AU Summit was very productive, government says

From AGENDA of the 27th Ordinary Session of the African Union and how Heads of State and Government and other delegates engaged, to organisation and service provision, down to how Rwandans, particularly city dwellers, welcomed the visitors and the Summit, the government just cannot be more grateful. Foreign Affairs and Cooperation minister Louise Mushikiwabo feels the just-concluded AU Summit in Kigali was the “most productive.” Mushikiwabo, who was addressing a post-Summit news conference in Kigali, yesterday, said: “This Summit was very productive; it (AU Summit) took place in an atmosphere of a desire for change—the kind of change that we needed.” She said the summit focused on what she described as the “real issues” around the continent, with leaders recommitting themselves to advance women’s rights, among other issues. Mushikiwabo underlined several resolutions adopted at the Kigali Summit, among them the desire by the Heads of State and Government for Africa to finance AU’s missions and development agenda, and electing the new judges for the African Court of Justice. The Heads of State and Government adopted recommendations of the retreat on financing African Union, which seeks to drive the Union toward financial independence to avoid external influences. All the 54 member countries will contribute some $1.2 billion to the Union’s coffers every year through levying 0.2 per cent tax on eligible imports. “The highlight, as you know, was the launch of the Pan-African Passport that points to the necessity of us to be integrated. It was a desire for us to travel without hindrances and to take care of the interest of African people. What brings us together as a unified continent is some of the unified matters of the continent.” During the AU Summit, 35 Heads of State, a dozen of vice-presidents, 52 foreign affairs minister, AU commissioners, some government officials and diplomats were presented with diplomatic African Passports, with hope that they will adopt and popularise the Pan-African travel document. Mushikiwabo said the Summit was one of the most attended in recent African Union history. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, through her Twitter handle, described the Kigali Summit as “the best summit we’ve had, we must maintain it while striving to get better and better. “Implementing decisions on financing the Union, the African Passport, Free Trade, Energy, and more in Agenda2063, Africa is indeed rising,” Zuma said, thanking all stakeholders for playing a part in the success of the Summit. At the Summit, Rwanda, Algeria, South Africa and Tunisia were given accolades in recognition of their outstanding efforts in the promotion of women rights and gender equality. President Paul Kagame was also bestowed with the responsibilities—by his counterparts—to oversee the restructuring of the African Union Commission and the Union as a whole, with focus on making the Commission more efficient. ‘Kudos city dwellers’ Minister Mushikiwabo took time to appreciate Kigali city dwellers for being welcoming and enduring unusual disruption in traffic. “We are so grateful to the citizens of Kigali for enduring the cumbersome traffic. We are very proud of the support and understanding of the people of this city who were gracious for having allowed the success of the Summit,” said Minister Mushikiwabo. The minister also noted that the successful hosting of the African Union Summit is a testament of readiness, as Rwanda seeks to become a regional a meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) hub. During the Summit, more than 3,000 delegates were in Kigali between July 8 to 18. “This was the first time for Rwanda to host such an event. But with everybody’s vigilance, we were able to have a successful summit. Successfully hosting this event gives us confidence as a tourism country. We are now ready for this business of conferences and meetings,” Mushikiwabo said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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AU Summit was very productive, government says