Addis Ababa, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Africa is united and self-reliant, contributing to global development.
Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhou Chuyun and Liu Fangqiang.
The 37th African Union (AU) Summit concluded on the 19th at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The core topics of the summit focused on the regional security situation, the development of the African continent, and enhancing Africa's influence.
Analysts have pointed out that Africa has made positive progress in integration and other aspects in recent years, and its international status and influence have been continuously enhanced. As part of the "Global South", Africa will further consolidate its internal strengths, strengthen international cooperation, and contribute to the development of a more just and equitable global governance system.
Focus on Africa's development.
This year's AU summit focused on economic and social development and the important role of education in promoting development.
At the opening ceremony of the summit, Mauritanian Ghazwani, the newly elected rotating chairman of the African Union, said that Africa is the youngest continent in the world and has a rich working population, but there is currently a mismatch between the quality of African talents and the needs of development. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Faki, said that successful education would contribute to reducing poverty and building a prosperous Africa.
In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, Costantinos Belhutesfa, a professor at Addis Ababa University and a former economic adviser to the African Union, pointed out that Africa is already rich in natural resources, and improving people's education level will help Africa become a more attractive investment destination.
In addition to emphasizing the strengthening of education, the meeting called on Member States to pool their efforts to build a stronger regional platform that would provide a sound basis for achieving the African development vision.
In 2013, the AU launched Agenda 2063, a blueprint for Africa's development that spans half a century. As the AU enters its second decade of the agenda, member states need to work together to achieve the AU's development vision, Faki said.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), promoted by the African Union (AU), is now accelerating its construction as a flagship project of Agenda 2063. Ghazwani said that the AU will be committed to unleashing the potential of the African continent, continuing to strengthen economic integration, infrastructure connectivity, and improving agricultural production capacity, so as to promote the smooth implementation of the second decade plan.
Make a voice of solidarity.
Against the backdrop of the booming Global South, the AU is actively pushing African countries to adopt a unified position on major issues of collective interest and to raise their voices of solidarity on the international stage. The African Union was invited to join the G20 in September last year, further enhancing Africa's representation and voice in global governance.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Selassie said at the summit that the African Union, as a full member of the G20, can better represent the African continent and help enhance Africa's voice on the global stage. Faki said that the AU should contribute to addressing global challenges by joining the G20 and continue to speak out for the continent's priorities.
At the same time, the BRICS cooperation mechanism has also added "African power". On January 1 this year, Egypt and Ethiopia became full members of the BRICS, together with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, and the number of BRICS members increased from 5 to 10. The expanded BRICS will more effectively promote the development of the global governance system in a fair and reasonable direction, and more effectively enhance the representation and voice of the "Global South" in international affairs.
Selassie said that Ethiopia will take the opportunity of joining the BRICS cooperation mechanism to work with other African countries to promote the common interests of the African continent and contribute to global governance and development.
Kudos to China-Africa cooperation.
China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future, and the two sides have always stood together through thick and thin and supported each other. China has always firmly supported African countries in uniting for self-reliance, development and rejuvenation, and for Africa to play a greater role in the international arena.
Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China-Africa practical cooperation has continued to deepen and solidify. In 2015 and 2018, the Johannesburg Summit and the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) were successfully held, announcing the implementation of the "Ten Major Cooperation Plans" and the "Eight Major Actions" respectively, leading China-Africa cooperation to unprecedented new heights. On the land of Africa, a large number of railways, highways, airports, ports, power stations and other infrastructure facilities and economic and trade cooperation zones have been built one after another, and China-Africa cooperation in peace and security, science, education, culture and health, poverty alleviation and benefiting the people, and people-to-people exchanges has been further promoted.
In international and multilateral forums, China has promoted the historic expansion of the BRICS, taken the lead in publicly supporting the African Union's accession to the G20, and is committed to enhancing the representation and voice of developing countries in global affairs.
Youssef Mandua Assoumani, Chairman of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the African Union, thanked China for its positive contributions to the development of the African continent in various fields and its support for the AU's accession to the G20. He said that Africa and China support each other in international affairs, and the mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation between the two sides can be called a model of South-South cooperation and international cooperation with Africa.
Education is one of the key areas of China-Africa cooperation. The cooperation in education and vocational training such as the Confucius Institute and the Luban Workshop, as well as the talent training and technical empowerment of Chinese enterprises during the non-construction projects, have provided important talent and skill support for African countries to achieve industrialization and modernization.
Albert Muchanga, Commissioner for Economic Development, Tourism, Industry and Mining of the African Union Commission, said that China-Africa education cooperation has promoted the progress of Africa's human resources and promoted the economic and social development of the African continent, and he looks forward to achieving more results under the framework of the China-Africa Talent Training Cooperation Plan. (Participating reporters: Li Yahui, Dai He) (end).