Food security tests Africa’s unity agenda

In emphasising fair and participatory collective governance and decision processes, as a basis for collective actions in all sectors and spheres of society, we have, as the African Union Commission and indeed the African Union also placed a very high premium on regional and inter-regional collective action.

We are in no doubt that the challenges we face and the future we want will require more effective inter-regional cooperation.

Heads of State have made our commitment to Afro-Arab Cooperation very clear at the last AU Summit, by affirming that it was most important that we move forward with the arrangements for the 2nd Afro-Arab Summit.

It has been a very long time since the initial Summit in 1977.

This by no means indicates a lack of appreciation for the importance of engaged relationships between Africa and the Arab world.

Over the past three decades, cooperation has always proceeded undeterred on a number of fronts and we have worked closely with the League of Arab States in our collective international engagements.

In all of our joint initiatives, we fully recognise that cooperation is not a matter of choice for us, but a reality that we live with.

Indeed, we are bound by our geographic proximity and historical, linguistic, religious and cultural ties, and are also living witnesses to an era when there is ever increasing interactions between our people.

Afro-Arab Co-operation has always been a continuing element of the overall agenda of the AU and indeed has over the past years reflected itself in, for example, the organisation of the Afro-Arab Trade Fairs and Business Weeks and the established Joint Institute in Mali for cultural exchanges and research in the two regions.

Investment strategies

By affirming the need for the 2nd Summit, Heads of State and Government have clearly indicated that the time has come for us to appreciate what has unfolded and establish the path into a common future through highest-level consultations.

The Summit will thus come, not as the beginning of a journey, but as reflective impetus for our continued journey and actions in areas of common concern.

The choice of the current domain of intervention is very apt and most timely as it resonates with the current shift in the global international circles that are now devoting focused attention to support Africa in boosting its agricultural growth.

As the bulk of the African workforce is premised on agri-business, it is imperative that all hands are on deck to strengthen the region’s effort in attaining food security and poverty alleviation.

Indeed, a continent like Africa needs a strong agriculture-based sector to catalyse its socio-economic growth and investment strategies.