By Africa has been plagued with geopolitical violence that is persistent and detrimental to the economy of the continent and its progress. Though there has been some economic progress made in Africa through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), violence remains a threat to the growth of Africa.
African Heads of States and dignitaries gathered at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) on 17 February 2024. The President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, H.E Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, and the Prime Minister of Palestine H.E Mohammad Shyyyeh, also formed part of the session.
Given the agenda 2063 to achieve peace in Africa amongst other things, the ongoing violence in Eastern DRC and coup d’états trends on the continent threaten the realization of the agenda 2063. Heads of States discussed the pressing matters and concluded that they need to be attended to the peace keeping mission urgently.
The session discussed the prevailing poverty on the continent and unemployment, the economic status of member states and Africa; the empowerment of women and the youth amongst others.
Addressing the assembly, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed concern over the challenges facing the continent, including peace, political and institutional instability, climate change, economic governance deficits, integration challenges, poverty, and the marginalization of women and youth in development and leadership processes.
The Chairperson, after highlighting the challenges, urged all member states to act urgently on these matters.
“We are now strongly challenged by the urgency of clear positions on this set of issues, at the heart of the emergence of our organization and our continent. The strengthening of our unity and the intensification of our struggles require a new start, a true renaissance of nationalism and Pan Africanism,” said the AUC Chairperson Moussa Faki.
However, Africa is not all bad, there a number of things going right for the continent. Faki gave report and commended the progress made in reforming some institutions and the integration of regions through the AfCFTA. Faki said Africa is progressing well highlighting that there has been some peace funds raised, Africa is speaking in one voice on global issues including climate change and the AU finding a seat at to the G20.
