African leaders last week reached a consensus on regional security and socio-economic development. Speaking at the closure of the AU summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who chairs the African Union, said there was a consensus on the need to defuse lingering tensions before they snowball into unmanageable crises. Regional security was given special attention at the two-day summit as many African countries bear the brunt of terrorism, insurgency and cross-border crimes. “We resolved to intervene in many hotspots,” he said, adding that the creation of a well-equipped standby force was discussed at the summit. “Funding remains a hiccup to the establishment of the standby force,” he said, adding that 10 countries made voluntary commitments to building a rapid response force. Food security On food security, the chairperson said leaders agreed on tentative steps to eradicate hunger and malnutrition. “Food security and modernisation of agriculture will lay the foundation for sustainable development in Africa. Governments agreed to honour the Maputo pledge on allocating 10 per cent of their GDP to agriculture,” he said. African leaders also pledged to explore alternative sources of funding to accelerate socio-economic transformation and projects that would improve people’s livelihood without harming the environment or social structures. AU Commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma called for help with regard to climate change. ‘Climate change was accorded significant attention and leaders agreed that Africa must be assisted to mitigate and adapt since we contribute least to this menace,” she said. Dlamini-Zuma said leaders agreed to harness renewable energy sources to accelerate a low carbon transition. As to the Agenda 2063, a comprehensive blueprint for Africa’s development for the next 50 years, President Abdel Aziz said an updated version of the agenda would be presented at the next summit for adoption. “There was a consensus on post-2015 development agenda and other strategic objectives aimed at promoting security, peace, prosperity, justice and equality,” he said.
