Without Covid-19 disruptions, business and government leaders from across the Commonwealth would have convened in Kigali, Rwanda this week for the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The Lord Mayor of London and I were looking forward to participating in the Business Forum side events.

The theme for this year’s postponed Commonwealth gathering - "Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming” - becomes even more relevant and essential given the health and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With a powerful trade and investment agenda and 19 member states located in Africa, the vision and intent of the Commonwealth matters to me, in my role as Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Africa.

I have written before about how increased Commonwealth collaboration on trade and investment can deliver shared prosperity and support inclusive and sustainable growth.

The key themes for the coming Summit, around innovation and transformation, go to the very heart of how we can choose to (re)build our world and our economies from the ravages of Covid-19 in ways that: