Statement by President El-Sisi at the AU-Regional Economic Communities Meeting

Your Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa and Chairperson of the African Union,
Your Excellencies, The Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, and Heads of Regional Economic Communities (RECs),
Your Excellency Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mr. Moussa Faki,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me at the outset to extend to you my warm greetings, and to His Excellency President Ramaphosa my sincere congratulations for his chairmanship of the Second Mid-Year Coordination Meeting. It has been more than one year since the First Meeting of the AU was held in the Republic of Niger and hosted by His Excellency President Mahamadou Issoufou, which I had the honor to chair during the year of Egypt’s chairmanship of the AU.

Your Highnesses and Excellencies,

The repercussions of the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic on the entire international community, particularly on the African system and its different executive bodies and their ability to develop continental and regional integration, prompted us to promote joint African solidarity so as to harness our energies to find effective and innovative solutions that allow us to overcome the current circumstances.

The best example for this is the opportunities which were made available for us to discover and develop the continent’s abilities to strengthen public health capabilities and counter epidemics. This is achieved through a multitude of initiatives and activities, primarily establishing the African Union (AU) Covid-19 Response Fund and the exchange of information, data, learnt lessons and best practices with regard to efforts to contain the pandemic. This is in addition to the development of a unified platform for the procurement of medicine and medical supplies.

Egypt has been keen to be at the forefront of this African effort by providing medical aid and laboratory equipment and transferring technical expertise in support of the African countries. This is in addition to Egypt’s contribution to the AU Covid-19 Response Fund and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Mr. President, Your Excellencies,

I have attentively listened to the presentation made by my brother, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, of the report on the state of integration in Africa. I welcome the valuable information, conclusions and important recommendations contained therein. In this regard, I would like to refer to the following issues:

First: It was noticeable that the report indicated that there was a discrepancy in the performance of the Regional Economic Communities with regard to realizing the objectives of the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community and implementing the Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa, in addition to the variation in the progress realized over the pivots of financial and commercial integration and linkage in the field of infrastructure.

Here comes the role of the African Union (AU) in supporting all the communities to address the deficiencies in their performance in implementing the axes of continental integration, in transmitting the positive experiences of one community or another to the rest of the regional counterparts, and in working to achieve the required harmony in the performance of the regional communities so as to move in a balanced pace towards the implementation of the continental integration agenda.

Second: Again, I would like to underscore the pivotal and leadership role of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) in mobilizing the financial resources that enable the implementation of the pilot continental projects of African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Third: I call for seriously continuing the negotiations of the Continental Free Trade Agreement to fully activate it in order to realize the common African dream of promoting economic integration, as this project represents the cornerstone for achieving the rest of the continental integration goals.

Fourth: Regional integration efforts cannot be dealt with in isolation from the advancement of the infrastructure and energy networks at the continental level, given their importance in managing the movement of goods, services and individuals, in addition to enhancing communication channels and the transfer of data and information, in order to provide an enabling environment for achieving higher levels of productive and economic integration.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In this context, Egypt welcomes efforts exerted to follow up on the outcomes of the First Coordination Summit. This includes primarily completing efforts toward formulating a model for sharing work among the African Union (AU), the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and member states, with the need to develop a road map for expanded and in-depth consultations. Those shall take place on the level of the Union, communities, and governments. Accordingly, Egypt looks forward to the adoption of this model after its completion in out next Coordination Summit in July 2021 in N’djamena. It is necessary for us to work together to promote the efficiency of the AU Commission and the Secretariats of the Regional Economic Communities so they can carry out their tasks within the framework of division of labor. This shall be linked with the institutional, financial, and administrative reform efforts, within in the context of the AU Commission.

Finally, there is no doubt that the rich discussion and constructive deliberations our meeting will witness today will contribute to developing the continental integration process and relations between the African Union and the branches of regional communities. I am fully confident that it will yield positive results which will be presented in the next African Summit in February 2021, so that we can follow its implementation, when we will be guests of my brother, His Excellency President Idris Deby, next summer.

Thank You.