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Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Kongit Sinegiorgis, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the AU and UNECA and Chairperson of the Permanent Representatives Committee at the Africa-Arab Senior Officials Meeting

14 November 2013, Kuwait City

Excellencies,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me begin by expressing my sincere appreciation to the Government of Kuwait for the gracious hospitality accorded to us and the excellent facilities put at our disposal.

As you all know, our meeting is entrusted with the responsibility of preparing the ground work for the success of the Third Africa-Arab Summit, scheduled to take place on 19 and 20 November 2013. Our principals expect us to carry out an overall assessment of the Africa-Arab Partnership and submit a comprehensive report with appropriate recommendations with a view to strengthening our partnership for the mutual benefit of our peoples. In this regard, the Activity Report, which is jointly prepared by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the Secretary General of the League of Arab States will certainly facilitate our work and I wish to take this opportunity to thank both the Chairperson and the Secretary-General for their joint report.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

You would recall that the Joint Africa-Arab Partnership Strategy and the 2010-2016 Action Plan adopted during the 2nd Africa-Arab Summit held in Sirte in 2010, identified four major areas of cooperation namely Political Cooperation, Economic, Trade and Financial Cooperation, Cooperation in Agriculture and Food Security as well as Socio-Cultural Cooperation. During this meeting, we are expected to assess the progress that has thus far been made in terms of implementing the related activities contained in the Action Plan and identify achievements and challenges so as to move our partnership forward.

The theme of the 3rd Africa-Arab Summit: “Partners in Development and Investment” is indeed very pertinent providing us with an overarching framework to exchange views on ways and means of strengthening our partnership on trade, investment and socio-economic development issues. These are indeed very important issues all the more so because of the ever increasing flow of goods, investments, capital and peoples between our two regions.
It must be emphasized that the increasing people-to-people interaction, development assistance, commercial transaction, investment flows and flourishing air links between Africa and the Arab world have contributed to strengthening our relations in recent years. This notwithstanding, however, we are cognizant of the number of challenges that our partnership faces and I hope this meeting will afford us the opportunity to have candid discussions on those challenges in order to find an amicable solution.

One of the challenges we face is, of course, the issue of ‘Migration’. Today, an untold number of African migrants are passing through extremely difficult conditions and this is a matter of serious concern for both of our regions. Reports of various international organizations working on migration such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continuously underline the contribution of international migration to the development of origin, transit as well as destination countries. In fact, the UN High-level Dialogue on Migration, which was held just last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in New York, acknowledged that human mobility is a key factor for sustainable development and agreed that it should be taken into consideration in the elaboration of the Post-2015 development agenda.

Therefore, we need to work together with a spirit of mutual partnership for the better management of migration in our two regions in a comprehensive and holistic manner. I believe now is the right time for Africa and the Arab world to take concrete steps and use international migration as an instrument of mutual prosperity. Both sides have to agree to end human suffering and take effective measures to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants regardless of their migration status, especially those of women and children.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen

We will have the opportunity to extensively discuss the issue of ‘Migration’ when we start our first session in a few minutes, so I will not spend too much time on the matter.

But before I conclude my brief remarks, I would like to once again emphasize that, as Senior Officials, we have the heavy responsibility of ensuring that the preparations for the 3rd Africa-Arab Summit are done successfully. I am confident that our deliberations will pave the way towards achieving this endeavor. The Co-Chairs count on your cooperation and support to ensure that the Summit is crowned with success.

I thank you

ARAB – AFRICA ECONOMIC FORUM
“BEYOND PROMISES: MOVING FORWARD TOWARD AN EFFECTIVE AFRICA ARAB PARTNERSHIP”

HE Mrs. Rhoda Tumusiime

Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union (AU)/Chair of the Session on the Theme: Mutual Arab-African Cooperation in Food Security
during the Afrirca - Arab Economic Forum leading to the Third Africa – Arab Summit, 11-12 November, 2013

The Secretary General of the Arab League, H.E Mr. Nabil El Araby,
The Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, H.E Mr. Abdulwabab Al Bader,
Distinguished Representatives of Partner Organizations;
Honorable Ministers and Senior Officials and Experts of the League of Arab States and AU Member States;
Members of the Diplomatic Corp;
Invited Guests and Speakers,
Ladies and Gentlemen

Courtesies

I would like to add to the messages of all the previous speakers that conveyed appreciation to the leadership and people of Emirate of Kuwait, including the Kuwait Fund and also the Secretariat of the League of Arab States for organizing well the Arab – Africa Economic Forum on the Theme: “Beyond Promises: Moving toward and Effective Arab Africa Partnership” building up to the Third Africa-Arab Summit in a few days’ time.

Introduction

The theme of this Session which I am honored and pleased to chair is on Mutual Arab-African Cooperation in Food Security. It provides us an opportunity to discuss ways and means of enhancing cooperation within the context of Africa-Arab Partnership to accelerate investment towards ensuring that the populations of our respective regions enjoy a decent living with adequate food which is nutritionally secure and safe for health.

We are all aware that availing food will not necessarily mean that each and every person has to go to the field and cultivate; some will require purchasing power to access the food.

In order to attain this goal of a food and nutrition secure and poverty free populace for the two regions, we need to take advantage of the of the resources available from extensive arable land to large labour reserve offered by Africa and the financial and technical support coming from the Arab region.

As envisaged for this session, we can initially focus on three sectors, notably: crops, livestock and fisheries. In order to optimize mutual benefit for the people of our two regions, investment in these sectors should be based on comparative and competitive advantage of our regions and countries.

To this end, a lot of groundwork has been covered as evidenced by the deliberations and recommendations of the First Joint Africa-Arab Conference of Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security held in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt in 2010 and the Second Conference of the same Ministers held last month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Areas of cooperation in food security have been agreed on through a robust process with the political level supported by the technical level.

In follow up, the African Union Commission and the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development have been coordinating the process since the Second Summit of Africa-Arab Heads of State and Government meeting in Sirte, Libya in 2010 agreed that a Joint Facilitation Unit be set up to take forward the areas related to agriculture and food security cooperation.

Three presentations on cereals, fisheries and livestock, which play an important role in our food security, will be made during the current session.

The three papers to be presented will inform us on the importance of how the promotion of: 1) production and supply of cereals; 2) the fisheries industry as well as 3) the livestock industry in Arab and African countries, can contribute to strengthening the mutual cooperation between Arab and African countries and open great possibilities for trade and economic development.

The African Union through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) considers these as critical.

The first presentation by Dr Mahmoud Elsohl, Director General of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas will be followed by the presentation by Dr Tarek Ben Moussa Zadjali, Director General of the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development (AOAD) and then by the presentation by Dr Hassane H. Mahamat, Coordinator of the African – Union Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (AU-PATTEC). The three presentations will show their complementarity for food and nutritional security and poverty eradication.

Bios
Dr Mahmoud Elsohl , International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), has a PhD , Genetics from the University of California , Davis. He recently stressed that "combining grain legumes and dryland cereals - both highly nutritious, drought-tolerant crops - in their diets are the best bets for smallholder farmers in marginal environments to achieve food and nutritional security and improve their livelihoods."

Dr Tarek Ben Moussa Zadjali is Director General of the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development (AOAD) which was established in 1970, for coordination among Arab countries between their different policies in agriculture, natural and human resources as well as economic development, in order to achieve the ultimate goal of a fully integrated Arab economies with the aim of achieving a fully integrated Arab economy union, and food self-sufficiency. Dr. Tarek is at the helm of this Organisation and we have been working closely in pursuit of our shared mandate.

Dr Hassane H. Mahamat, Coordinator of the African – Union Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (AU-PATTEC), a specialized technical office of the African Union.

Prof. Tandeka Nkiwane, Special Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordination Agency will be the discussant.
Let us now listen to our first speaker, Dr. Mahmoud Elsolh.

N.B Attached is the Forum endorsement of Resolution
Resolution on Mutual Arab African Cooperation in food security
Africa Arab Economic Forum, 11 – 12 November 2013, Kuwait

1. On Food Security

• The Forum resolves to endorse the Riyadh Resolution following the 2nd Africa Arab Ministerial Conference on Agriculture on Agricultural Development and Food Security held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2nd October 2013

• The Forum recommends supporting Research and Development in the area of food security. Africa Arab financial institutions need to enhance cooperate and invest in the sectors of Crops, Livestock and Fisheries to ensure that both regions will benefit from these areas in order to boost the availability of food in the regions through resolving the problems of production, productivity, diseases, and standards, among others.

2. On Cooperation in Implementation of the Joint Action Plan on Agricultural Development and Food Security in Africa and the Arab Region

The Forum calls upon African and Arab States to intensity their cooperation in the fields of Crops, Livestock and Fisheries through the development of Joint Africa Arab programmes/projects to increase investment and production of commodities and reinforce the establishment of the Joint Facilitation Unit.

3. On Investments

Public and private sectors should ensure complementarity in investments in the development of rural infrastructures (slaughter houses, storage facilities, roads, etc.) to improve the transformation of products and boost value addition for export market.

The Forum request the Arab Authority for Agriculture Development and Investment to widen its mandates and works in African countries

The Forum recommends feasibility studies to facilitate the establishment of Africa-Arab companies to collaborate in the establishment of commodities based systems.

ARAB – AFRICA ECONOMIC FORUM
“BEYOND PROMISES: MOVING FORWARD TOWARD AN EFFECTIVE AFRICA ARAB PARTNERSHIP”
H. E. Anthony Mothae Maruping
Commissioner for Economic Affairs, African Union Commission.

His Majesty the Emir of Kuwait
Excellencies
Hon Ministers
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning to you all.
I am speaking on behalf of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Chairperson, Her Excellency Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma> She was very eager to attend this important event between the two friendly regions personally; but she has been held up in the Sahel region, on a close study tour, together with the UN Secretary General, the World Bank Group President and other relevant dignitaries. The objective being to forge an initiative that approaches attainment of enduring peace and stability from the development ankle. It is on the belief that lasting peace and stability can be secured through inclusive socio – economic development. It is an exercise which, in my humble opinion is paving way towards realization of the objectives of this Forum.

From the word go I wish to commend the organizers and co-ordinators of this important event; of this Africa – Arab Economic Forum: Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Arab League; the “three musketeers with their slogan “…one for all and all for one…”. May we commend them for the work well done so far. Mai applaud the generosity of Kuwait Fund for its warm hospitality , especially on the resources side. Above all and with all humility gratitude goes to His Majesty the Emir of Kuwait for his high patronage of this highly pertinent and timely event.

I have been thinking that instead of good friends arguing on whether to call this Arab – Africa or Africa – Arab Forum, why not just use the acronym: AAA for Accelerated Arab-Africa or Africa-Arab Forum. Your Excellencies you will agree that AAA is the top most ranking in the credit market. That is how our partnership should be. It should reach the highest of rankings among all inter- regional partnerships. It is based on strong foundations of close bonds between Africa and the Arab world. Those strong bonds are based on ancient trade, ethnic and cultural background, linguistic bonds, shared monotheist and revealed faith, geographical proximity. Ours to strive to realize the full potency of these bonds through effective and meaningful co- operation on the ground.

This AAA co-operation between two friendly regions seeks to move on all fronts, as evidenced by those present here, It is the public sector leadership on financial and economic matters and other closely related fields in socio – economic development, pertinent regional and international organizations, specialized and relevant African and Arab institutions, intellectuals, private sector leadership, and civil society.
We are called upon to be faithful to the Theme and Focus of the Forum. We have to resolutely tackle the set objectives shown in the concept note .The overall theme of.:“Beyond Promise : Moving Forward Towards An Effective Arab – African Partnership” with emphasis on “ Beyond Promise”, “ Effective” and on “Partnership” is tell-tale. It is indicative. It is instructive. It is action oriented, practical and entirely hands – on. I commend those who formulated it.
We are invited to focus on: probing and agreeing on inter-regional development co-operation issues in the areas of investment, infrastructure including energy, on agriculture and food security, trade and environment. We are invited to examine regional and global considerations that impact on economic development of the two regions and find ways of dealing with them jointly. We are urged to consider investment flows in both directions. We are nudged a little to put the roles of non-governmental organizations and civil society on a new and higher plateau. In short, we are urged by stakeholders to harness full energy on all fronts which is at our disposal in the two friendly regions and put it to work full throttle to accelerate broad based co-operation.
It is of interest that recently Kuwait Fund celebrated 50 years of operations according to the literature given to us. African Union also is in the midst of celebrating her 50th Anniversary. We moved from OAU which was essentially about liberation ( more political) to AU which is now more focused on socio – economic development. AU has a clear vision, has adopted solemn declaration during the 50th Anniversary Summit in May 2013. In everyone’s lips talk is about Sustainable Development Goals and Post 2015 Development Agenda, following the MDGs era. Africa is articulating her own expectations and road map through one common position on the post – 2015 development agenda and African Agenda 2063. Both are based on consultations with the stakeholders .May I be allowed to give just a glimpse the thinking of African stakeholders: African stakeholders wish for:
- Economic transformation by attending resolutely to infrastructure in its broad context, agriculture to address food security and nutrition but also to provide requisite raw materials, accelerated industrialization using clean technology, strengthening services sector, developing the private sector, to make private sector a credible partner in development, especially if it follows concept of what is called inclusive business, which means business involving those in the bottom of social pyramid in the value chain. Then acceleration of integration and trade, both intra-Africa trade and between Africa and partners such as the region we are in now.
- Then enhancement of human development through education, health, social protection and access to sanitation and clean water. Kuwait Fund and other national funds have been active in this areas. Hence the objectives of this Forum are in perfect harmony with the expressed aspirations of the African stakeholders. They rhyme!
- Then research and development: Technology development, transfer, diffusion and innovation.
- Of course enablers, such as peace and security, good governance a, empowerment of youth nd many others should be borne in mind. They should also be addressed and met.
Then comes the question of financing implementation of all these noble programmes. That is where relevance of this Forum comes into full bloom. Partnerships have to refined to ensure not only ODA, which far from adequate to provide adequate funding, but also investment flows, both foreign direct investment (FDI) and equity flows. It also calls for domestic resources mobilization, improved management of remittances and adopting other forms of innovative financing including the built – operate – and – transfer (BOT) and PPPs etc.

Partnership with Africa should be in the form of just ODA but also FDI, equity investment, joint ventures and trade in goods and services. That is, co-operation along the entire value chain.
On its part, the African Union Commission, through her own Economic Affairs Department, is compiling African Business Directory, formulating harmonized investment code, promoting private sector development, facilitating public – private sector dialogue, inching towards Pan-African virtual stock market. In good time when conditions permit, establishment of Investment Bank, African Monetary Fund, and the African Central Bank.
Statistics challenge is enormous in our continent. Need for adequate (in scope), accurate and timely statistics to enable policy formulation and monitoring and evaluation, is of utmost importance. There is dire need to build capacity in this area as a matter of urgency.
Let me assure our partners gathered here to-day that they are dealing with a re-branded and very serious Africa which is continuing to re-brand. Africa is ready for serious business!
Africa’s economy is due to drive global economy as it is the only place with high potential that is not yet realized. We invite our friendly Arab partners to invest in Africa. Africa has resources, is a growing market and is yearning for value addition, which should be job creating leading to poverty eradication and socio – economic development. Sound, sustained, stable and inclusive economic growth is the aspiration, as it would lead to faster, inclusive and resilient as well as sustainable socio-economic development.
Together, as partners, let us make it a reality. No more talk shops for their own sake. Action! Action! Action! Do busy networking during this week. Ensure follow-up action hereafter.
Once again allow me to commend organizers and co-ordinators for the job well done. All those working feverishly behind the scenes to make this Forum a success are commended.
May I thank you all for your kind attention!