AU & UN Leaders Set Continental Priorities: Africa Must Be at the Table!

African Union Assembly Highlights

• 💡 The 39th African Union Assembly convened in Addis Ababa to shape the continent's future and set its 2026 agenda.
• 📌 Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali highlighted responsible water management as a foundation for development, citing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as a symbol of African ingenuity.
• 🚀 AU Chairperson Evariste Ndayishimiye officially assumed leadership, marking a new chapter in Africa's journey toward growth and self-reliance.

Economic Growth and Development

• 📈 Many African economies are among the fastest growing globally, with projections suggesting growth on par with or exceeding Asia.
• 📊 Ethiopia anticipates a 10.2% growth by year-end, aiming to transition from a low-income to a globally competitive economy within 25 years through productivity, industrialization, and innovation.
• 🌱 Development priorities include silencing the guns, establishing an African humanitarian agency, and promoting inclusive political transitions.

Call for Global Representation

• 🗣️ UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asserted that Africa's rightful place is on the global stage, advocating for permanent African representation in the UN Security Council.
• 🌍 Guterres emphasized that "Whatever decisions about Africa and the world are on the table, Africa must be at the table," stressing that it is 2026, not 1946.

International Cooperation and Partnerships

• 🤝 Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stressed the importance of genuine cooperation, distinguishing it from charity or resource exploitation.
• 🇮🇹 Italy's "Mate Plan" is presented as a strategic project for cooperation with Africa, involving the United States, European Union, UN agencies, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank.
• 🌐 Partners increasingly recognize that the future of Italy and Europe depends on a secure, prosperous, and peaceful Africa.

Africa's Strategic Importance

• 🔑 Africa is described as not a marginal chapter but a continent with diverse peculiarities, rich in resources, raw materials, and arable land.
• 🧠 The continent possesses a decisive force in the age of knowledge: its human capital.
• ✨ The sentiment that "something new always arises from Africa" was shared, expressing hope for unexpected positive outcomes from the meeting.