Africa is Open for Business not For Sale

{{President Paul Kagame began the first day of the 4th EU-Africa summit began with a special meeting on the Central African Republic chaired by President Abdel Aziz of Mauritania,President Van Rompuy and President Hollande of France.}}

The summit attended by over 90 delegations from across Africa and Europe discussed issues of peace and security, prosperity and the future of EU-Africa partnerships.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, called for partnerships that will serve all equally:

“We must ensure that we strengthen our partnership based on understanding of each other’s challenges and aspirations.”

With Europe’s ageing population and shortage of land, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma pointed to Africa’s land and growing youth population as key areas for mutually beneficial cooperation.Africa’s youth population is set to double in the coming years while Europe’s retired population is set to do the same in the next decade.

With Africa currently home to 8 of the 10 fastest growing economies while Europe still recovers from global economic crisis, the meeting emphasized that “Africa is open for business but is not for sale.”

The two day summit was preceded by business forum attended by leaders in business from both continents. During this forum GlaxoSmithKline announced its plans to build five new factories in Africa including in Rwanda.

GlaxoSmithKline aims to manufacture more products in Africa, build capacity, enhance self-sufficiency and support sustainable health systems.

The previous EU-Africa summits took place in Cairo in 2000, in Lisbon in 2007 and in Tripoli in 2010.