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KEY NOTE ADDRESS HER EXCELLENCY DR. NKOSAZANA DLAMINI ZUMA, CHAIRPERSON OF THE AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION,
FOR THE LAUNCH OF THE 2015-2025 DECADE OF AFRICAN SEAS AND OCEANS AND THE CELEBRATION OF THE AFRICAN DAY OF THE SEAS AND OCEANS ON 25 JULY 2015

AU HEADQUARTERS, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.

 
Welcome &Thank
Honorable Ministers and High-level Officials from the capitals, here present,
Your Excellency, Ambassador Albert Chimbidi, Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Chair of the PRC,
Your Excellencies, Members of the PRC,
Dear Colleagues Commissioners,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Representatives of International Organizations
Distinguished Invited Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen ,
Fellow Africans.

I warmly welcome you and wish to extend my sincere appreciation to all those who, in one way or another, have contributed to make the launch of the 2015-2025 Decade of African Seas and Oceans and the celebration of the African day of Seas and Oceans on 24 and 25 July 2015 a reality.

Tribute to others
On this day the 25 July in 1957, the monarchy of Tunisia was abolished and Tunisia proclaimed a Republic. Happy Republic day to Tunisia.

Also happy Revolution Day to Egypt on 23 July and in advance for tomorrow 26 July; happy Independence Day to Liberia.

Why the seas and oceans are important to us
An unknown author is quoted as saying “eternity begins and ends with the oceans tides”. Consequently, we, at the African Union, have taken a keen interest in the green and blue economies because if the forests are the lungs of the world then the seas are the veins of the world. We are also quite conscious of the enormous potential for development the blue economy holds for us.

Given the fact that the seas and oceans offer access to and distribution of energy resources and raw materials, Africa can no longer afford to ignore that potential.

Over 80% of today’s international goods are transported in vessels and over 90% of Africa’s imports and exports are conducted by sea. Over the past four decades, the volume of global sea borne trade has more than quadrupled. Ninety percent of world trade and two-thirds of energy supplies are carried by sea. The world’s oceans and seas are interlinked, and action in one sea or one policy area with a direct or indirect impact on the sea may have positive or negative effects on other seas and policy areas. Whilst over 46% of Africans live in absolute poverty—a figure that is still rising—fish makes a vital contribution to the food and nutritional security of over 200 million Africans and provides income for over 10 million.

Framing our challenges in relation to the seas and oceans
Regrettably, Africa’s export of fish and fishery products has not shown significant improvement in the past decade. Likewise, the increasingly intense use of the oceans and seas by various sectors, combined with climate change, has added to the pressure on the marine environment.

We now know that coastal and marine ecosystems also play a significant role in mitigating the impacts of climate change as they could serve as carbon sinks. The paradox is that the marine and coastal areas in Africa are among the most vulnerable areas to the impacts of climate change in the world, mainly attributed to the low adaptive capacity in the continent. These negative effects have also been compounded human carelessness and pollution as shown by the un-understandable pollution of our waters by human wastefulness as shown by the dumping of plastic in our water ways these have devastating consequences on marine life.

Maritime security isalso one of the most significant dimensions of global and human security in general. It poses multidimensional threats to global security, and in turn has major effects on such essential issues as food, energy and economic security.For the last decade, Africa has been the epicenter of international maritime insecurity. Piracy and armed robbery at sea has re-emerged in the modern era off the east and west coasts of Africa alike, this has caused enormous human and financial damage. But we have also seen other breaches of maritime security on the rise in Africa’s seas: illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, toxic waste dumping, and human, weapons and narcotics trafficking.

Thus for Africa, the sustainable management of coastal and marine environments and resources is of utmost priority. The promotion of sustainable use of marine and coastal resources in Africa will significantly enhance food security, ensure constant economic growth and improve the quality of lives of the people in the coastal communities.

What isthe 2050 AIM-Strategy and its objectives
After years of struggling with these geostrategic challenges and opportunities, in 2012 at ministerial level, the African Union (AU) adopted the 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategywhich we intentionally call 2050 “AIM”-Strategy to highlight the fact that this strategy is Result-oriented. The overarching vision of the 2050 AIM-Strategy is to “foster increased wealth creation from Africa’s oceans and seas by developing the blue economy in a secure and environmentally sustainable manner.Our plans around the decade are therefore informed by the 2050 AIM-Strategy, which is dedicated to the memory of those Africans who died at sea trying to earn a better quality life. The strategy provides an opportunity for:
a) A comprehensive understanding of existing and potential challenges, including allocation of resources to identified priorities over a pre-determined time-frame.
b) A comprehensive, concerted, coherent and coordinated approach that improves maritime conditions with respect to environmental and socio-economic development as well as the capacity to generate wealth from sustainable governance of Africa’s seas and oceans.
The implementation of the strategy will also assist with:
(1) Establishing a Combined Exclusive Maritime Zone for Africa (CEMZA);
(2) Enhancing wealth creation through building our countries’ maritime-centric capacity and capability;
(3) Ensuring security and safety in the African Maritime Domain;
(4) Minimizing environmental damage;
(5) Preventing hostile and criminal acts at sea, and prosecute offenders if necessary;
(6) Protecting the populations, Africa’s Maritime Domain (AMD) heritage and infrastructure in the African Maritime Domain;
(7) Promoting and protecting the interests of African shippers;
(8) Enhancing Africa’s competitiveness in international trade;
(9) Improving and facilitating intra-African trade as well as transit transport in landly connected countries; you would recall that as affirmed in the 2050 AIM-Strategy, there is no more “landlocked county” in Africa, but all AU Member States are “landly connected”to the seas and oceans.

The strategy also takes into cognizance that the African continent covers over 43million kilometers in land mass area, with over 35 thousand kilometers of coastline and that 38 African countries are either coastal or island states. The strategy seeks to enhance and further develop (in a sustainable manner) the current 100 port facilities of which 52 of them handle containers and various forms of Cargo.

Linking AIM with Agenda 2063
During the January Summit of the Heads of State and Government the African Union adopted Africa’s Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want – which amongst other objectives it seeks to promote the blue economy and transforming (in a sustainable manner) ownership patterns of key productive assets such as ships, since there are only 1.2% African owned vessels in the world.

In developing this 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime (AIM) Strategy, it is recognized that the Africa Maritime Domain has vast potential for wealth creation. In so doing it also takes into account that AU Member States have common maritime challenges and opportunities, and indeed, significant responsibilities for generating the desirable political will for implementing the strategy. However there has been, up to so far, very limited coordination, across regions. Already ECOWAS and SADC are fairly advanced in developing regional strategies, the challenge is to build on those strategies and scale up to a continental level.

Accordingly, the 2050 AIM Strategy provides a broad framework for the protection and sustainable exploitation of the Africa Maritime Domain for wealth creation. The strategy is the product of cross- cutting inputs from African experts that includes Think Tanks, NGOs and Academia, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Mechanisms (RMs), AU Member States, specialized institutions and other important stakeholders.

The 2050 AIM Strategy is backed by a Plan of Action for Operationalization which constitutes the roadmap for defining the global objectives with a view to enhancing Africa’s blue economy and creating employment and wealth.

Further exploring the potential of seas and oceans
It is our view that Africa has several opportunities to effectively utilize and manage its coastal and marine resources. These opportunities include sustainable practices in energy, fishing, maritime transport and tourism, industrialisation amongst others.In incentivizing the utilization of our oceans, seas and waters for industrial development we will pay attention on rewarding good behavior, which develops that sector in an environmentally friendly manner.

In rewarding good behavior and corporate citizenship, we will also seek to reverse the current trend which sees our continent trading in raw and unprocessed energy and mineral resources commodities so that we may protect our economies from overexposure to the international price fluctuations and poor terms of trade related issues. We will therefore pay attention to developing our refinery industries as we add value to extracted oil and gas. We must ensure that these refineries do not further and unnecessary degrade our marine environment. Therefore we will complement our fossil explorations with new and innovative technologies such as Wave Energy, Tidal Energy, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion and Off-shore Wind Energy.

In pursuing this objective we will draw lessons from our development partners in Asia, Australia, Europe and in the Americas with a view of strengthening our skills particularly in the aqua culture and geological fields.

We sincerely believe that through the 2050 AIM-Strategy, we can responsibly exploit our Regional Aqua Value Chains so that we may also ensure jobs creation, food security and enhanced dignity for all our citizens and future generations. We are also very conscious that Developing African sea power presents an unrivalled opportunity for African Ship owners and African women. Not only is the blue economy which is now officially referred to as the new frontier of Africa’s Renaissance is an essential part of Africa’s 50-year industrialisation plan, Agenda 2063, but it also provides a great chance to achieve the continent’s post-2015 development goals on women’s involvement in employment and leadership. In the blue (ocean) economy, women are riding the wave of Africa’s maritime sector just like Cosmonaut Svetlana on this very same day, 25 July in 1984 became the 1st woman to walk in space. Women have an unrivalled opportunity to drive the industrialization of Africa’s oceans.

Conclusion
Excellences,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Until we meet again on Monday 25 July 2016, let me once more sincerely congratulate all the Experts who tirelessly put their shoulders to wheel to initiate and conceive our 2050 AIM-Strategy.

Let me reassure you all, the Commission’s priority is to ensure that the Decision adopting the 2050 AIM Strategy is in force. In this regards, within the on-going AUC Restructuring process, the Office of the Legal Counsel in consultation with the Human Resources and other departments will fast-track the set-up of a fully-fledged Department of Maritime Affairs.

As we wind up the Celebration of the 2015 African Day of the Seas and Oceans, I hereby declare the official launch of the 2015-2025 “African Decade of Seas and Oceans”.

God bless Africa and God bless you all.
I thank you.

It is now my honor and privilege, on behalf of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Dr. Dlamini Zuma, to officially sign the large print of the four-language 2050 AIM-Strategy, and hold you as distinguished witnesses.

Statement of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, on the occasion of the visit of Honourable Barack Obama, President of the United States of America to the African Union 28 July 2015. AUCC, Addis Ababa

Address by His Excellency Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma President of the Republic of Sierra Leone On Behalf of the MRU Nations At the African Union Ebola Recovery Conference Malabo Equatorial Guinea

On behalf of the Heads of State of the Mano River Union, I would like to convey our deep appreciation to the African Union for organizing this landmark Conference. Our people, on saying thanks to those who visit them during a funeral say we would have hoped that the event that occasioned this visit had not happened, but that the event occurred and you are here to help us get through it shows you care a lot. No body thought that the Ebola virus disease would strike Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, but that the AU came to our aid in moments of great suffering, sickness and death is a testament to the relevance of our common union. And that you are now organizing this conference to find ways of supporting our countries recover from the tragedy is worthy of our deepest appreciation.

We welcome this opportunity to share our hopes for socioeconomic recovery in the Mano River Union (MRU) nation states. Ebola brought about overwhelming challenges in almost every aspect of life in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Our health systems almost collapsed; in 2014, our economies contracted and projected growth declined from 4.5% to 1.3% in Guinea; 11.3% to 6% in Sierra Leone and 5.9 % to 0.4% in Liberia; farms were neglected; markets abandoned; trade and travel contracted; fiscal balances weakened; revenue decreased; and expenditure shut up to combat the disease.

The combat against the disease has been very difficult. We pushed aside long standing African traditions; mobilized support from around the world, including over 800 health workers sent by the African Union with support from the private sector in the continent; we launched the biggest and fastest social mobilization efforts ever seen in the history of our countries; our communities rose up to the challenge; and thousands of health workers asserted their commitment to saving lives, and many did this even at the cost of their lives

Today, with their resilience, and your support, victory against the disease is almost in sight; the virus has been pinned down to a few neighborhoods in our countries. But the enormous health, fiscal, education, and livelihood challenges brought about by the virus are still upon us. We are here because we strongly believe our African brothers and sisters are very determined to support us meet these challenges.

Ebola is a stubborn enemy that usually stages comebacks, as the recent isolated cases have shown in Liberia. We must therefore put in place the strategy on how to tackle emergency situations and design long-term solution to the healthcare crisis that our countries face today.

As we move from emergency situation to stabilization, all three countries are implementing a robust social and economic recovery program in response to the consequences of the disease and ensure greater resilience. Building this resilience involves rebuilding our health sectors, caring for the survivor, and supporting the orphans and the widows brought unto that very vulnerable position by the virus. It involves getting kids back to schools that remain safe, and shoring up the private sector as a means of rebuilding livelihoods and putting the countries back on the trajectory of growth and promise that were very visible before the virus struck.

In furtherance of these goals, the 3rd Extraordinary Summit of the Mano River Union held in Conakry on the 28th of June 2015 adopted the Sub-regional Post Ebola Socio-Economic Recovery Program, the priorities and costs of the sub-regional Ebola-Recovery Program, as well as the Institutional and Financing Framework to ensure effective implementation.

The sub-regional plan is clustered into two levels: Level One is estimated at US$1.76 billion, focusing on (i) health, water, sanitation and hygiene; (ii) governance, peace and security; (iii) agriculture, fisheries and food security; (iv) gender, youth and social protection; (v) program management and monitoring, and vi) private sector development. Level Two is estimated at US$2.24 billion focusing on (i) sub-regional roads; (ii) energy access; and (iii) information and communication technology.

Based on lessons learned during the outbreak, we believe the African Union would be pivotal in providing health and other related personnel to get our health centers to the necessary personnel strength in the short run and support training of nationals to occupy those positions in the long run. Africans have the necessary contextual and cultural knowledge to effectively push our transition from a few cases to zero, to stay at zero and support the rebuilding of health and other socio-economic infrastructure within the timeframes envisioned in our sub-regional Mano River Ebola Recovery Plans and the individual national recovery plans.

We would like the AU to champion the rebranding of our countries, the Mano River sub region, West Africa and the entire continent as brimming with profitable investment and other opportunities for recovery and growth. Without this rebranding the fortunes of our countries would be constrained by travel, investment and other restrictions that could hamper our recovery and resilience to prevent future outbreak.

Africa is a continent on the rise; we should utilize the enormous diplomatic, cultural and socio-economic resources to mobilize the resources to tell the story that the Mano River basin and the entire continent are not synonymous with Ebola, no more than nations afflicted with other zoonotic diseases like SARs, HNI and Marburg are synonymous with those infections. It is high time we became earnest in telling the better narrative of our sub-regions, regions and the continent as a land of immense opportunities, and that we are deploying our experiences to ensure recovery and growth. But this has to begin with awareness being entrenched within African governments and nations alike. Without this awareness amongst ourselves, we cannot position ourselves to shake off negative branding of the continent.

We also ask that you support adherence to the principles of the New Deal and the Mutual Accountability Framework; and our call for direct budget support to the affected countries and for the cancellation of the sub-region’s debt of $3.16 billion

We are also calling on the AU to support the mobilization of resources for the establishment of a Special Delivery Unit within the MRU Secretariat, backed by a project preparation facility for the preparation of bankable projects for effective implementation of the program.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, support for recovery in the Mano River Basin is support for an integral part of the African Union. In essence, in supporting the affected countries, the African Union is supporting its own resilience, its own recovery and its own growth. The Ebola virus did not infect states; it infected people, real people with families across borders who are looking up to their brothers and sisters in the African Union to support their recovery from this scourge. Your response to this call is one of the greatest tests of the African Union’s commitment to being a union of people. We are here because we believe our continental union will be equal to its commitments.

I thank you for your attention.

OPENING REMARKS
BY

H.E. TUMUSIIME RHODA PEACE

COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT FOR RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE

AT THE

RESOURCE MOBILISING ROUNDTABLE TO SUPPORT OPERATIONALISATION OF AFRICA’S AGENDA ON ACCELERATED AGRICULTURAL GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION

AUCC, MULTI-PURPOSE HALL, ADDIS ABABA,
JULY 15

H.E Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer, NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency
H.E Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
H.E Mr. Laurent Thomas, Assistant Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Stephane Roberge, First Secretary (Development - Pan Africa Regional Program), Government of Canada
Mr. Kiyoshi Kodera, Vice President, Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA
Mr. Mark Cackler, Global Practice Manager for Agriculture, World Bank
H.E Amb.Reuben E. Brigety, U.S. Ambassador to the AU, US Government
Mr. Klaus Rudischhauser, Deputy Director-General, European Commission
Dr. James Mwangi, Managing Director, Equity Bank Holding

Distinguished participants; Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is with great honor that I welcome you all to this important event that aims at strengthening our partnerships in support of advancing Africa’s Accelerated Agriculture Growth and Transformation agenda -our vision for achieving the goals that we set for ourselves in the June 2014 African Union Malabo Declaration.
Agriculture continues to play a pivotal role in African economies, as the livelihoods and businesses of the majority of the population depend on the sector directly or indirectly. It is obvious that the rising demand for food and other agricultural products, hence the fast-growing domestic market, induced by high population growth, rapid urbanization and income growth should continue to spur fast agricultural growthin Africa.
As suchthis dynamic market presents itself as a huge and unique opportunity for transforming African agriculture from a subsistence-oriented towards a more market-oriented sector , propelled by high productivity along the whole agricultural value chains – through the development and expansion of agro-industries and agribusinesses in Africa – with positive impacts on jobs, incomes and quality of life. This is consistent with our vision as enshrined inAgenda 2063 for inclusive growth, sustainable development and shared prosperity.
Dear Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It was in recognition of the strategic position of agriculture that African leaders adopted CAADP in 2003. An important feature of CAADP has been its emphasis on African leadership and ownership and on sustainable and inclusive agricultural development as a key to economic growth and shared prosperity. A decade of CAADP implementation realised a number of encouraging successes as agricultural transformation is increasingly put high on the development policy agenda in most AU Member States. Guided and informed by CAADP principles and practices, the majority of Member States have been formulating and implementing National agriculture and food security investment plans (NAFSIPs). It is not by coincidence that the performance of Africa’s agriculture over the last decade or so, estimated to have grown by 4-5% per annum, has been quite encouraging in spite of the low base. Such progress required deliberate and persistent leadership and commitment for the noble cause.
Evidences indicate that agricultural growth has been largely responsible for the relatively fast and equitable economic growth that many African countries have registeredover the last decade. It is now evident that inclusive and sustained agricultural growth has the most direct and consequential impact on overall economic progress as well as on poverty reduction. A recent FAO report indicates, for example, that Africa has made significant strides in terms of improving food availability by nearly 12% over the past two decades, as well as in declining poverty rate by 23% between 1993 and 2011.
However, the encouraging progresses notwithstanding, the challenges still remain. The total number of undernourished people continues to increase in Africa, despite the decline in the prevalence of undernourishment. And, despite certain improvements, productivity levels are still the lowest in the world. External dependence on food imports is rising, which is unsustainable. Despite the huge potential of African markets, African countries trade less amongst themselves and more with the rest of the world. And, because agriculture is one of the most climate sensitive sectors, vulnerability to climate variability and other related risks has been on the rise. It is, therefore, our considered view thatthe manner in which these are adequately addressed would define the extent to which agriculture can grow sustainably and continues to positively impact overall economic transformation in Africa.

It is in recognition of such trends and facts that the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth And Transformation for Shared Prosperity And Improved Livelihoods was adopted by AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in June 2014.Anchored in the principles and values of CAADP, the Malabo Declarationcontains specific commitments defining the 2025 vision and goals – which in effect also constitute the agricultural component of the 1st Ten Years Implementation Plan for Agenda 2063. The commitments are for:
1. Ending hunger in Africa by 2025;
2. Enhancing Agriculture’s Contribution to Economic Growth and Significant Poverty Reduction (agriculture to contribute to at least half)
3. Boosting Intra-African Trade in Agricultural commodities and services
4. Commitment to Enhancing Resilience of Livelihoods and Production Systems to Climate Variability and other related risks
5. Enhancing Investment Finance in Agriculture, and
6. Enhancing Mutual Accountability to Actions and Results

Admittedly these are commitments of a tall order, but clearly they are achievable goals. No doubt, they require exceptional leadership qualities at all levels, in particular high public officials essentially leading the way in terms of ensuring that enabling conditions for effective implementation are put in place and sustained; effective participation of all stakeholders; and constructive engagement with the private sector and other significant actors with unity of purpose.

I am glad to inform you that the African Union Commission and the NEPAD Agency, in collaboration with the RECs, undertook an expedient process that translated the Malabo commitments into results-based Implementation Strategy and Roadmap, anddeveloped aProgramme of Work that broadly defines operational actions and guides implementation at multiple levels,and across sectors, thus building coherence and alignment of efforts that respond to the priorities identified.

Distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen:

You will recall that CAADP was adopted against a backdrop of agricultural policy neglect in Africa. The most manifest form of that neglect had been the investment deprivation of agriculture. So, an important tenet defining CAADP has been the consensus to allocate an increasing proportion of national budgets to agriculture. The decision to allocate at least 10% of public budgetary expenditure was aimed at reversing the trend of the investment deprivation that characterized agriculture, but also as a demonstration of commitment to country ownership and leadership in this predominant sector.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can note with a sense of encouragement that government expenditureon agriculture in Africa had registered an increasing trend over the last decade. Average annual agricultural expenditures by African governments exceeded US$ 10billion in 2010-13 period, compared to an average of about US$ 7billion during 1995-2008. Cumulatively, agriculture expenditures have risen significantly from US$ 55billon in 2003-2008 to US$ 65bilion in 2008-2013.
Since the Maputo Declaration in 2003, more and more countries have been making progress towards the 10% budget expenditure target, with at least 9 countries having annually achieved or surpassed the 10%budget targets, whilst an average of 15 countries had budget shares exceeding 5 percent during 2003–2013. This increased to 18 countries during 2008-2013 period.
Similarly, evidences suggest that the total Official Development Assistance (ODA) to agriculture in Africa increased from a little over 1 billion to close to $ 2 billion in 2011. The growth of Agriculture ODA on average was 4.5% during 2003-2008 but increased to 6.7% in the 2008-2012 period. This period also demonstrates the positive response of the global community as many countries developed their CAADP based National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans (NAFSIPs).

Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen
These are encouraging trends, but by no means adequate to respond to the enormous and growing challenges that we must meet through operationalization of the Malabo Commitments. We will continue to work with African governments and all relevant stakeholders and development partners towards ensuring that the Malabo commitment of “enhancing investment finance” both public and private is realized. It is at this juncture that I wish to call on our strategic partners to step up their efforts in terms of enhancing investment finance to support Africa achieve its goals.
It goes without saying that the transformational agenda – as part of Africa’s industrialization drive through development and expansion of agro-industries and agribusinesses propelled by high and sustained productivity along the whole value chain – cannot be achieved without the co-leadership, ownership and active participation of the private sector. To this effect, we have been working with African governments and business leaders, both African and foreign, to facilitate a constructive dialogue aimed at enhancing investment in agriculture. This engagement will continue.
You may have already noted that enhancing mutual accountability for results and impacts is one of the commitments of the Malabo Declarations. The African leaders expressed their readiness for a peer review to be conducted every two years, starting from 2017 on the progress made in the realization of those goals. Definitely, progress on achievement of the goal of enhancing investment finance shall be one of the parameters against which we will all be judged.
We,from the African Union Commission and NEPAD Agencyare carrying out significant efforts to work with our Member States in creating the enabling conditions to sustain the current recovery, in addition to continuing to raise public and private financial resources foragriculture. Our efforts will continue to be guided byour evidence based policy planning and implementationstrategies in increasing the number of our countries that are subscribing to the more comprehensive, technically robust, and inclusive mutual accountability frameworks.
In summary, wewill continue to create the conditions for even higher returns to investments in agriculture.We will continue to ensure that African countries continue to invest more responsibly in agriculture both from the private and public sources. We, therefore, call on our partners to work with us to sustain the growth that we have registered in the last decade in terms ofsignificantly raising investment finances.
I thank you.