Egypt's chairmanship of the African Union (AU) this year will certainly be a wonderful occasion to benefit both the African continent and Egypt. The guiding principle in this respect was highlighted by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi during his opening speech at the AU Summit on Sunday: the need for African solutions to Africa's many challenges. While fully aware that Egypt has a lot to offer to brotherly African nations, with whom we share a long history and a glorious struggle against Western colonisation, Egypt also has a lot to benefit from the success stories of several African nations who managed to reform their economies and put the interests of their peoples first. Therefore, in the next year, Egypt will exert its utmost efforts to continue with the institutional, structural and financial reform of the AU, and seek to develop tools and potentials of the continental bloc and the African Union Commission to meet the aspirations and hopes of the African peoples. Current critical regional and international conditions have added to the many challenges and perils facing African interests. Therefore, what African leaders need to do is to put their words into action, and carry out the many ambitious agreements they signed aimed at enhancing inter-continental trade and cooperation. However, any plans to develop Africa and serve the interests of its people will not be possible without putting an end to long ongoing disputes among African neighbours, and within several African nations. Confronting extremism and terrorism, and outside attempts to interfere in the continent's affairs, are also major challenges that Egypt and other African countries need to work relentlessly on. Mutual understanding and respect among African countries will be another guiding principle for Egypt as it chairs the AU this year. In this framework, President Al-Sisi asserted the importance of African solutions when it comes to resolving African problems, saying it is the only way to deal with joint challenges. Africa is more capable of understanding the complications of its problems and the nature of its conditions, and therefore can find realistic solutions that protect and achieve the interests of its peoples. This will definitely be a tough challenge, but the first key step is to revive and activate a continental framework policy to encourage future reconstruction and development, and to draw up plans of action that protect countries that had disputes against any relapse. To prove that Egypt means action, the AU Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development Centre will open soon in Cairo to become a coordination platform to prepare programmes for countries emerging from conflicts to protect their rights to reconstruction and development. Developing and enhancing peace and security in Africa will also continue as a sustainable strategy during Egypt's one-year chairmanship of the AU. Mediation and preventive diplomacy will be Egypt's top priorities while tackling African disputes. Considering that terrorism will remain a vicious cancer that seeks to expand in the bodies of African countries and take away the dreams of their peoples, Egypt will seek to develop policies, with fellow African nations, to confront terror comprehensively. This requires defining and confronting supporters and financiers of terrorist organisations within a collective and transparent framework. Based on Egypt's experience over the past years, this will not be an easy battle, but it is the only way to uproot terrorism. Meanwhile, as African leaders have agreed that dealing with the problem of refugees and the displaced will be their top priority for this year, President Al-Sisi noted that terrorism, extremism, climate change, poverty and water scarcity are all elements that force people to leave their homes, to become refugees in other countries or displaced within their own countries. The number of displaced people in Africa amounts to around 18 million, which makes African governments more obliged to carry out development projects that require continental and regional cooperation in order to provide the largest number of job opportunities and create conditions favourable for the displaced to return home. Al-Sisi also proposed medium-range development plans to create attractive integrated economic zones all over Africa to employ Africans and keep them in their continent. The Egyptian president also asserted the need to intensify scientific cooperation to make use of the continent's natural potentials in diversifying sources of energy through supporting clean renewable energy projects. This would help reduce the environmental impact of climate change phenomena. Accelerating the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area will also be another top priority for Egypt in the coming year, as it would contribute to reducing the prices of many commodities and raise the continent's competitiveness at the international level. Aware that many African countries have now become an integral part of the global economy, Al-Sisi also reminded influential world powers that partnership with Africa is a real opportunity to achieve joint interests. Working with the outside world and international financial institutions is an integral part of any strategy to develop Africa, but this has to take place according to African priorities and agendas.
