Africa-Press – Angola. The African Union Chair, João Lourenço, acknowledged on Friday (22) that the organization’s Agenda 2063 has received special attention from Japan in terms of collaboration and the provision of resources for its implementation.
The Angolan statesman was speaking at the closing ceremony of the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9), held from August 20 to 22 in Yokohama, Tokyo’s outskirts.
He stated that the main and important outcome of the discussions at this meeting was the alignment of positions between Africans and Japanese regarding the priorities for bilateral collaboration to achieve the objectives established in the AU’s Agenda 2063.
He considered the debates that took place in the different working sessions to be “fruitful,” as they “contributed immensely” to establishing a realistic vision of ways to move forward with the idea of co-creating solutions to guarantee food security, improve education, and health systems, and strengthen infrastructure.
He indicated that the broad convergence of opinions and thought expressed in the Final Declaration of this Conference is an indicator that, between Africa and Japan, there is a long road already traveled with plausible results and a path yet to be followed, with infinite prospects for implementing far-reaching development initiatives and projects.
“These goals are based on very solid foundations that have been built since 1993, and which now, 32 years later, have been expanded with the signing, during this Conference, of “several dozen legal instruments that cover various sectors of national life in almost all the African countries present here,” he said.
According to the Angolan Head of State, all the commitments made at this important Forum have the virtue of also contributing to the process of regional integration in Africa through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He stated that the latter will, in turn, have an unquestionable role to play in Africa’s development efforts and in the contribution it can make to strengthening the global economy, mainly when peace and total stability on the continent can be guaranteed.
For João Lourenço, the complete stabilization of the continent is a fundamental premise for this grand design to acquire the nedded dynamism and speed in order to achieve its proposed objectives.
For this reason, he once again advocated for coordinated action by Africans and their international partners, including Japan, in leading peace processes to end conflicts in Africa and around the world.
He noted that during TICAD9, it became clear that the imperative of such coordination at the African level with international partners, “is an unavoidable priority.”
For TICAD’s next Edition, he announced that the event will be held in an African country, without giving further details.
“On behalf of Africa, I thank the Japanese authorities (…) for all the commitment they have put into holding this Conference (…) so that we can reach this moment with good results and very encouraging prospects for the tenth TICAD, which Africa will have the pleasure and privilege of hosting in three years”, he said.
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