At the 32nd Africa Union heads of summit opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this morning President Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt took the presidency of the Union from President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
On a rotation basis every year the African Union changes its president. Since the establishment of the then Organization of African Union in 1973, now called African Union, Africa has managed to achieve a lot”… Africa managed to get rid of colonization even though its consequences are still there,” said the new president of AU.
“..We will be able to achieve the goals we set to ourselves,” he said, indicating the need for African solution for Africa problems and stressing the need to avoid external interference.
President al Sisi also stressed the need to address refugees crisis in Africa and importance of creating jobs for African youth, which represent over half the people in the continent.
“…We need to address the root causes of crisis…We have to saw the seeds of brighter future,” he said, stressing the need for fair representation of Africans in the United Nations.
Modernization of infrastructure also needs working with global partners including the private sector and global financial institutions to boost investment in Africa. “We need to expedite implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA),” President Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi said.