Ambassador Ahmed Mohamed El-Ansary of Egypt in Rwanda.
Kigali: During the closing ceremony of African Day yesterday in Kigali, Ambassador Ahmed Mohamed El-Ansary of Egypt in Rwanda, delivered a message reaffirming the commitment of his country to encourage investment in infrastructures mega projects that will transform Africa. Read his Remarks below:
Allow me at the outset to express my deep appreciation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Rwanda and the pan African Movement (Rwanda Chapter) for co organizing this event with the African Diplomatic corps.
We are gathered here to mark yet again the celebration of Africa Day, more than fifty years have already passed since the founding fathers of our continent laid the foundations to foster regional and economic integration to achieve the prosperity of the African continent and its people.
Today the vision of our forefathers has been realized as the AU is spearheading the continent’s combined efforts to meet the land mark AU agenda 2063, playing an instrument role in addressing the major challenges confronting our content.
That said, I would like to reaffirm Egypt’s commitment, in her current capacity as the chair of the African union, to continue the AU’s institutional and financial reform process to render our organization more effective and befitting the hope and dreams of our people.
We believe the way forward to this end should be through our collective Endeavour to ensure a sustainable funding for the AU and its program by rationalizing expenditures, equitable burden sharing among member states, and fostering our partnership with international community.
In this context, regional and economic integration sit high on Egypt’s agenda, promoting the African continent free trade agreement is of paramount importance. To this end, having a reliable infrastructure network is must to ensure the connectivity on the continent. Egypt shall spare no effort to encourage investment in infrastructure projects thought her chairmanship and beyond, championing landmark mega projects that will transform Africa, both the VICMED project aiming at establishing a navigational route between Lake Victoria and Mediterranean sea, and the North South Corridor (Cairo-Cape road) stand out as two vital project in our question to fully fledged integration.
Such ambitious goals cannot be achieved without ensuring peace and stability in the continent, Egypt shall continue to strengthen the African peace and security Architecture with the particular focus on the revitalization of the AU post conflict reconstruction and development policy.
In this vein, Egypt will host the Answan Forum for sustainable peace and development later this year with the aim of fostering dialogue and reaching actionable outcomes.
Last but least, our goals and ambitions require the partnership of our partners in development, enhancing the African Union’s existing international partnership is important, in manner that truly reflects both the core values and the spirit of our goals to further advance the development strategies of the continent.
Let conclude by reaffirming Egypt’s commitment to the cause of upholding the interests of the continent. This could only be achieved through our collective and combined efforts to consolidate on again and to address the challenges. Thank you for your attention. (End)