STATEMENT BY H.E. DR. MONIQUE NSANZABAGANWA,
DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE AUC, AT AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP COMMEMORATION OF THE AFRICA DAY
THEME: THE AFRICA WE WANT

- H.E Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group;
- H.E. Ambassador Pingrenoma ZAGRE, Dean of the African Group of
Ambassadors;
- Honorable Chairperson of the Boards of Governors Kenneth Ofori-Atta,
Minister for Finance of Ghana;
- Excellencies;
- Ladies and Gentlemen.

I would like first of all to congratulate the African Development Bank Group for its initiative to hold this august “Commemoration of the Africa Day”. The theme selected for our gathering “the Africa We Want” is most relevant, as it is already the driving moto for Agenda 2063.

Africa Day is observed annually on May 25 to commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) which was created on 25 May 1963. It is the precursor of the African Union (AU). In commemorating Africa Day 2022, the African Union Commission will celebrate Africa’s indigenous foods, their diversity and the nutritional value that comes from them.

But, like our Chairperson of the Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat reminded us in his statement released earlier today, this celebration “should not relegate to the background our essential concerns”, such as terrorism, bad governance-born disasters, unconstitutional changes of government, conflicts and wars, climate shocks, pandemics and rising food prices, which are continuously diverting African countries’ resources away from building the resilience in food, environment, health, water and sanitation systems, thereby making it harder and harder to eradicate hunger and malnutrition on our Continent.

It is therefore timely as we embark this year, 2022, on a far-reaching process of evaluating the First Ten Year Implementation Plan (FTYIP) of Agenda 2063 and the formulation of the Second Ten Year Implementation Plan (STYIP). Just last week, a Technical Working Group (TWG) composed of the AU Commission, representative Member States, the African Development Bank, the AUDA-NEPAD and other AU system institutions was convened in Nairobi for that objective.

We aim at launching a wider process with inclusive participation of all stakeholders, including the wider public. For this, our Ministers of Finance, in your respective countries and collectively, you are our anchor conveners as we seek more country ownership and coordination of in-country players from the government, private sector, civil society and partner sides. The African Union Agenda 2063 project, was designed for the people by the people; it has to remain that way.

We fully rely on the African Development Bank Group, through this honourable audience as an essential trusted partner to further enrich the process with contributions and activities aimed at furthering the ‘agenda of the Africa we want’. The African Development Bank has not limited its contribution to knowledge and technical expertise. Quite the contrary! The AfDB Board recently approved an institutional support facility in favour of the African Union, which has now entered the operational mode. I take this opportunity to thank the Board and the leadership of the Bank for the swift delivery on the project’s design and approval.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

This commemoration of the Africa Day is also a special one as it is taking place in the 20th year of the establishment of our African Union (which we shall commemorate on the 9th September 2022). It is a time of reflection taking stock of what was achieved and of imagination of the potential that exists for our upcoming 20 years.

You may all know that the African Union is undergoing a reform to enhance its governance and delivery modes while ensuring its financial sustainability, all with a view to making it a trusted and influential voice on the global scene. Africa needs its indigenous resources to be harnessed to back this noble dream. That was the spirit behind the Golden Rules guiding the financing of the Union. In few weeks, on the 13th and 14th of June 2022, to be precise, F15 Ministers of Finance will hold a retreat in Rabat, Morocco, to reflect on this imperative. Of course the AfDB counts among invited special guests. Let me use this opportunity to tell you that I look forward to this occasion with much anticipation. Your strategic guidance will carry us a long way.

I call on all of us, Excellencies and dear audience, on this occasion and within this commemoration, here in Accra where ideals of Pan Africanism were launched and cherished, to pledge for the implementation of the Theme of the Year on Nutrition and Food Security and to support the operationalization of AU institutional and financial reform as we renew our commitment to achieve the “Africa We Want”.

I thank you!