EU-Africa Summit: Mr Sall (AU President), need for “relational software” for relations between two continents

“In my career, I have attended the 4 latest EU-AU Summits. But it is only in this one that we have discussed in a different and open way”, the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, told journalists at the end of the EU-AU Summit. “Both the format and the content” of the Summit were new. From his point of view, there are two concerns for the future of Africa: the financing of peace and the financing of development. On the first point, it is time to “honestly assess” the impact of the €2.5 billion financing allocated to UN peacekeeping operations over more than 60 years. “We must do differently from what we have done so far”, that is, “we do not need European soldiers to die in Africa, but expertise, technology, equipment” to combat terrorism, knowing that there are African people who are willing to commit themselves. As for development, for President Faki, the challenge now is the lack of infrastructure connecting countries and regions to make the free trade area a reality. For Macky Sall, President of the African Union and of Senegal, the Summit was a “historic opportunity to concretely lay the foundations for a new partnership”. We now need to “leverage the resources to meet our commitments” and “create a better working environment”. The model is what I call a “relational software” that will help us move from a “relationship based on aid to a partnership” because “each partner can provide key resources to the other”. And he stressed: “Young people and women are at the heart of our agenda”.
Sarah Numico