Department FrontPage

Keynote Address
BY
H.E.MRS. RHODA PEACE TUMUSIIME
COMMISSIONER FOR RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE
(Member of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition)

AT:
THE WORLD FOOD SECURITYSUMMIT
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
9 FEBRUARY, 2015

Thank you our Moderator, Dr Ashraf Mahate, Head of Export Market Intelligence, Dubai Export Development Corporation

Honourable Felix Koskei, Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Kenya
H.E. Khadim Abdulla Al Darei, Vice Chairman, Al Dahra Agriculture
Dr. Saad A. Kh. Esa, Director, Office of King Abdullah Initiative for Saudi Agricultural Investment Abroad Ministry of Agriculture
Quintin Gray, Agricultural Counselor, Office of Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Consulate Dubai
Kimble Winter, Global CEO, Logistics Executive Group
Thorsten Hartmann, Director EMEA, Canadean
Alan Smith, Managing Director, GCC and Pakistan, Mondelēz International
Rayan M. Qutub, CEO Industrial Valley – King Abdullah Economic City
Amin Khayyal, General Manager, DuPont

On behalf of the African Union Commission, it is an honour for me to participate in this World Food Security Summit and the Gulfood Leaders’ Event.
I look forward to sharing information and knowledge with the global policy makers and senior industry professionals as we explore together strategies for the future of a sustainable global agriculture industry, policy reforms, farmland strategies, agriculture initiatives, just to mention but a few of the major items on our agenda.
I wish to commend the organisers of this important engagement that has brought us together and for placing focus on building coherent global governance for food security and for including African agro-investments into our discussions on commercial and business opportunities pertaining to agriculture and the food industry.
I must say, at the outset, that I consider this as very important for the African Union as it also brings together some of the key players in the Africa – Arab Cooperation in Agriculture which is one of the components of the Africa-Arab Partnership.
This is one of the most valuable partnerships for Africa and we meet regularly up to the highest level. You would recall that the last Summit of Africa and Arab Heads of State and Government took place in Kuwait in 2013. And prior to that, the Second Conference of Africa-Arab Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the first one having taken place in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt in 2010. And, as you may be aware, the next Africa-Arab Conference of Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development is scheduled for Kampala, Uganda later this Year.
Within this framework of cooperation, we emphasise public – private partnership and I notice, that it is the same spirit at this World Food Security Summit and the Gulfood Leaders’ Event. In fact, within the framework of the Africa-Arab Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, we have a Steering Committee co-chaired by myself on behalf of the African Union Commission and H.E Dr. Tariq bin Mousa Al-Zadjali, Director General of the Arab Organisation for Agricultrual Development, on behalf of the League of Arab States. The Steering Committee is supported by the Joint Facilitation Unit and it is private sector oriented.
In this cooperation framework, Africa’s orientation is guided by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) which has among its key pillars a focus on investment particularly private sector and market access that goes along with value chain development. The Arab partners have, on their part, the Arab Strategy for Sustainable Agricultural Development (ASSAD) - 2005-2025.
This is especially important because we find that while Africa has a good climate, abundant water resources and fertile soils that enable us to produce food and we have potential to feed ourselves and the rest of the world including our Arab neighbours, our main challenge has been the marketing infrastructure. For example, due to poor storage, Africa loses about 30 per cent of her agricultural products in what we call post harvest losses. This is a major discouraging element to farmers and a big contributor to food insecurity in Africa. And this is an area we would like our Arab partners to join us in addressing. Furthermore, inadequate rural infrastructure makes food transport difficult and subsequently costly and unaffordable to the majority of the population. Again, this is an area we would be interested to encourage Arab investors to venture in. In addition, our food processing capacities are also low to the extent that food losses are exacerbated and value addition is limited and our people are deprived of quality and safe food and this has especially affected our children whereby the rate of stunting remains high. This is yet another area where we would like to invite our Arab agro-industry investors to consider especially processing nutritive diets and I want to emphasise this as a Member of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition.
Owing to these and related constraints, Africa currently imports nearly US$40 billion worth of food annually. That is why we are emphasizing investment including foreign direct investment in the entire agricultural value chain so that we exploit fully our agricultural potential, minimize post harvest losses, add value to our agricultural products through processing and improve marketing through agribusiness thereby, saving our foreign exchange, also increasing employment especially of the youth and creating wealth or combating poverty.
Besides crop agriculture, Africa also offers extraordinary potential in the livestock sector for food and leather industry but unfortunately many of our pastoralists have not benefitted optimally from this sector. We, therefore, welcome investors in livestock development, dairy and meat processing and leather value addition, among others, to boost this sector as well. Also investment in making water available in pastoralist communities to prevent unnecessary movements of animals that would otherwise spread diseases and reduce productivity.
I wish to draw your attention to the fact that Africa’s agriculture is predominantly rainfed and this is proving unsustainable in the wake of the climate change and climate variability that has occasioned unpredictable weather patterns. It is now imperative to invest in climate-smart agricultural technologies including irrigation considering that Africa currently uses only 3 per cent of its irrigation potential while demand for food is increasing with the rising population and urbanisation, among other mega trends. Water harvesting is another area we would like to promote. And by the way, Africa lags behind the rest of the world in the use of fertilisers to boost agricultural production and we are in the process of addressing this challenge. I chair the Governing Council of the African Fertilizer Financing mechanism (AFFM) that we are trying to capitalise and operationalise to contribute to the realisation of Africa’s agricultural transformation.
These are some of the areas that we would like to engage with you in taking forward so that Africa does not continue to only pride in holding 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land and yet having one of the highest numbers of people who are hungry and malnourished. As stated by Her Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission when she was addressing the 24th Ordinary Session of Heads of State and Government of the African Union last month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: ‘‘Our aspirations and the concrete programmes in Agenda 2063 are very clear: to diversify our economies and industrialise; to have a skills and entrepreneurial revolution, unleashing the creativity and energy of our young people, and to effect an agricultural and agro-processing transformation, so we can feed ourselves and contribute to feeding the world’’.
As you may be aware, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union Member States just last month adopted the Strategy and Roadmap to implement the Declaration that they adopted last year which was the AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security where they committed themselves to ending hunger by 2025 through Accelerated Africa Agriculture Growth and Transformation. We look forward to your partnership in our pursuit of the goal of a food and nutrition secure and poverty free Africa that will also contribute to global food security needs.
Thank you.

Statement by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, HE Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to the 24th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government

30 January 2015, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

 
Mheshimiwa, Mohamed Ould Abdel Azizi, Rais wa Jamhuri ya Kiislamu ya Mauritania na Mwenyekiti wa Umoja wa Afrika;
Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the African Union;
President Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, His Majesty, the King of Spain and His Excellency, the Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr. Stefan Löfven
Excellencies, Former Heads of State, former Secretaries General and Chairperson of the OAU and AU
Mheshimiwa, Ban Ki Moon, Katibu Mkuu wa Umoja wa Mataifa;
Excellencies, Members of the Executive Council and other Ministers;
Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha and AU Commissioners,
Your Excellencies, Heads of AU Organs, and other International agencies;
Excellencies, Ministers and leaders of delegations from partner countries
Excellencies, Heads of African Regional Economic Communities and African Union Specialised and Representative offices;
Excellencies, members of the Permanent Representatives Committee;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Distinguished invited guests;

Waheshimiwa, Mabibi na Mabwana;
Waafrika wenzangu,

Ninayo heshima kwa mara nyingine tena kuhutubia Mkutano wa Wakuu wa Nchi na Serikali, na ningependa kumpongeza Mheshimiwa Rais wa Libya, Rais wa Mauritius, Rais wa Msumbiji, Rais wa Namibia, Rais wa Tunisia na Rais wa Zambia kwa kuchaguliwa kwao kuongoza nchi zao. Kamisheni ya Umoja wa Afrika inatarajia kuwa na uhusiano mzuri na ninyi katika kufanya kazi.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

We meet at the start of a year when the world faces a historic point: as it agrees on what to do about climate change, about the post 2015 development agenda, and as it reflects on twenty years since the Beijing Women’s Conference.

Thus, whilst the rest of the world has the luxury to choose to stay where they are or move East, West, South or North, Africa has neither the time nor the choice: we must move in one direction —and that is forward and upwards!

Fifteen years ago, as the world welcomed the new millennium, Africa was referred to as the 21st’s Century’s development challenge at best and a hopeless continent at worst. As Africans, we chose to see the start of the millennium as the start of the African century.

We should however be aware of the new global threats such as terrorism, insecurity and climate change that also threatens the African Century. On the one side of our continent we have a drought in the Sahel, whereas in the eastern side we have floods in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia.

Terrorism, in particular the brutality of Boko Haram against our people, the senseless killings, the destruction of property, the enslavement and sale of our people, our girls kidnapped and married and the terrorization of villages are a threat to our collective safety, security and development.

This, along with the senseless killings of our people, has now spread beyond Nigeria to Cameroon, Chad and Niger and requires a response that is collective, effective and decisive to achieve the desired results.

As we discuss the situations in Somalia, Libya, Mali, South Sudan and DRC, we should remind ourselves that on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the OAU, we vowed that we shall not bequeathed war and violence to the next generation of Africans.

We also need a coordinated and collective responses to other threats such as modern slavery in the guise of human trafficking; poaching, illegal logging and fishing, and the destruction and plunder of African natural resources.

It is imperative that we deny space to those who are bent on destroying the lives and prospects of Africans. This will require concerted efforts to unite our people. The core of our solution rests in our ability to speedily champion tolerant, accountable, democratic and inclusive political cultures, and inclusive social and economic development.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen

Despite these challenges, and even as downward gale-force winds continue to buffet the world, Africa has been climbing, a step at a time, up the steep cliff towards peace, prosperity and the restoration of the dignity of our people.

It was this resolve to be in charge of our destiny, which informed our decision in the 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration to develop Agenda 2063 “through a people-driven process for the realization of our vision for an integrated, people-centred, prosperous Africa at peace with itself. “

We present Agenda 2063 for adoption today, after months of consultations and outreach to all sectors of African society. We are confident that the aspirations in Agenda 2063 reflects the voices of the African people and her Diaspora, united in diversity, young and old, men and women, from all walks of life.

Excellencies,

2015 is also 60 years since the 1955 Bandung Asian-African conference, a turning point of world history when for the first time representatives of the former colonized nations united and proposed alternatives to a world order dominated by superpowers.

Sixty years on, the issues that served before Bandung - of peaceful coexistence amongst nations, the struggle for development and a just world order - are still relevant today, albeit in a changed world, with its threats of extremism and intolerance, of disease, inequality between and within nations, feminization of poverty, gender-based violence and climate change.

But, it is also a world of opportunities with technological advances that can help leapfrog development, and changes in the economic landscape of the world.

It is this changing world - with threats and opportunities - that Africa navigates as it finalizes its vision for the next fifty years.

Our generations of Africans, young and old, men and women, face the challenge to fulfill the mission we set ourselves.

I dare say, we are the generations that will eradicate poverty, disease and hunger, as we set out to do in our Common African Position on post-2015 development. We are the generation that shall manage diversity and silence the guns.

Agenda 2063 is therefore a call to action – to governments, civil society, academics and private sector; continental and regional bodies, the Diaspora, Africans of all ages, men and women alike.

Our aspirations and the concrete programmes in Agenda 2063 are very clear: to diversify our economies and industrialise; to have a skills and entrepreneurial revolution, unleashing the creativity and energy of our young people, and to effect an agricultural and agro-processing transformation, so we can feed ourselves and contribute to feeding the world.

We shall connect Africa through aviation, railways, highways, ICT, energy and the seas. At Malabo, you gave us the mandate to explore Agenda 2063 flagship projects. We are therefore tackling the African infrastructure backlog, utilizing state of the art technology to leapfrog development and through smarter partnerships.

We discussed the importance of energy during the US-Africa Leadership Summit in August last year; the EU-Africa Summit agreed to strengthen co-operation on human development; and we have just concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with China on rail, highways, aviation, and industrialization.

We want to make a special appeal on aviation: that we need to move decisively towards the creation of a single African aviation market, as envisaged by the Yamoussoukro Declaration. It not only makes economic sense, but it is also a key driver towards continental integration. We call on countries to be bold, and be prepared to take the first step.

The large number of elections in the coming year is an opportunity to present our people and countries with a vision for a different tomorrow. We must continue to conduct our elections peacefully, freely and fairly, with respect for the will of the people.

We must invest in our people - their health and education, access to water and sanitation - and build resilience and public health systems in order to defeat diseases like Ebola, as well as malaria and HIV.

We once again thank the health workers of the AU-ASEOWA mission, its n leader General Julius Oketta, and the governments and peoples of the countries who sent them to help our brothers and sisters in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. We must continue to support them, until these countries are Ebola free.

We thank the African private sector for their partnership with us in the fight against Ebola, and particularly the mobile network operators, who through the continental SMS campaign enables Africans to contribute. Over thirty countries have joined the SMS campaign, and we invite those that have not yet done so to join.

We must continue to mobilise our people to contribute to the campaign and to keeping health workers on the ground, until the countries are officially Ebola free.

We must also call for the cancellation of their debts, as they prepare for their social and economic recovery.

Excellencies,

We will present a progress report to the Assembly on the first 10-year plan for the implementation of Agenda 2063. Key to this remains the issue of resource mobilisation for the implementation of our continental vision, plans and institutions.

The Ministers of Finance and Economic last year acted on the mandate of the Assembly and engaged on the proposals for the implementation of Alternative sources of Financing the AU and its organs. They will report on their work.

During the 50th Anniversary Summit, on recommendation from President Obasanjo and his high level panel on alternative sources of funding, the Assembly decided to establish the African Union Foundation, and we will launch it today.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is befitting that the year we adopt Agenda 2063, is also the Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development.

During 2015, we shall take our continental programme of gender equality and women’s empowerment to a higher level: by ensuring that women are at the table in conflict resolution and peace building; by increasing the representation of women in public life; through the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of women; and by modernizing agriculture, and addressing women’s access to land, technology, markets, infrastructure, and capital.

Agenda 2063 commits to empower young people, as innovators, citizens and entrepreneurs. I am pleased to announce that the Pan African Parliament will cohost the 2014 Annual AU Intergenerational dialogue, which we started during the 50th Anniversary.

In November last year, I was very proud to attend the graduation of the first group of Masters students at the Pan African University Institute for Science and Technology in Nairobi, Kenya. These graduates are an example of what our young people are capable of, if given an opportunity. In their two years at the PAU, they had a near 100% pass rate, published research articles in journals, and one of them registered a patent.

They, and thousands of young innovators and entrepreneurs, are an embodiment of what we can achieve if we invest and give Africa’s young men and women the opportunity to help shape the destiny of our continent.

During the Year of Women, we must pay special attention to the girl child, making sure that they are all in and remain in school, that we end child marriages and female genital mutilation, teenage parenthood and harness the potential of both boys and girls.

In conclusion,

As we move towards implementation of Agenda 2063, we must adopt collective and cooperative approaches to the threats of peace and security.

Let us be relentless about African economic development and strengthen partnerships with the African private sector.

I am confident that working together, we shall create a peaceful, integrated, people-centered and prosperous Africa.

Asanteni sana

Her Excellency, Fatma Vall Mint Soueinae Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and Chairperson of the Executive Council.
Honorable Ministers Members of the Executive Council,
Your Excellency Carlos Lopez, Executive Secretary of the UN ECA,
Your Excellency Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission and Fellow Commissioners,
Honorable Members of the PRC,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Officials from the capitals of Member states
Representatives of the AU Organs and Leaders of the RECs
Invited Guests,
I welcome my Sister, Fatma Vall Mint Soueinae, the new Foreign Minister of Mauritania to this small, but ever-increasing number of women in the African Union.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the AU headquarters once more for the 26th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council. A very warm welcome to the new Honorable Ministers who have joined us and we look forward to working very closely with them. Since we see most of you for the first time this year, a very happy 2015, that this year will be better than the last and that all your wishes are fulfilled through all our efforts.

The Annual report on the activities of the Commission in 2014 has been submitted for your consideration. The report highlights the work of the Commission on Agenda 2063 and steps undertaken, with the RECs and Member states, to accelerate continental integration and realize the aspirations of the peoples for a united, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its people and acting as a dynamic force in global affairs.
After two years of consultations, with civil society, the Diaspora, the citizens, experts and planners, governments of Member States, the RECs and AU organs, we are presenting Agenda 2063 for adoption by this Summit. We will also report on the work in progress with regards to the first Agenda 2063 10-year plan so that it can be ready for adoption at the June Summit.
Soon after the Summit we shall convene a meeting of the RECs, sectoral experts, civil society and planners from Member states, to do more work on the 10-year plan as well as the process of integration and domestication of Agenda 2063 in national and regional development plans.
The work on the 10-year Plan means a concerted shift towards focusing on implementation of this continental vision. A number of critical issues arise from this, which we would like to bring to the attention of the Executive Council.
Firstly, as mandated by Malabo, we have done work on the Agenda 2063 flagship projects, which will be covered in the report of the Bahir Dar Ministerial Follow-up committee. These flagship integration projects - such as the Single Aviation Market; the Grand Inga Dam and other energy projects, the Pan African University; the high-speed rail and road network project; Pan e-Network, the Continental Free Trade Area, the African passport and the Commodities strategy, the Malabo Plan on Agriculture - should form the basis of this 10 year plan – and must signal decisive movement in areas of continental priority.
The centrality of human development and security in all of this cannot be over-estimated, as we are learning the hard lessons from the Ebola Virus Outbreak on the need to have resilient public health systems, and for integrated responses.
Secondly, we will review the capacity required for the implementation of Agenda 2063, through a study led by the African Capacity Building Foundation. This includes the institutional capacities required by Member states, RECs and the AU, as well as civil society. It will look at the broader African human resource context: the technical, professional and other skills - but especially in the areas of science, technology, engineering, research, project management and innovation - required for the implementation of the various flagship project and our vision as a whole.
In the areas where we have skills deficits, we will have to take continental and regional approaches, such as we are doing through the Pan African University, our focus on virtual education and also draw on skills from our Diaspora. We will continue engagements with the African university, vocational and private sectors on these issues, such as at the upcoming Higher Education Summit in Dakar in March this year.
Thirdly, we must assess the institutional appropriateness of the current AU structures, processes and working methods for the implementation of Agenda 2063. Work has started on a comparative study between the AU and other similar regional organisations. In addition, we must also look at rationalization of work between the AU Commission, the NEPAD Agency and the RECs, so that we have more efficient division of labour and stronger complementarity in the implementation of Agenda 2063. Of course, we must even look at our working methods, how the RECs participate as building blocks of integration in how they participate in AU meetings, and we must look at this in our closed session.
Fourthly, integration remains central to our continental vision. We are encouraged by ongoing initiatives within and across regions to accelerate infrastructure development, and agreements implemented on free trade zones or the free movement of people and goods. I must commend ECOWAS and the East African Community in this regard who are leading the way, and other RECs should be accelerating their processes.
We will present a comprehensive report on the State of Integration in the context of Agenda 2063 to the June summit for discussions, with lessons from the different RECs, as well as areas requiring concerted push.
Fifthly, we shall continue to highlight domestic resource mobilisation as a critical success factor - to ensure predictable funding of our institutions and programmes, ranging from funding of elections, integration, project preparations for infrastructure and implementation of the African Mining Vision, to mention a few. The report of the Ministers of Economy and Finance on alternative sources of funding the AU will serve before this Summit and our sister Min. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will present this as Chair of the CAMEF. In addition, the upcoming meeting of the Ministers of Economy and Finance meeting in March will look at the broader issue of funding for Agenda 2063. Later this year, Ethiopia will host the global conference on development financing, and our Ministers of Economy and Finance will also prepare for this.
Excellencies, as we prepare for the implementation of Agenda 2063 at all levels, as governments, RECs and civil society, we have to pay attention to the risks (both internal and external) that we face on the road. The detailed Agenda 2063 Transformation Framework mentions some, including the grave risk if we fail to silence the guns and neutralize the threats of terrorism, intolerance and extremism; the risk of slow movement on integration, infrastructure and diversification of our economies due to both internal and external challenges; and the largest risk, failure to finance our development. It is not enough to identify the risks, we must go the next step to plan what to do to mitigate these risks, and we will therefore prepare for a discussion at the next session of the Executive Council on this.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlmen
Population projections estimate that by the time we celebrate the first centenary of the founding of the OAU/AU, Africa will be the most youthful continent in the world (and Im sure most of us will be there during these celebrations!).
I have said many times before: these projections are an opportunity to urgently scale up investments in our young people to prepare them to assume a leadership role in all aspects of human endeavor, especially in entrepreneurship, science, innovation, technology, in politics.
This can be achieved. Take the internet. Africa’s young women and men have wholly embraced the revolution in the technologies of information. Many have become innovators and entrepreneurs in their own right. Across the continent, opening an internet school or a cyber-café, or developing a mobile application, has become the first order of business for many young entrepreneurs as well as a job provider for many more looking for a job.
Unfortunately, the youth has set to us that one of their biggest handicaps is access to startup capital, and internet services across the continent remain a serious obstacle to the development of this predominantly youth-led sector. There are pockets of success, but we need to do much more.
We must do more and better for African youth. Our report on the activities of the Commission outlines a number of measures for your consideration, including increasing investments in education in science and technology, skills development through vocational training, and better treatment of teachers, not to mention lowering the cost of access to internet services and expanding internet coverage to enable virtual education in order to massify access to further and higher education. This Summit should also consider other recommendations from the Ougadougou+10 process.
These measurers aimed at giving our young people a stake in their countries and continent, are the surest way of tackling the problem of African youth migration and trafficking, and them falling prey to extremism. Trafficking is just the modern form of slavery.
On the whole, there is much that remains to be done on the socio-economic front. But I am encouraged by the progress we are realized, particularly on some of the key Millennium Development Goals, including access to education, the reduction of maternal and infant mortality, reduction of poverty and progress on gender equality. But more needs to be done.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The AU efforts for peace, stability and the consolidation of democracy and good governance are also paying off. Through the African Peace and Security Architecture, working closely with Member states, the RECs and international partners, we were able to address crisis situations before they become entrenched and took too many lives of our people.
However, I am deeply horrified by the tragedy Boko Haram continue to inflict on our people, kidnapping young girls from school, torching villages, terrorizing whole communities and the senseless killing. We should all declare this state of affairs as unacceptable!
Furthermore, what started off as a localized criminal gang is now spreading into West and Central Africa. We must act now, and act collectively against this progressing threat. We must work diligently towards silencing the guns by the year 2020, and nip in the bud this threat to African prosperity, peace and human security.
I thank the Government of Chad for its readiness to assist Cameroon in this fight. The Commission has accelerated its ongoing consultations with member states, the RECs and other partners on how to deal with Boko Haram and it will be on the agenda of the Peace and Security Council, who will report to Summit.
This is not just a threat to some countries. It is a threat to the whole continent. It is a global threat that must be met globally, but with Africa in the lead.
Let me take this opportunity to again express our deep appreciation to our peacekeepers, our men and women in uniform across the continent, for their heroic contribution to peace and to service of their continent and its people. We should have a monument for our AU peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the duty of the peoples of the continent. I hope this can be discussed and that we should have a decision.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Despite the challenges, we should not loose sight of the progress in the areas of democracy, good governance and human rights. Throughout 2014, we had generally peaceful elections and successful transitions. And where contestations took place, they usually followed the legal framework and confined themselves to the courts.
The outcome of these electoral processes reinforces our conviction that the involvement of the African citizenry in owning and taking responsibility for their destiny is critical to the realization of Agenda 2063 and a prosperous and peaceful Africa.
Excellencies,

After some initial setbacks, our collective fight against the Ebola Virus Disease gathered momentum and is showing results.
I wish to express my profound gratitude to the Heads of State and Government, to this Council, the RECs, civil society organizations, and, especially, fellow Africans for their positive, rapid and effective response to the call for African health workers to be deployed in the three Ebola-affected countries. So far, over 800 medical and health professionals in the field in the three countries and will scale that up to 1000. It is paying off, as we begin to see the decline in mortality and infections.
We must pay special tribute to young men and women that volunteered in the AU-ASEOWA and ECOWAS mission in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, as a demonstration the spirit of Pan Africanism and solidarity. The first volunteers were individuals, who gave up their jobs and volunteers.
My thanks also go to the captains of industries and business leaders from various parts of Africa and businesses operating on the continent. We are working closely with them to mobilise resources to keep our health workers on the ground until the countries are officially Ebola-free, and in the medium to longterm help build health resilience through the African Centre for Disease Control.
We also thank the telecommunication companies on the continent in December 2014 launched an SMS campaign with us aimed at reaching out to ordinary Africans and seeking their contribution to Africa’s fight against Ebola. The campaign is going well and is now running in over thirty of our Member states. This is a campaign that every single African country should be part of. I don’t understand why it is only thirty something and not fifty something. We therefore call on the countries that have not joined yet, to become part of this African solidarity effort and enable African citizens to contribute.
I also want to pay tribute to the Commission and the Commissioner, the AU staff, ECOWAS and General Julius Oketta, who leads THE AU-ASEOWA efforts. I also thank the UNECA and ADB, who are part of all our efforts on Ebola.
Honorable Ministers,
Looking ahead, our theme for 2015 is the Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Agenda 2063. Over the last few days, in a series of pre-Summit meetings of women, with participation from civil society, our Ministers of Gender, gender focal points of RECs, our partners in the ADB, UNECA, UN Women and UNDP met to consider the theme and the Beijing plus 20 process.
They discussed the practical actions required to ensure that during this focus year, we make a difference in the lives of many African women, through practical initiatives in agriculture and agro-processing; science, technology, innovation and education; business development and financial inclusion; health and reproductive rights, and our campaigns against gender-based violence, sexual violence in conflicts and child marriages.
We must also do more this year to increase the representation of women in government, in the judiciary and other public and private institutions and their participation at the tables in peace negotiations.
I am quite sure that although this is a year of women, it is about our entire communities. That is why we look to you, our dear Brothers to ensure that we work together to achieve objectives of the year.
After this year, we must really have an irreversible momentum towards the emancipation of women on the continent.
Excellencies,
We are concluding the Year of Agriculture and Food Security, with a much better sense of what needs to be done: including improving women’s access to land; provision of rural infrastructure such as roads, irrigation; access to agricultural inputs, markets and finances for especially small holder farmers; modernization of agricultural tools and mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
Yesterday, we attended the 3rd Conference of Parties of the African Risk Capacity, and it is an example that we should look at as part of our success stories. Firstly, this is pooled resources of Member states to address an African problem; secondly they work to strengthen capacity in Member states; and thirdly they have already started paying out to Member states facing drought this year.
The global negotiations on the post-2015 agenda, on climate change and sustainable development goals make this a critical year for Africa, and we must ensure that we remain united and take forward our common African positions.
IN CONCLUSION
We take inspiration from the resolve we have collectively demonstrated in the responses of our people in the formulation of Agenda 2063, in the fight against Ebola, and in the ongoing and collective work to build a better life for all Africans.
During our Emergency Executive meeting in September, the Minister of Sudan suggested that the Commission gives some of its budget to the Ebola affected countries, we pointed towards the difficulties. But it made us thought what we can do, and thus the Commission convened the Business roundtable on Ebola in November 2014 and started the SMS campaign with mobile network operators.
The Commission takes seriously your suggestions, and we look forward to another vibrant and fruitful session of this 26th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council.