African leaders urge joint action, self-reliance at gatherings in Egypt

El Alamein, Egypt: African leaders have urged self-reliance and joint actions to address shared challenges and advance sustainable development across the continent at high-level gatherings hosted in Egypt’s New Alamein.

A series of high-level African events is hosted in Egypt’s New Alamein from October 2 to 4, including the Alamein Africa Forum, a summit of the founding states of the African Union Development Agency (Auda-Nepad) and the 8th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union (AU) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

“It is no longer enough to coordinate our positions; rather, our capabilities must be integrated, and we must forge our future through joint efforts,” said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday during the opening session of the AU’s eighth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting.

He reaffirmed Egypt’s rejection of external interference in the domestic affairs of African countries and called for respect for state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.

Sisi stressed the importance of addressing transnational issues through cooperation and dialogue, including the management and use of natural resources and transboundary rivers in accordance with international law.

“Cooperation in managing transboundary rivers must be based on relevant rules of international law, consultation, coordination, and the principles of good neighborliness and non-harm,” he said.

Sisi will participate on Sunday in the Alamein Consultative Summit, which will bring together the leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia.

The AU has called on Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to exercise “maximum restraint” amid mounting regional diplomatic tensions, as Ethiopia closed its embassy in Eritrea on Thursday, and Ethiopia and Egypt recently expelled a diplomat from each other’s embassies.

At Saturday’s summit of the Auda-Nepad founding states, African leaders stressed the need for the continent to rely on its own resources and capabilities to achieve development and advance the goals of Agenda 2063, the AU’s 50-year plan (2013-2063) designed to transform the continent into a global powerhouse through inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development.

Leaders and representatives of the African Union Commission and the five founding states of Auda-Nepad, namely Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, attended the summit, and Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current chairperson of the AU.

Sisi said at the summit that the time had come for Africa to rely more on its own resources and to develop and adopt African financing mechanisms.

The Egyptian president noted the Alamein Declaration, issued at the conclusion of the summit, placed special importance on the African private sector as a key driver in accelerating implementation of the second 10-year plan of Agenda 2063, highlighting the importance of African business leaders, investors and private capital.

In his remarks, Ndayishimiye stressed the need to strengthen Auda-Nepad’s capacity to expand infrastructure projects and enhance coordination among African institutions, as well as coordination between Auda-Nepad and the AU.

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said Africa faced challenges, including poverty, achieving food security, providing job opportunities for young people and improving health services.

For his part, Angolan President Lourenco said Auda-Nepad was established to meet Africa’s need to take responsibility for setting its own development agenda and determining its priorities, and that the agency’s priorities should align with the circumstances and capabilities required to perform its tasks effectively.

Auda-Nepad was founded in 2018 to coordinate regional and continental projects to advance the realisation of Agenda 2063, and to strengthen the capacity of AU member states and regional bodies.