President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to take part in the sixth African Union-European Union (AU-EU) Summit in Belgium, where several nations hope to launch an ambitious investment package.
Ramaphosa travelled to the European city on Wednesday after participating in the joint sitting of parliament, where a debate on his State of the Nation Address took place.
According to the Presidency, Ramaphosa’s participation in the summit is at the invitation of the chairperson of the African Union Commission. He is accompanied by Naledi Pandor, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.
“President Ramaphosa will participate in the climate change and energy transition, digital and transport round-table [on Thursday] and will chair the round-table on health systems and vaccine production [on Friday],” said the Presidency.
Round-table discussions will focus on seven areas including:
- Financing for sustainable and inclusive growth;
- Climate change and energy transition, digital and transport [connectivity and infrastructure];
- Peace, security and governance;
- Private sector support and economic integration;
- Education, culture and vocational training, migration and mobility;
- Agriculture and sustainable development; and
- Health systems and vaccine production
Said the Presidency: “The 2022 summit is expected to adopt a declaration and deliverables that set out broad agreement between Africa and the European Union on how both continents can build greater prosperity.
“The aim is to launch an ambitious Africa-Europe investment package, taking into account global challenges such as climate change and the current health crisis.
“Leaders will also explore tools and solutions to promote stability and security through a renewed peace and security architecture.”
The president’s office explained that the AU-EU partnership has grown in leaps and bounds since it was initiated during the 2000 inaugural summit in Egypt.
“The partnership became structured through the Joint Africa-EU Strategy that was an outcome of the 2nd AU-EU Summit in Lisbon, Portugal in December 2007. This strategy is the overall cooperation framework that governs this partnership.” – SAnews.gov.za
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