African and European leaders attending a EU-AU summit in the Rwandan Capital city Kigali on Monday called for international cooperation and joint efforts to tackle risks and challenges in response to COVID-19
The Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission Monique Nsanzabaganwa, who was the guest honor at the event said that since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world as we know it, has changed rapidly, with far-reaching consequences we are still trying to ascertain.
“I would like to stress the importance of our partnership with the European Union for the development trajectory of our continent especially within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
She Indeed, she said, Africa would require all the necessary support from its closest partners and allies to bounce back and build forward better from the damaging consequences caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
For almost two years now, the COVID-19 crisis has monopolised the political agendas in both Europe and Africa. But beyond the pandemic, there are some smoldering fires in the AU-EU partnership that need to be extinguished, analysts say.
The AU-EU partnership should primarily promote investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and the diversification of exports, and it should support Africa in the fourth industrial revolution.
At the political level, the African side is asking for structural solutions to the migration and mobility issue that has been a divisive issue in the partnership for several years.
The AU asks for the expansion of legal pathways for mobility and labour migration, particularly in the sectors of business and education. Also the issue of remittances and diaspora investments, severely affected by the pandemic, remains an issue of major concern.
CU/abj/APA