Bulgaria’s Ambassador in Abuja Yanko Yankov was elected first President of Francophone Ambassadors Group in Nigeria, the Foreign Ministry in Sofia said on its webstite on Monday.

The Group, which over 40 ambassadors have joined so far, will seek to facilitate the popularization of French language teaching and to improve access to French-language literature in Nigeria, which is the world’s fourth most populous English-speaking country.

The Group will also promote and assert multilateralism, democracy, human rights, solidarity, inter-cultural dialogue, language and culture diversity, which are values of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) and are particularly relevant in Western Africa.

“Ambassador Yordanov’s election as President of the Francophone Ambassadors Group in Nigeria further establishes Bulgaria’s image as an active member of the Francophone family and a State with a universally acknowledged role as a motor force of the Francophone dynamism in Central and Eastern Europe, but is also ready to contribute to the implementation of the global vision in the OIF 2023-2030 Strategic Framework.

In 2023, in which Bulgaria marks the 30th anniversary of joining the OIF, the Bulgarian films The Path of Light and The Infinite Garden will be presented during the Francophonie Week in Abuja and Lagos (March 19-26), along with a three-language exhibition titled “Bulgarian Sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List”.

Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Iotova represented her country at the 18th Francophonie Summit in Djerba, Tunisia, in November 2022.