South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed efforts by the African Union (AU) to bring peace to some of the continent’s political hotspots, noting Sunday that progress in “silencing the gun” is paving the way for economic progress.
In a statement, Ramaphosa hailed the just-concluded 36th AU Summit as a platform that “demonstrated the progressive impact of cooperation across the continent in meeting challenges and unlocking opportunities.”
“This has been a very productive Assembly, which paves the way for peace, economic growth and trade and for the African Peer Review Mechanism to start working more effectively so that countries on the continent can be able to review each other’s processes, democratic and otherwise, (and which) paves the way for the empowerment of women and young people,”the statement said.
As chairperson of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC), Ramaphosa outlined progress with regards to the project of silencing the guns throughout the continent.
He cited the breakthrough in the conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF) as one of the successes chalked up by the PSC during the past year.
A process hosted by South Africa late last year secured a ceasefire agreement between the Ethiopian government and TLF and a commitment by the parties to pursue peace.
The settlement was facilitated in South Africa by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo ex-Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and former South African deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Ramaphosa also expressed satisfaction with efforts to end the conflict in the eastern Democratic of Congo and said he was encouraged by a report presented by Angola’s President João Lourenço on the commitment of all parties to this conflict to work towards a cessation of hostilities.
He also commended steps taken by the Southern African Development Community to end the Islamic State-linked insurgence in Mozambique, and welcomed calls for “an immediate return to peace or to democracy in four Sahel states that have been suspended as a result of unconstitutional taking over of power through force of arms.”
Ramaphosa noted that while Africa faced challenges in the economy and in areas such as infrastructure, it was working collectively to deal with these issues – a clear demonstration of which could be seen in the collective response to COVID-19.
Ramaphosa is the AU COVID-19 Champion and has led continental efforts to contain the spread of the disease, including how the Africa Centres for Disease Control could be strengthened to better prepare the continent for pandemics.
NM/jn/APA