President John Mahama has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the start of the 21st African Union Summit.

President Mahama will be taking part in activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the formation of the AU.

The President will use the opportunity to tell his colleague leaders the progress Ghana has made so far in governance. He will also brief the heads of state on the new vision for Africa.

The President and other government officials with him will from Friday morning be engaged in meetings drawn out by the AU to deliberate on issues affecting the continent.

The president is billed to make a statement at the plenary session of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and make another statement at the main session.

After the AU Summit, President Mahama is also scheduled to pay a state visit to France.

Thereafter, he will leave for Tokyo, Japan to attend the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).

Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, the Chief of Staff Prosper Douglas Bani, the Minister of Defence Mark Woyongo, the National Security Coordinator Lt Col Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Rear Admiral Mathew Quashie were at the Kotoka International Airport to see the President off on Thursday.

President Mahama was scheduled to attend the funeral of the Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe in his hometown of Ogidi in the east of Nigeria before proceeding to Ethiopia.

The 50th anniversary of the AU, which is expected to facilitate and celebrate African narratives of the past, will be anchored on the theme, "Pan Africanism and the African Renaissance".