Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana along with Burundi and Senegal have been assigned to the African Union (AU) Bureau of the Assembly for this year.
The bureau’s primary functions include determination of policies and monitoring their implementation, establishment of priorities as well adoption of the annual programme.
The pronouncement was made Saturday during the opening session of the 36th AU summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
Still at the summit, Comoros President Azali Assoumane took over the AU chairmanship from President Macky Sall of Senegal.
The outgoing chairperson called for the establishment of a standby force to stop the surge of unconstitutional governments within the continent.
The Senegalese president also called for acceleration of the implementation of the African Continent Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) which he said would help deal with food insecurity and many other issues haunting the 1.4 billion Africans.
Mr Sall commended the African Development Bank for mobilising resources aimed at unlocking Africa’s agricultural potential.
His successor, President Assoumane, said world financial institutions should consider cancelling African countries’ debts to avoid worsening an already bad situation.
The incoming AU chairperson expressed happiness that 46 member states had ratified the AfCFTA agreement and called on the remaining few to follow suit.
Africans were pinning their hopes on the flagship agreement which was considered a game changer, he stated.
Mr Assoumane promised to follow in his predecessor‘s footsteps by advocating for a better Africa.
Meanwhile African Union Commission chairperson, Moussa Faki has decried the fact that tough economic times had negatively impacted on the continent’s growth.
Many African nations were saddled with debts due to high interest rates from international financial institutions, he said.
Ethiopian prime minister Mr Abiy Ahmed said although a lot of strides had been made in the improvement of Africa’s socio-economic landscape, a lot still needed to be done.
The time, he said, had come for Africa to unlock its potential to feed itself and the rest of the world and mitigate against climate change effects that had negatively impacted the agricultural space.
“Africa also needs one permanent seat and two non-permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council,” he said.
UN secretary general, Mr Antonio Guterres concurred with other speakers that there was need to reform world financial architecture to support developing nations, especially in Africa.
On peace and security, Mr Guterres pledged UN support to the AU in order to find lasting solutions to problems that continued to reverse the gains made by many African nations.
“Let’s act for Africa,” said the UN chief.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
