AU FrontPage

Statement of H.E. Dr. Elham M.A. Ibrahim, AUC Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, at the opening of the Meeting of the Ministerial Working Group on Tourism Development Strategy in Africa in the context of the AU Agenda 2063, Seychelles

Statement by the Commissioner H.E. Fatima Haram Acyl at Mining Indaba, South Africa

Your Excellencies the Ministers here present
Mr. Jonathan Moore, President of the Mining Indaba LLC
CEOs of Chamber of Mines of South Africa and of Namibia
Distinguished delegates from the Mining Fraternity
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a singular honour for me to participate in this great mining event and to address this August house of eminent persons from the mining fraternity. Allow me to take this opportunity to thank the organizers, our supporters and partners including all those that have been involved in logistics of this mammoth Indaba for having made it possible to have this special event, the African Mining Vision (AMV) Day to take place. This is indeed a special and unique day for the African Union Commission and Africa as a whole. It is special and unique because it is the first time, certainly for us at the AUC that we are meeting as Member States, the private sector and the partners to the African Mining Vision (AMV) and the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), in a face to face public-private dialogue at the highest level. Quite naturally, therefore, we are excited because it is one of the rare events when the public sector (represented here by our Ministers Responsible for Minerals Resources Development) at the highest level meet and interact and engage in dialogue with the private sector represented by CEOs, Chamber of Mines etc. It is my sincere hope that our deliberations in the next few hours and from the morning session will inform the policy dialogue at the national, sub-regional and continental levels to ensure that the benefits from the minerals sector trigger an inclusive growth and sustainable development as well as the structural transformation of African economies.

I would like to exceptionally thank the organizers of the Mining Indaba and, in particular, Mr. Jonathan Moore and the Chambers of Mines of South Africa and Namibia who accepted our humble request to provide a platform not only to promote the AMV and AMDC but to bring together the public sector together with the high level private sector players, business men and women, academia to engage in this high level public - private dialogue on how we can ensure optimal benefits from the minerals for both the investors as well as African economies.

Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen
At the continental and sub-regional level, African Heads of State and Government pronounced themselves on a number of initiatives responding to demand from African people. Our Heads of State and Government at the just ended Summit held in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, emphasized the critical role of Industry, Trade and Services in the structural transformation of our economies and to achieve sustainable development on the African Continent.

The African Mining Vision (AMV) is one of the Continental Industry Initiatives that have been developed by the AUC with the principal objective of transforming African economies through Industrialisation, diversification and innovation. Other interventions include the Plan of Action for Accelerating Industrial Development of Africa, (AIDA); Plan for Infrastructure Development of Africa (PIDA) and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). All these initiatives are directed at achieving our vision as enshrined in the Abuja Treaty and Lagos Plan of Action.

Again, we as AUC are excited. We are excited particularly because we see the implementation of the Africa Mining Vision as a shared responsibility. The Vision cannot be implemented by Governments alone ; nor can the private sector do so alone. And yet even both Governments and the private sector are not sufficient to implement the Vision! What about the poor communities who quite often bear the brunt of mining activities? Parliaments which pass the laws regulating mining, CSOs who provide us with checks and balances, and even Cooperating Partners who fund some of our activities and provide best practice when we need it?

We do appreciate that the huge foreign investments that flow into the African resource sectors enjoy high returns but this does not come without a high risk. High risks of unstable economic and political environments as well as cases of armed conflicts in resource rich areas. The question is how do we mitigate the risks and work in a partnership to manage them so as to have a win-win situation.

My message therefore is that we are witnessing the start of a process of partnership building; a dialogue that will enable us deliver the AMV together, hand in hand, in order to secure mutual benefits, for not only Governments and mining companies; but benefits that spread to other stakeholders not represented here, such as the communities. For that is what the AMV is all about; delivering not only wealth for mining companies, but development both at the economic and social levels. Development that is, inclusive, equitable, sustainable and which leads to the upliftment of standards of life of our citizens.
Clearly therefore as we discuss the agenda of this afternoon, we will need to be mindful that the dialogue we are starting today impact on many other stakeholders, and we will surely at some stage not only have to accommodate their interests, but bring them into the fora too!

For now let me turn to the business of the day. The main reason we believe we should have this afternoon together is because our engagement with the private sector has been patchy. While the private sector has always participated, particularly the Chambers of Mines, in the development of the AMV and its action plan, an enduring partnership, free of suspicion and based on mutual benefits, and defined roles and responsibilities has yet to evolve.

Our prayer therefore is that this platform will lead us to developing a mutual understanding of what the AMV encompasses, why we are passionate about it and our aspirations for its implementation. This platform will enable us understand what we are doing, as a beginning, to implement the Vision. Hopefully, the afternoon deliberations could lead us to begin to understand how we can construct partnerships with the private sector; at least in some of the areas critical to achieving the Vision. These are for example; building broad skills and capacities that the sector so desperately needs; and how we can build up local content.

These areas have been deliberately chosen because we believe they render themselves well to private sector participation. After all, Industry is the ultimate consumer of skills and has a direct interest in both their quality and quantity. Yet all too often in our continent, industry has not fully participated in the skills value chain. In a mature mining economy, the skills value chain is much broader, for example here in South Africa. It includes partnerships with universities and other learning providers to support all manner of technical and social research, support for research centres; providing knowledge resources and equipment, payment of subventions to professors so that they stay in universities. I am not belittling the contributions of the private sector; clearly they can do more, especially if we want to create the knowledge driven sector that the AMV so eloquently alludes to!

Similarly, we can do a lot more to create a value chain which has an increased residual value to the local economy. For decades, mining in Africa has been a source of raw materials for other countries. Its inputs are mostly imported except for some foodstuff. Should our limited capacity to supply inputs this be a reason for excluding the local economy? The AMV again does not think so! It argues that we have to start developing the capacity to supply – in partnership with the private sector. We will have the opportunity to hear from an indigenous local supplier and the trials and tribulations of local entrepreneurs to grow. I hope the local supplier will be candid about his experiences. More important, the local value chain cannot grow without all manner of partnerships, both public and private.

Before I wind up, I want to emphasize a few points about this small word called partnerships. A partnership needs to be a relationship of equals – I know it rarely is! A partnership needs to be equitable – again I know it rarely is! Quite often a partnership blossoms if the parties involved are sensitive to each other’s needs and realize they need each other not just to survive but mutually grow. Certainly this applies at the personal as well as business levels!
I am labouring to point these prerequisites out because we are having challenges in constructing partnerships we can fully trust in implementing the Vision. At the institutional level, several overseas organizations have for example come to us to help us implement the Vision. They have, as has always historically been the case with development cooperation, done all the thinking for us and insisted on implementing their ideas, rather than ours! For us this is disrespectful of our Heads of State and Government who have put their ideals to paper and instructed us to translate them into collaborative activities.

Similarly, we would like to develop a broad range of partnerships with the private sector. This again is to advance the broad mutual interests; it is not to advance the narrow agenda of one or two mining companies. From where we sit, we cannot promote the narrow interests of a company at the expense of mutual benefits and development. Our role is precisely that, to advise African countries what is in their best interest in relation to their own development. Our role is support countries to create an environment that is supportive of the private sector and also delivers development to its people. I am mindful of course that only profitable companies can contribute to development! But then only those companies that strike a mutually beneficial relationship with communities and governments can mine for a long time!
In my view, given these fundamentals, there are a number of things we will have to do differently to build enduring partnerships. At the very least, we will have to create equal partnerships, not ones where there is an asymmetry of power or information; we will have to think together, we will have to be transparent, not where one party believes or knowingly signs agreements that are unfair and rewards investors but not Governments! Yet Governments provide the resource- the mineral deposits that generate this wealth.

In conclusion, let me share my views and best wishes for the dialogue we are starting today. My hope is that it will become a permanent feature of Mining Indaba. That every year, we can congregate and reflect how far we have come together and set for ourselves milestones for the coming year. That every year we will pledge to work on our relationship, seek ways in which we can improve it; discard what is not working; that every year we will rededicate ourselves to developing this beautiful continent which despite its riches, is the least developed world wide. Indeed this is what the AMV requires of us and as I said at the beginning, not Governments, not the private sector, not indeed any constituency working alone can achieve the Vision.

I thank you all for your kind attention

Opening Remarks by Dr. Jinmi Adisa, the Director, Citizens and Diaspora Directorate of the African Union on Behalf of Dr. Mrs. Dlamini Zuma, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission

Presented to the Second Intercontinental CSO Forum, Brussels, Belgium, 23-25 October 2013

Address Delivered to the African Union High Level Diaspora meeting on “Building Bridges between the World African Diaspora and Africa”

By
Dr. Jinmi Adisa, Director, Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO)
African Union Commission

6 October 2011, New York, USA

ADDRESS BY H.E. DR. AISHA L. ABDULLAHI (AMB.)
COMMISSIONER FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS

DELIVERED ON HER BEHALF BY:
KHABELE MATLOSA
DIRECTOR FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS
AT

AT THE ABANT FORUM

ON THE THEME “FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RESPECT FOR THE SACRED”

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

8 MARCH 2014

Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
All Protocols Observed
Happy International Women’s Day

I am pleased to be with you this morning to deliver this welcome address on behalf of H.E. Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, the Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission. The Commissioner would have loved to be with us not only to deliver this message but also to interact with you during this important dialogue forum on such a pertinent theme namely ‘Freedom of Expression & Respect to the Sacred’ co-convened by the African Union and the Journalists and Writers Foundation. But other prior commitments could not allow this to happen.

You will recall that during the 2013 Forum held in Istanbul, the honourable Commissioner for Political Affairs noted that the Abant Forum provides a unique platform to bounce off ideas on contemporary thematic issues with implications for democratisation, human rights, peace and stability around the globe. Such platforms as this play a critical role in helping us to dialogue on how best to anchor peace, stability and democracy on a firmer footing and in the process sharing lessons and best practices on dealing with threats of instability early enough through preventive diplomacy. As the English cliché goes, prevention is better than cure. This saying applies forcefully to the freedom of expression and the respect for the sacred. If we do not prevent reckless and hate speech and its dissemination early enough, the consequences are dire as have seen with the Rwanda Genocide of 1994 and the devastating effects of Apartheid in South Africa, just to cite only a few examples.

The theme of this year’s Forum is both timely and pertinent. It is timely given that in today’s globalised world marked by social media, information spreads as fast as wild fire and it can have adverse effects if not well managed. It is pertinent in that it allows us to interrogate the challenge of maintaining balance between the freedom of expression and the responsibilities that such freedom confers on everyone. While the forum interrogates what other scholars have termed the clash of civilisations, it also allows us to promote mutual respect and tolerance for peoples and societies including their sacred beliefs, religions and monuments. Part of the on-going war in the Central African Republic today has to do with intolerance that has witnessed massive killings of Moslems by Christians and vice versa.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Freedom of Expression is regarded as the right of every individual to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Freedom of expression as a core principle of democracy guarantees the ability of the governed to play active roles in development of their societies. Alongside access to information, freedom of expression allows the governed to make informed decisions and choices on the trajectory of development in their societies and build constituencies and alliances around such a development path.

The African Union has been (and continues to be) the key guardian of fundamental human rights at the continental level in Africa. As the premier inter-governmental body on the continent, the AU has developed an expansive and robust normative framework for the promotion and protection of human rights. The right to freedom of expression within the AU normative framework is codified in the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights; and specifically in the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa which was adopted by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) at its 32nd Ordinary Session held in October 2002.

The implementation of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression is the responsibility of the AU Member States. It is monitored by the African Commission based in Banjul, The Gambia. In order to ensure a more systematic and coordinated monitoring over AU Member States, the Commission appoints the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression a position currently occupied by Advocate Pansy Tlakula who is also the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission of the Republic of South Africa. The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression as a mechanism was established by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights with the adoption of Resolution 71 at the 36th Ordinary Session held in Dakar, Senegal in 2004. The Rapporteur, among other things, is charged with the mandate to analyse national media legislation, policies and practice within Member States with a view to monitor their compliance with freedom of expression standards. In addition, the Special Rapporteur undertakes missions to Member States to investigate violations of the right to freedom of expression and make appropriate recommendations to the African Union policy organs for appropriate action within the confines of the Union’s Constitutive Act adopted in 2000.

In 2007, at its 42nd session held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights decided to renew and expand the mandate of the Special Rapporteur with additional responsibility for driving the AU Agenda on Access to Information in Africa.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The essence of these efforts is to create a more conducive environment for African people to freely express their thoughts and opinions about issues that have bearing on their socio-economic and political development. In expressing their thoughts and opinions, African citizens are implored to do with utmost responsibility avoiding incitement which in turn threatens peace and stability. They are reminded that freedom of expression and access to information must go hand-in-glove with accountability on the use of information and consequences that come with that.

Although Africa still has a long way to go before we can talk about full protection and promotion of human rights including the freedom of expression, some modest progress is underway. For instance, the recent Afrobarometer report entitled ‘The Partnership of Free Speech & Good Governance in Africa’ notes that more than half of Africans surveyed in 34 countries across the continent say they are "completely free" to say what they think, while another quarter say they are "somewhat free".

This modest achievement on the Continent is in sharp contrast to the situation that prevailed over the past three decades when most African countries were emerging from dictatorial regimes of one-party, military and other forms. Such regimes had little tolerance for fundamental freedoms and dissent. Today, the proliferation of media outlets; both traditional and new social media are revolutionising the freedom of expression landscape on the Continent. But this seemingly positive development may also become a bad omen given that the social media some times are used for incitement, hate speech and reckless speech that set societies ablaze.

This is exactly where the dilemma lies. On one hand, we need to expand the space for citizen’s engagement and participation engendered by freedom of expression and access to information. One other, freedom of expression and access to freedom without restraints and limits is a recipe for political disorder, instability and violent conflicts. We therefore need to insist on the need for Freedom with Responsibility; Freedom with Accountability; Freedom with Tolerance and above all Freedom with Respect. This is why I am convinced about not only the timeliness, but also the pertinence of this forum today.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I conclude, let me make a modest contribution as to how Africa can entrench a culture of freedom of expression and access to information while at the same time promoting democracy, peace and stability.

Firstly, all AU Member States must recognise both through their constitutions and political culture that freedom of expression and access to information comes with the responsibility of each citizen to respect and tolerate others. As citizens express their own freedoms, they should respect and tolerate others to enjoy their own freedoms too.

Secondly, freedom of belief, opinions and one’s cultural heritage should not threaten others from enjoying their own cultural beliefs. This calls for constructive management of diversity especially as it relates to religion. The mayhem caused by senseless killing of innocent people by Boko Haram in Nigeria is a major cause of concern for religious freedom and tolerance on our continent today.

Thirdly, freedom of expression should not be interpreted as freedom to destroy societies, but rather freedom to build societies in a harmonious manner. It is easy to destroy a society and in a short space of time. It is difficult to build socio-cultural resilience of societies and it takes longer. It is therefore important to invest more in building rather than destroying.

Fourthly, the sterling efforts of the ACHPR and the African Court on Human and People’s Rights in respect of their mandate to promote and protect human rights must be supported fully by all AU Member States and the international community so that the architecture for the freedom of expression is anchored on a more solid institutional foundation.

Fifth and finally, as you are probably aware by now, the African Union is developing the AU Agenda 2063 which is a long-term development vision of the continent over the next fifty years. This long-term development vision cannot succeed without it being anchored on solid foundations of democracy, peace and stability. This foundation for the AU Agenda 2063 will require the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms including the freedom of expression and access to information while at the same time combatting incitement, inflammatory and reckless speech. Wars and political instability that has been generated by intolerance has cost African countries immensely. The social groups that have been hardest hit by protracted violent conflicts in Africa including the current ones in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and South Sudan include women, youth and children.

In conclusion, I hope and trust that this forum facilitates the launch of a global campaign on discouraging abuse of freedom of expression using the various instruments developed by the United Nations Human Rights Council particularly its 16/18 Resolution on ‘Combating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatisation of and discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against persons based on religion or beliefs’. I believe this can be a complimentary effort to our drive for universal guarantee of the freedom of expression and access to information.

On this International Women’s Day, we must recommit ourselves to ensure that freedom of expression and respect for religious freedoms embrace the fundamental rights of women and girls globally and specifically in Africa.

Let me thank the Journalists and Writers Foundation for collaborating with the African Union Commission in hosting this Forum here in Addis Ababa, the African Capital and the seat of the African Union.

I thank you all for your attention