Mr. Chairman of the Executive Council,

Distinguished Members of Council,

Mr. Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission,

Commissioners,

Chairman of the Permanent Representatives Committee,

Members of the PRC,

Heads of Organ of the African Union,

Chief Executives of the Regional Economic Communities,

Invited Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My first remark isto express to you my best wishes for this New Year 2020. I wish that during this year and more than in the past your tireless efforts to build an Africa on solid economic and political bases be pursued with determination, fostered by the sap of PanAfricanism and performance. It is the purpose of the institutional reform of our Union, since it was launched at the Kigali Summit, in Rwanda, in July 2016.

The Commission of the African Union, along with the other Organs of the Union, endeavoured, since then, to deepen this new framework. This dynamics is expressed further through new exigencies which are the restructuring, accountability, administrative and financial governance, coherence among the Organs, the division of labour and the financing of the Organisation.

Progress has been made in the construction of this new Union. We all know that reform is not revolution, it is a transformation process placed today on the right track.
Honourable Ministers,

At the opening of your meeting, I wish to share with you, in broad outlines, the activities carried out in 2019, the prospects for the current year and especially the most obvious challenges. The outcome that I will present is to the credit of the close cooperation, throughout the year, with the Permanent Representatives Committee. The cyclical divergences were quickly eliminated into a consensual strategy worked out through constructive dialogue which gave a boost to the programme as you will note in the documents submitted for your consideration.

You will allow me, Honourable Ministers, to commend the remarkable work done by the PRC, under the critical vigilance and know-how of its Chairman, Ambassador Osama ABDELKHALEK, Permanent Representative of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The preparatory work for the actual launching of the African Continental Free Trade Area, scheduled for 1 July 2020, is at an advanced stage, which reflects the efforts made by the different actors. For this launching, its Secretariat will emerge as at the end of March this year to take in hand, with the necessary competence, the management of the outstanding issues and on whose resolution will depend the success of its full operationalization.

As you are aware, the establishment of Free Trade Area of this scale is a laborious process. The participation of all the Member States in the negotiations meetings is key to the success of the process so as to fulfil the dream long nurtured by the Founding Fathers of our Organisation.

The Free Trade Area, pole of impetus for economic coherence, challenges our creativity and further our mastery of the digital technology. It is in this perspective that the AU Commission has worked, throughout the year, on the proposed strategy for the digital transformation of Africa for the period 2020-2030 as well as the execution of the African Electronic Network project. During your deliberations, you will have to pronounce yourselves on this Draft Strategy which is an orientation document, but of great importance for the digital future of the Continent.

Linked to the digital issue, the Commission also prepared, in a broader framework of training of youths, a Plan of Action under the African Decade for technical, vocational and entrepreneurial and jobs training for youths. It will work, in close cooperation, with the Member States so that its effective implementation be a lever from which a new paradigm, in the area of training on the Continent, be developed. In the continuity of this vision, the Commission also addressed the social programme and developed a Ten year Plan of Action for the elimination of child labour, forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking in Africa for the period 2020 -2030.

As regards rural development and agriculture, the Commission presented its Second Biennial Programme Report on the implementation of the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Growth and Transformation of Agriculture in Africa for shared prosperity and better living conditions. It emerges that the Member States rightly stressed the need to make the Sectoral Committees perform better. In this sense, the Commission received directives to improve the Terms of reference of those Committees and to focus them on the constituent elements of effectiveness.

Honourable Ministers,

Implemented in a harmonised manner, the above-mentioned Plans of Action could have a positive impact on the quantitative reduction of the flow of refugees, most of whom pushed to unknown destinations because of misery. With the prospect of this implementation, the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, initiated a series of action geared towards the improvement of the living conditions of refugees. Among these, it is appropriate to mention the Memorandum of Understanding on the migrants concluded between the Republic of Rwanda, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Commission.

If essentially the humanitarian solutions are temporary we need to resolutely deal with the root causes of forced displacements in order to find the appropriate response. In this regard, the Commission participated actively in a Workshop organised by Rwanda in October 2019 on this issue which fell within the ambit of the search for aAfrican solutions to African problems.

May I congratulate Rwanda on the strong measures taken for the repatriation of the migrants from Libya and the welcome accorded to some on its territory. I would like also to express our gratitude for the action taken by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Champion of the theme of the Refugee problem. He undertook, among others, visits to the refugee camps, particularly the Tsore Camp, here, in Ethiopia. He also built a school for the refugees.

I cannot conclude on this humanitarian chapter without referring to the new threats represented by Ebola virus which seriously ravages the Great Lakes Region and the Coronavirus whose tendency is a source of concern and which requires sustained attention from our public health institutions.

In view of preventing and controlling diseases, the Africa CDc deployed 65 Experts since the emergence of Ebola in Eastern DRC while making available laboratory equipment and medicines. The Africa CDC established operational centres in the neighbouring countries at risk particularly in Uganda and South Sudan. A meeting of the Ministers of Health was held in Goma, on 21 October 2019 and facilitated by the Commission, in close cooperation with the WHO. The Ministers agreed to set up cross border cooperation mechanisms to contribute a common response to that terrible disease and counter its spread.

Honourable Ministers,

At the internal management level, the Commission pursued its efforts to implement the decisions of the policy organs on transparent and result-oriented management. The Committee of 10 Experts of the Member States, responsible for improving the recruitment process in the Union is working to attain the objective set, that of celerity, transparency and objectivity.

Furthermore, following the observation of irregularities, sanctions have been taken against the guilty staff. However, the extent of the work demands the reasonable option of further in depth investigation which requires more time. Additional measures and sanctions will supplement those already taken, particularly within the framework of the management of the Peace Fund. Similarly, the implementation of the previous decision taken by your Council is being pursued methodologically.

As regards the reform process of the Commission, a powerful impulse was given with the finalisation of the project of the new structure which is submitted for your consideration and adoption. In this spirit, the preparatory arrangements for the election of the new Commission, in February 2021, are being gradually being put in place with the establishment of the Panel of Eminent personalities in charge of supporting the process of selection of candidates for the different executive posts of the Commission. Furthermore, the Panel has already held its inaugural session on 3 and 4 February to agree on its Plan of Action.

Honourable Ministers,

The will and efforts made to build a strong Africa in its foundations are threatened to be undermined by the security challenge. The rise of the terrorists and extremist Jihadists, evidenced by the repeated deadly attacks which bereave people, force the survivors to go into exile and forced displacements, constitute a permanent source of concern.

The conflict in Libya, the threats of El Shabab jihadists in Somalia, in the Sahel Region and around the Lake Chad Basin, the rise of populism, marked by the nationalist and ethnic and identity decline, extremism and radicalism , to mention only these, force us in our conviction that the theme of the year ‘’ Silencing the Guns: Establish the conditions conducive to the development of Africa’’ is more than pertinent. Only the time horizon initially fixed for the execution of this flagship project of Agenda 2063 at 2020 is already with us and this deadline which has passed reveals further the complex nature of the security problem in Africa.

We must, therefore, while reflecting on the theme of the year 2020, question, among others, our doctrine on security and beyond apparent causes, look into the root causes. In brief, we need to build peace differently by implementing innovative solutions which confer a degree of relativity to military solutions by offsetting them with measures from other areas, particularly development and all in solidarity.

If we were to be pleased with the progress of democracy on the Continent with the organisation here and there of free and fair elections, we must also point out as a non-negligible challenge the post-electoral disputes which burden the political and social climate. This is why I wish to welcome the initiative taken by the Permanent Representatives Committee to establish its sub- committee on Human rights, democracy and governance.

I would like on this issue of human rights commend the efforts of the Republic of Chad which, in a gradual and resolved manner, works with the Commission for the effective implementation of the decisions of the African Extraordinary Chambers, within the framework of the trial of former President Hissene Habre. Decisive steps have been taken, with the signing of the Headquarters Agreement and the availability of the building to host the Secretariat of the Compensation Fund for the victims. The progress made will make it possible, in the near future, to convene a Resource Mobilisation Conference to maintain this Fund.

But I must also add on this issue, with dismay, that the operationalization of the hybrid court in South Sudan is hardly progressing. I call upon your Council to be seized further of this matter. The Commission will remain attentive to any action that will make this Court effective.

Honourable Ministers,

I want to conclude by sharing with you the concerns of the Commission about the issue of Partnerships. The year 2020 will be hinged around a number of partnership meetings at Summit level. But beyond the material organisation of these meetings, the problem of the assessment of their contents the definition of our strategic vision and participation, require the attention of your Council. A clear orientation on the matter is necessary in order to enable the Commission and the Member States to speak with one voice, a guarantee of our credibility.

While wishing you fruitful deliberations, I thank you for your kind attention.