Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said his country is committed to embark on a relationship with Africa that will focus on fighting terrorism in the region and improving the socio-economic transformation of Africa.

Netanyahu was in Uganda to commemorate the 40th anniversary of a hostage rescue in which his brother Yonatan Netanyahu died.

An El Al Israel Airlines plane carrying Netanyahu and his wife landed at Entebbe International Airport at exactly 1.40pm (12:40 Rwandan time), and was welcomed by Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and his wife Janet Museveni.

After the commemoration event at Entebbe airport, Netanyahu held a mini regional summit at the State House Entebbe that was also attended by President Paul Kagame.

"Israel is coming back to Africa and Africa is coming to Israel and I believe this is a turning point in Israel’s efforts to work with Africa. We are eager to work with you by learning from capacities we have strongly built in different sectors,” Netanyahu said.

"We are glad that we shall work with you to fight forces that want to send us back to a dark past.’

Other leaders that attended the mini regional summit include Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Zambian President Edgar Lungu, South Sudan’s President Salva Kirr, Ethiopia Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Malawi’s President Peter Muthariki and Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs minister Augustine Mahiga.

President Museveni commended Netanyahu for turning the sad commemoration event into a bonding factor between countries in Central Africa and Israel.

"We have had a thorough engagement with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The regional leaders here represent 300 million people and we are all looking forward to a strong relationship with Israel,” he said.

Netanyahu is also expected in Rwanda on Wednesday.

A communique released after the meeting said the Heads of State and Government shared the view that the Summit marked the importance of the friendly relations between Africa and Israel, and presented an opportunity to send a positive message on North-South Cooperation.

"The summit observed that terrorism continues to be a major threat to international peace and security and to the very survival of human civilisation. The leaders emphasised the need for increased regional and international cooperation in all fields, including cyber security and information gathering, to confront this scourge,” it said.

The leaders agreed upon the importance of encouraging new avenues of cooperation, based on human capacity building, and the utilisation of new and innovative technologies, particularly renewable energies and sustainable development.

The Heads of State and Government looked forward to further cooperation between their countries and Israel, both bilaterally and multilaterally, the statement added.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw