Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Xinhua | Marking the African Union (AU) Day, Chairperson of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat on Saturday called for continental togetherness against multiple challenges.
Celebrated every year on Sept. 9 following the Sirte Declaration of Sept. 9 back in 1999 to create the AU, the annual African Union Day serves as an avenue to celebrate some landmark achievements of the Union, and an opportunity to reflect on the major challenges faced by the continent and the successes of the pan-African bloc.
Citing ongoing global geopolitical tensions, Mahamat said there are fears that “Africa will, once again, become an arena of confrontation and hegemonic struggles.”
He called for African solidarity to address the adverse effects of global and continental challenges on the continent’s future.
“The first and decisive step to be taken on the road to the renaissance of Pan Africanism is the concrete promotion of our solidarity,” he said.
“The basis of our solidarity is pegged on an abundant creation of wealth, with the aim of better meeting the basic needs of our peoples, through an inclusive economy of the main strata of society historically left behind,” Faki said.
He further called for the realization of Africa’s development and integration agenda as outlined in the AU’s 50-year continental development Agenda 2063.
“I call upon all Africans, on the Continent and in the Diaspora, to find their only satisfaction in the permanent awareness of our objectives of development, integration, freedom and active solidarity,” he said.