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Key Note Speech by the Commissioner, Political Affairs, African Union Commission, Dr. Aisha L. Abdullahi at the National Conference on Religious Tolerance and Coexistence in Ethiopia, 27 August 2013

Your Excellency, Mr.HailemariamDessalegn, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia;

Your Excellences’ Deputy Prime Ministers;

Honourable Ministers, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,

Distinguished Members of Ethiopia Inter Religious Council

Head of Religious Institutions present

Excellences’ Ambassadors and Heads of Diplomatic Missions

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Morning!

On behalf of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H. E Dr. NkosazanaDlamini-Zuma, I would liketo express my profound gratitude to the Ethiopian Ministry of Federal Affairs, and the Ethiopian Inter Religious Council (EIRC) for inviting the African Union Commission to this important Conference. I bring you greetings and a message of goodwill from the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, who would have loved to have been with you this morning but due to other commitments requested that I represent her and I was more than glad to oblige.As many of you may recollect, this joint noble mission between the Ethiopian Ministry of Federal Affairs and the Ethiopian Inter Religious Council (EIRC) commenced in January 2010. I am particularly glad that the two critical stakeholderscontinue to work together to promote religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence in the country.

Your Excellency,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Historically speaking, religion has been one of the most progressive agents of peace, and peaceful co-existence among the various ethnic and social groups in the world.Although religion may differ in approach and methodologies, one thing remains common to all, particularly the ones that are currently active in Africa, and that is the campaign for, and preaching of love and peaceful co-existence among the citizens.

Recently however,some of the conflicts and crises that our continent is experiencing today are not unconnected with ethnic and religious intolerance. The ongoing Islamic militants in the Sahel and the activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda and the DRC are examplesthat readily come to mind. The effects of religious crisis on national development, peace and harmony cannot be overemphasized. Innocent lives are lost, the social fiber is shredded, national development is stunted, and foreign investments are discouraged. It is on this note that we cannot afford to handle religious intolerance with levity.

There are various ways a country can prevent religious and ethnic conflict crises. One of these includes adequate provisions and effective implementation of the provisions in the national Constitution. The Ethiopian Constitutionprovides for religious equality and beliefs. It also guarantees non-interference of the Government in religious activities.We therefore need to put effort to ensure that these provisions are effectively implemented. This Conference provides us an opportunity to implement the progressive provisions on religious matters in the Constitution.

Your Excellency
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Another way to overcome ethnic intolerance and conflict crises in any country is by putting in place, a national formal framework that promotes peaceful co-existence and inclusivity among the various religious and ethnic groups. I congratulate the Government of the Republic of Ethiopia and the various key religious leaders in this great country for recognizing this fact, and for theteaming up these two key stakeholders to promote national peace and sustainable unity.

The principles of tolerance, empathy, sharing and dialogue, to mention but a few are fundamentaltonational peaceful co-existence and development in any country. I am happy that these principles are recognized by the Government of Ethiopia and they form the basis of the Ethiopian Inter-Religious Council formation.It is on this note that I commend the formation of the Ethiopia Inter Religious Council, and the promotion ofconstructive relationship thatbetween the Council and the Government of Ethiopia.

As some of you may be aware, the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission has the mandate of promoting the entrenchment of Democracy, holding of credible Elections, Human Rights, and Governance, constitutionalism and rule of law, and the Humanitarian Affairs on the continent.
Our overall objective is to promote good governance, peaceful coexistence among the citizens, and deepening of human rights practices among the AU Member States. In doing this, the Department has facilitated the promulgation of several normative frameworks to accomplish the above missions; these include the African Charter on Democracy, Election and Governance and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

Time will not permit me to take us through all the relevant provisions of these instruments on the issue at hand, but please permit to cite Article 28 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. It provides that every individual shall have the duty to respect and consider his fellow beings without discrimination (including religious, ethnic, and Cultural), and to maintain relations aimed at promoting, safeguarding and reinforcing mutual respect and tolerance.If this provision is adopted and implemented, peaceful coexistence in all aspect of life will be guaranteed.

In the same vein, Chapter three of the AU Charter on Democracy, Election and Governance also provide for democratic principles that recognize respect for human and religious rights. In order to ensure effective operationalization of this provision, my department has been working across the continent campaigning for the signing, ratification and implementation of the Charter to promote peaceful co-existence and tolerance among the various religious and ethnic groups in Africa.DPA did not stop there, it has also developed a Human Rights Strategy to promote and protect religion rightsand tolerance on the continent.

Effective implementation of the above two AU Instruments will not only promote national renaissancein Ethiopia, it will also contribute to actualization of Pan Africanism and AfricanRenaissance.

Your Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On Humanitarian Affairs, Refugee and Displace Persons, the Department’s experience, has shown that religious intolerance has significantly contributed to the increase in the number of Refugee Camps and Displaced Persons in Africa. This experience has not been pleasant. With this type of Conference, I am optimistic that Africa is on the right path to overcoming the challenge of Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons caused by religious crisis on the continent.

Whilst the DPA has been working tirelessly to improve the conditions of the Refugees and internally displaced persons on the continent. This work requires huge human and financial resources. Africa is today spending Millions of Dollars on Refugees and Internally displaced persons. We can reduced the quantum of these tragedies if all the AU Member States domesticate and implement accordingly the above two normative frameworks on good governance and human rights.Your Excellency, it is on this note that I am calling on the Government of Ethiopia to ratify the African Charter on Democracy, Election and Governance and to implement accordingly, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

As we look forward at the level of the Commission to partner with the Government of Ethiopia and EIRC on this noble mission, I am optimistic that the country’s long history of religious tolerance, hospitality, peaceful co-existence and respect among the different religious communities will be sustained.

Before I conclude this remarks, Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,let me on behalf of the African Union Commission express my profound appreciation and gratitude to the Ethiopia Ministry of Federal Affairs and the Ethiopia Inter Religious Council for organizing this conference and for inviting the Commission to take part in the event.

Finally, the commitment to the promotion of religious tolerance, peaceful co-existence and mutual respect among the various religious groups in the country will go a long way to promote national unity and sustainable peace and development

I wish you all a fruitful deliberations and outcomes.

I thank you.

Message by Her Excellency Dr. Aisha Abdullahi , Commissioner for Political Affairs
African Union Commission on the Occasion of the Celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on The Rights of Women in Africa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
August 2013

STATEMENT BY H.E. DR. MUSTAPHA S. KALOKO, COMMISSIONER FOR SOCIAL AFFAIRS

AT THE MINISTERIAL FORUM ON CHINA-AFRICA HEALTH DEVELOPMENT, BEIJING, CHINA, AUGUST 16, 2013

PROTOCOL
Permit me, on behalf of the African Union Commission and the 54 (fifty-four) Member States of the African Union, to express my sincere thanks and profound appreciation to the Government and the people of the People’s Republic of China for their splendid generosity, renowned hospitality and elegant but purposeful arrangements.
I am more than grateful to the Government of the People’s Republic of China for hosting this remarkable Ministerial Forum on China-Africa Health Development in this great and beautiful city of Beijing.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In February this year, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Madam Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma attended the Fifth China-Africa Strategic Dialogue here in Beijing. During that visit, the Chairperson of the Commission underscored the importance of Africa’s partnership with China and the gains the continent as well as China could accrue from the partnership. Her tribute to the strong partnership and cooperation between Africa and China was an echo from what many Africans and Chinese have said and continue to say about the partnership between the two peoples. Since then, many meetings have been held in Africa as well as here in China between Africans and Chinese from both the public and private sectors. Those various meetings are significant layers of our efforts building upon the strong foundation of decades of engagement between China and the continent of Africa.
What does this signify? It signifies that several years of cooperation have shown that China is a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a staunch and sincere believer in South-South Cooperation. It also suggests that China is a willing partner that is neither constrained nor compelled to embrace Africa. To those who do not understand this relationship, they must look to the past to understand it better. But for us (Chinese and Africans), we understand it and we know it. Our past colonial humiliations, our passion for development, our cravings for a fair international environment and our ardent desire to markedly enhance the lives of our citizens, have made the partnership more endearing and enduring.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This brings me to the purpose of our presence here in Beijing: enhancing the lives of our citizens by prioritizing health.
“Health”, as Lao Tzu, has stated, “is the greatest possession”. No individual and no nation can ever hope to live in peace, happiness and prosperity without prioritizing such a great possession. In today’s world, where diseases are no respecters of national boundaries, laws and sovereignty; where multiple drug resistance tuberculosis, Corona virus, bird flu, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases are comfortably at home anywhere, it is but just and imperative for concerted global efforts to be scaled up to ensure health financing, universal access and coverage, available, affordable and efficacious lifesaving commodities, strengthening of health systems and investing in preventive care and disease control.
Africa is more than aware of the importance of prioritizing health. This year alone, we have had several meetings on health within and outside the continent. The major ones being the Conference of African Minister of Health in Addis Ababa in April, the Special Summit on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria in Abuja in July and the International Conference on Maternal and Child Health in Johannesburg in August. In those meetings, we arrived at various outcomes and relevant indicators that set Africa’s health agenda which are all meant to feed into our post 2015-development agenda and Agenda 63.
China, as a trustworthy partner, is aware of the continent’s health aspirations. It has followed Africa’s health development agenda with keen interest, with great concern and with a helping hand ever since the first Chinese Medical Team set foot on the African Continent. Since then, Africa has benefitted and continues to benefit from Chinese generosity and contributions toward strengthening of Africa’s health system by investing in the continent’s health infrastructure, training of medical practitioners and providing the required equipment to enhance service delivery of Africa’s health facilities.
China, as a consistent and dependable partner, is also conscious of Africa’s ambition to greatness, peace and prosperity. She knows that to attain such greatness, the continent must invest in the health of its citizens. She is aware of Africa’s pains, struggles and trials in lifting the continent’s people from the mire of infectious and other diseases. She knows too well, how we have battled against those diseases and how far we have come
China knows about our efforts and our ambition to fight poverty and diseases. She knows how hard we have worked toward meeting our objectives and how earnestly we intend to move forward. China understands (for example) why we want to implement the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA). She knows that when it is implemented, it would provide us the opportunity to produce efficacious, affordable and essential lifesaving commodities for the wellbeing of our people. Africa’s knowledge that China knows and understands our desire to implement PMPA encouraged us to etch in the Abuja Declaration in July this year a paragraph that invites China and other BRICS to invest in the realization of the PMPA.
China is also aware that Africa has demonstrated determined and focus political will to reach the targets of the health related MDGs. She knows that it is not likely that all the fifty-four Member States of the African Union will reach those targets. However, she is aware that with limited resources, with time constraints and unpredictability in international health financing, we have done well, though not considerable enough to meet the expectations of the health related MDGs
Excellencies, Distinguished ladies and Gentlemen,
China’s presence on the continent and deep involvement in the development aspirations of Africa, its own history of climbing the development ladder and its yearn to assist other developing countries to reach the summit of that ladder, avail her the opportunity to understand the continent’s needs as well as forge better, stronger and durable ties with Africa.
It is that spirit of understanding that enlivens our cooperation. It is also that spirit that has sustained it, and it is that spirit that will strengthen it.
We look forward to the implementation of the Beijing Action Plan (2013-2015). We also look forward to a more focused, result driven and action oriented declaration from this meeting.
Finally Excellencies; Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, let me end this statement by quoting the words of Nelson Mandela, who once said that, “Our human compassion binds us … not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future”.
Africa and China are on that path-transforming our difficult past and present into a bright and prosperous future.
I thank you.

African Young Women: Soaring towards Excellence
Keynote address by Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) Africa Regional Conference
Lagos, Nigeria. 12 August 2013

I salute the leadership of the Girl Guides of the World, the Africa region and Nigeria and all you Girl Guides and Scouts

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is such an honour for me to address this gathering of young African leaders and with humility accept the Award for Woman of Outstanding Achievement.

I address you as young African leaders, because even though we say that the youth are our future, we must always and everywhere remind ourselves that we must buid tand invest in that future today. I am very happy to be amongst those who have dedicated their lives to investing in girls

This is particularly true for our beloved continent, since over seventy percent of our population is under the age of 30 years, and the majority are girls and young women. By 2025, one quarter of the world’s young women and men under 25 years will be African.
We are not only blessed with a youthful population, but we also have abandoned natural resources, land; forests and marine resources, fossil and renewable energy as well as mineral resources.
Those of you who are studying or have studied Geography will also agree with me that Africa is large, with a land size of 30,331,532 square kilometres – like a large island, surrounded by two oceans. It can therefore fit on its landmass China, India, the USA, Western Europe and still have space for Japan and a few other countries.
The greatest and our most precious resource we have, however, remains our people. If we therefore want to realize our dream of an Africa that is integrated, people-centred, prosperous and at peace with herself and her environment, we must invest in yourselves - the young girls women, and not forgetting the young men of Africa.

Girl Guides and Scouts, Fellow Africans

Amongst the ethos of the Girls Guides and Girl Scouts is your intergenerational approach to empowerment and leadership development. This is an ethos which the African Union, Your Union, embraces.

As older generations, we can share our experience of life, society and the world, and we are often in positions of authority and power, whether in families, communities or society as goverments.

As adults – whether as mothers, fathers, uncles or aunts; as neighbours, priests, pastors or imams; as teachers, journalists, politicians, artists, writers and musicians; as Guides, Scout leaders and public figures - we all have the duty to mentor, to share experiences, to protect, to provide opportunities and to work for a better life for the next generations.

This not only means providing guidance and sharing our experiences, but it means that we must listen to and engage with the views of young people, We must listen to you and engage you.

Young women and men, on the other hand, have energy, are creative, innovative and impatient and are prone to take risks. An enabling environment for young people to soar to excellence means an environment where energies, creativity, impatience and risk are geared towards positive self, peer, community and societal development.

The early Pan African movements, who helped to liberate our continent from slavery, colonialism and apartheid had in its ranks thousands upon thousands of young women and men, who used their energy and creativity, who were impatient to see change and who often took the ultimate risk, to free their people. As we this year celebrate fifty years since the formation of the Organisation of African Union (OAU) which is now the African Union, we must pay tribute to these early generations of youth.

Today’s generations of young Africans have an equally burdensome responsibility – to add your energy, creativity, your impatience and innovation, and be prepared to take risks – to ensure that our dream of an integrated, people-centred, peaceful and prosperous Africa becomes a reality, in your lifetime.

Girl Guides and Scouts, Ladies and Gentlemen

The African Union therefor has great expectations of the role you should play in helping to shape the future of the continent.

As members of the Girl Guides and Girls Scouts - and indeed all members of youth formations, including your sibling organization the Boys Scouts, young people in social, religious, cultural, educational, environmental clubs and societies - you have taken the first step, to be involved. Involvement in some form of organization from a young age is important to your personal development.

Being involved in organisation helps develop a sense of self-confidence, of being part of a group (other than your family or your schoolmates) and it fosters social and organizational skills. In addition, being part of organization from an early age also makes us aware about society, the world we live in and that we are all interdependent. Like the song we sang earlier today

Organization also teaches us that we can achieve excellence if we work hard and focus. It teaches us that we can and must contribute towards a better society and world - as individuals and through joint action. It teaches us – like the Guides’ Global theme that ‘together we can change our world.’

I therefore salute this 10 million-strong movement of Girl Guides and Girls Scouts and wish the African Region all the best with reaching their target of two million members by 2020.

A second expectation from the African Union is your role in energizing and as a partner in our path towards prosperity. As a Union and Member States of the African Union, as adults and parents of this continent, we know our responsibility in this regard, which is to ensure that you are educated, that your basic needs are met, that you have opportunities to participate in the economy, to express yourself freely and that the rights of girls and young women, are known, protected and defended. Ive heard what your priorities are: ending violence, ending child trafficking. We heard you and we will work with you on these issues, and I heard your request to be an Observer and we should work on a Memorandum of Understanding to give this effect.

This is why the African Union adopted the African Youth Charter in Banjul, in 2006:-
Recognizing (that) youth are partners, assets and a prerequisite for sustainable development and for the peace and prosperity of Africa.

Therefore, when we are talking about priorities such as investing in education, training, science, technology, research and innovation, we need to hear your voices and the contributions you can make.

I spoke earlier of the enormous natural and other resources we have on the continent, but they can only lead to shared prosperity if we have artisans and architects, farmers and pharmacists, miners, botanists, engineers, economists and electricians, doctors, nurses, lawyers, quantity surveyors and midwives, soft-wear engineers, business and entrepreneurs, artists and musicians that will ensure the development of world-class African companies and brands in every single economic sector, whether they are large, small or medium and in every area of human endeavor. That is why we call on all girls and young women to go into all these areas, to have a critical mass, without which Africa cant develop.

We also need young people in the public sector and in civil society, to ensure that our states and government serve the people by playing a truly developmental role and that we build inclusive societies.

Above all, with 60% of unused arable land in the world, you are the next generation that must get involved in agriculture so that Africa can feed itself and the world. Young Africans, especially young women must therefore learn the business of farming, agricultural sciences, the food processing sectors, marketing and logistics, in order to build and grow our agro-businesses and sectors.

In a similar vein, young Africans must be at the forefront of advocating for an integrated Africa, as we saw today girls and young women from so many countries. We can only build shared prosperity when our countries and region trade with each other first, before looking across the seas to import what are basic needs of our continent and import finished products when we export all the raw materials to make such products.

In addition, young Africans must take special interest in plans to integrate the continent through infrastructure. You must be interested, because it should be possible for you in the future to drive or take a speed train from Lagos to Algiers, Cairo and Djibouti, or from Banjul to Dakar, Freetown, Djamina to Juba, Addis Ababa, and Mombasa, or from Tunis to Maputo to Mbabane, to Cape Town and Luanda. You must also be interested whether you will on your journeys have access to fast broad band internet, to reliable electricity, energy and clean water and sanitation, no matter where you are on the African continent.

With rapid urbanization, young Africans also have an interest in the state of our cities and towns, whether they are well-planned, their infrastructure maintained, with green spaces and recreation facilities, bulk infrastructure and adequate housing.

You must also be interested in knowing whether ECOWAS, the African Union and all African countries are making progress with free movement of people and goods, because you want to experience the hospitality, natural beauty and cultures of other countries on your continent. This question is also important to enable young entrepreneurs to explore markets, innovations and form business links beyond the borders of their countries and regions, and help to build African business innovators and leaders.

An important process is the ongoing process of self-definition, who we are, what are our common Pan African values and ethos, and to be proudly African. If you are not proud of who you are, you cannot succeed.

Young people with their energy and innovations have always played an important role in taking our traditions, culture, history and life experiences and representing it in new ways and through new means. Our continent has the fastest growing mobile phone sector in the world, but we must be more than users of technology, we must also make cyberspace our own, through content that is African – in its rich diversity and languages.

Each generation must work for a better world for itself and future generations.

Your generation must therefore be the engine for African integration, peace and prosperity – the fuel and driver of its Renaissance.

Girl Guides, Ladies and Gentlemen

The African Union knows that for us to succeed, we must develop the potential of both men and women. We therefor pay special attention to the empowerment of young women and girls.

For us, the empowerment of girls and young women means making sure that they grow up to have their contributions valued in families, communities and societies, and that they have the space to make informed decisions and choices. Empowering girls and young women means that no-one should tell you that you cannot reach your goals and dreams, simply because you are a girl or a woman .

This means that we advocate, work for and monitor progress in the education of girls and young women in all our countries, encouraging parents to send and keep their girls and boys in schools.

We also engage with girls and boys on the need to value their bodies and to respect each other. We warn against the dangers of teenage pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, and advocate for policies that enable girls to have information and to protect themselves.

We also advocate for our societies to abolish harmful cultural and religious practices – such as child marriages - that infringe on the rights of girls and women. We recently had an AU conference on Maternal and Infant Mortality. Research shows that teenage mothetrs makes up a disproportional part of maternal and infant mortality. We must there
Lets not marry children, let they be children. Women’s rights, the rights otf girls and young women are human righs.

The African Gender Protocol commits the African Union and its Member States to work towards achieving Gender Parity by 2020. We are making progress in education and in the political sphere, but only ten (10) countries have met the interim goal of having 30% women in their parliaments and cabinets. We must congratulate Rwanda, the highest number of women MP’s in the world, as a role model for us.

In other spheres of society – the media, academia, business, religious and cultural institutions, in agriculture, professions and artisanships, in science, ICT and technology – progress is still very slow.

The excuse is often that they can’t find qualified and capable women to fill these positions. We also know that this is not always true – that if women are given a chance, they can make a difference in any organization or institutions – whether in the public or private sectors. Your generation of girls and young women, dear Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, must learn, develop and soar to excellence, so that not a single glass ceiling remains and we achieve our goal of gender parity in all spheres of life by 2020.

It is for this reason – our trust and confidence in the future of Africa – that the African Union decided to embark on the process to develop an agenda for the future – called Agenda 2063.

Through this agenda we want to achieve three things: firstly, to agree on the Africa we want; secondly, to set short and medium term milestones and concrete strategies on how we will get there, and thirdly, to define the role each of us should play to achieve this Agenda.

We therefore invite the Girl Guides and Scouts Association to also make their contributions, which should reach us by the end of October this year.

Girl Guides and Girls Scouts, Ladies and Gentlemen

You are the future of the continent, and you must build that future today. You must be strong, be focused and have confidence to reach your dreams. You must be role models for other girls and young women: in Africa and the world, for current and future generations.

You are Africa’s future – and I am confident that the future looks bright. We shouldn’t just want you to reach where we are, but beyond.

Wishing you fruitful deliberations during this week and looking forward to your inputs on Agenda 2063 and to working with you.

I thank you.

Keynote Address by H.E. Mr Erastus Mwencha
Deputy Chairperson, African Union Commission
(On behalf of H.E. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the AUC)

On the Occasion of the Official Opening Ceremony of the 12th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Ministerial Forum

12TH AUGUST 2013
At the African Union Headquarters
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Your Excellency, Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Your Excellency, Ambassador Michael Froman, United States Trade Representative
Excellences, Honorable Ministers
Honourable Members of Parliament from Africa and Congressmen from United State of America
Excellencies Members of the Permanent Representatives Committee and the African Group in Washington
Heads & Representative of Regional Economic Communities, United Nations Agencies and International Organisations
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am singularly honoured to welcome you all to the Headquarters of the African Union, on behalf of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who, sends her best wishes to this meeting. Let me begin by thanking H.E. Mr. Hailemariam Dessalegn, the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic, Republic of Ethiopia and government for hosting this very important meeting and for giving us the opportunity to provide the venue. I would also like to welcome and to congratulate Ambassador Froman on his recent appointment as the 11th United States Trade Representative. We believe your vast knowledge and experience in international trade and development will go a long way in maximizing growth and development opportunities for Africa through improved trade relations between the continent and the United States.
Allow me to seize this opportunity to thank the U.S. agencies that have supported the implementation of AGOA in Africa, specifically USAID, Ex-Im Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. I also acknowledge the contribution of the U.S Government towards the African Woman Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP).

Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,
AGOA is the cornerstone of the United States Government’s trade policy towards Sub-Saharan Africa and there has been remarkable growth in the partnership between the United States and Africa in general, and in the African Union Commission in particular. The U.S was the first country to dedicate a full time Ambassador to the AU, and this has enhanced dialogue between both sides as was witnessed at the recent meeting between President Obama, Ambassador Froman and the Chairperson of the AU Commission, H.E Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The AU and the AUC are beneficiaries of technical cooperation in strategic areas such as Energy, Agriculture, Peace and Security, Governance and Human Resource development. The U.S hosts many Africans and remittance is a major source of foreign exchange to Africa. It is against this backdrop that African Ministers of Trade are recommending that AGOA framework be expanded to include political dialogue and exchange of hi level visit to both sides.

As I said earlier we meet when Africa is celebrating the 50th anniversary and has just adopted a 4 year strategy plan and is developing a long term vision known as agenda 2063. Three key mega trends are instructive to AU
Vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful continent-participating effectively in the global arena.

The choice of the theme of this year’s AGOA forum “Sustainable Transformation through Trade & Technology” is to respond to these key challenges when AGOA was enacted in 2000, one would not have predicted its impact on African economies; ranging from exporting textiles to transport equipment in the form of motor vehicles and parts. At the time the proponents of AGOA were faced with skeptisms, trade relations between African and the U.S public and private sectors have been enhanced.

Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since the enactment of AGOA in 2000, both Africa and the U.S. have derived benefits from their economic and trade relationship under AGOA, with combined two-way trade between the United States and AGOA-eligible African countries growing nearly three-fold, research showing as much as a 340% increase between 2001 and 2012. AGOA has generated about 350,000 direct jobs and one million indirect jobs in Africa, further stressing the significance of trade. Through these positive effects on exports, jobs and incomes, AGOA has generated a lot of goodwill in Africa for the USA.

It is also popular knowledge that Africa’s energy and energy-related sectors continue to enjoy stable growth. The non-oil product exports from Africa have also witnessed significant growth, with the textile and apparel industries recording total exports of US$ 4.8 billion in 2012, accounting for 40 percent of non-oil trade.

Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen

Though there have been some successes thus far, the potentials for economic growth based on the original intent of AGOA of stimulating economic growth, diversifying African exports, encouraging economic integration and facilitating Africa’s integration into the global economy have not been realized. It is in this regard that the task of promoting African growth and development through AGOA can be regarded as an unfinished one.

Over the past few years, African governments have effected reforms and created an enabling environment that has led to unprecedented high growth rates and the continent is home to 6 of the world’s ten fastest growing economies. The opportunities for mutually beneficial trade between Africa and USA through a reauthorized and enhanced AGOA are enormous. We have witnessed significant progress in governance policies which have resulted in better macro-economic performance despite current global, financial and economic crisis.

Africa has embarked on an ambitious agenda to ensure: Peace and Security, Human Resource Development, Food Security, Infrastructure Development, Industrialization, (good) Governance, Gender Mainstreaming and ICT technology and Information.

Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen

As we strive for an extended and more comprehensive AGOA, it is important to draw lessons from the past development frameworks and build a new arrangement taking into account Africa's current potential.
Extension of AGOA in time before September 2013 is important to avoid the type of setback Africa experiences with regard to the extension of the textile and apparel provisions. Also critical is the accompanying measures, namely:
1. To enhance investment provisions so as to encourage US bound investments in Africa. That U.S. Share of 1% of total foreign direct investment is clearly one area where there is big room for improvement- by making AGOA more predictable, more transparent and more stable.
2. Expand the range of products to include agricultural products which Africa has a comparative advantage
3. Support Africa’ integration agenda, through regional hubs by encouraging local supply chain systems as well as trade facilitation.
4. Encourage trade and investments interaction at business-to- business levels- to better appreciate trade and investment opportunities
5. Create a forum for political dialogue through which leaders on both sides nurture the relationship.

Excellences, Distinguished Delegates,

Once again you are welcome to Addis Ababa and I wish you successful deliberations.