consumers in the Commonwealth realm and offered new education opportunities for his countrymen.
“Togo’s membership is motivated by the desire to expand its diplomatic, political, and economic network… as well as to get closer to the English-speaking world,” he told newsmen.
Mr Dussey added that this move also allowed the small and developing nation of 8.5 million to redefine bilateral relations with the UK outside the European Union in the aftermath of Brexit.
Togolese political scientist Mohamed Madi Djabakate said the move would prove popular as French influence in Togo was often blamed for its economic woes.
Gabonese President Ali Bongo said his country was “making history” by joining the group.
“Sixty-two years after its Independence, our country is getting ready to breakthrough with a new chapter,” Bongo said in a statement on Twitter.
Their admission is a boon for the Commonwealth at a time of renewed discussion over its relevance and purpose.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the interest from new members proved the organisation was alive and well.
But it could also raise questions about the Commonwealth’s espoused commitment to good governance and democracy as fundamental values of its charter.
Oil-rich Gabon, a former French colony, has been ruled by the Bongo family for 55 years.
Togo, a former German then French colony, has also been under dynastic rule for more than half a century.
Born out of the British Empire, the Commonwealth represents one-third of humanity and spans nations across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
It would be recalled that Mozambique — a former Portuguese colony — became the first Commonwealth member without historic links to Britain when it joined in 1995.
Punch/Maxwell Oyekunle
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