BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman departed Tuesday on a historic visit to West Africa aimed at bolstering business ties between Lebanon and African states.
Sources at Rafik Hariri International Airport said Sleiman, along with wife Wafa, left the country on a private jet at 9:05 a.m.
Sleiman’s weeklong visit to Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire is a first for a Lebanese president.
He will be accompanied by some 60 people, according to a Baabda Palace source. The group includes prominent businessmen from the banking, advertising and industrial sectors, particularly those with investments in African countries, as well as security personnel and journalists.