The Africa Roundtable forum, held in Berlin, brought together the who’s who of business, politics, and civil society, who reportedly met to chart out new ways for Africa and Europe to work together. Experts hint at a need to change the course and focus on creating new channels of employment.
Notably, it is the first time that these representatives met for the first Africa Roundtable in Berlin. The goal of the European and African politicians is to form a partnership of equals as and when the COVID-19 pandemic over.
Citing sources, both Africa and Europe have been largely affected by the outbreak, the representatives are deciding on the various joint reform packages that can be offered to revive the economies.
According to Ingrid Hamm, CEO of Global Perspectives Initiatives, the focus is being put on autonomy and African solutions. Macky Sall, the President of Senegal is expected to open online talks with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German President, and the Director-General of WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala regarding the ways to rebuild the economies post-pandemic.
During an interview, Macky Sall commented that Africa is not seeking help instead wants access to the financial markets under rational conditions to power the region’s development.
Seemingly, Okonjo-Iweala is aiming at the renewal of the free trade zone and the introduction of the latest version of globalization, that better integrates with the African markets and offers sustainable value creation chains.
Mo Ibrahim, Founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, a Sudanese cell phone operators, and also a participant at the Africa Roundtable commented in the favor of setting up various innovative models of economic growth and job creation post the pandemic.
Ibrahim was also optimistic regarding Emmanuel Macron’s announcement in May, mentioning that more affluent countries are aiming at boosting the African economy through billions of euros in help. The French president is also looking for patents on vaccines to be waived off to shift the production to Africa. To fulfill the same, Paris has canceled the entire debt of Sudan to France.
Source Credit: https://www.dw.com/en/africa-roundtable-to-focus-on-rebooting-african-european-relations/a-57819981