As part of its mandate and process of attaining its development and integration goals through Agenda 2063, the Africa Union (AU) has promised to give the continent a robust visibility at the Expo 2020 in Dubai.
The Head of AU Strategic Partnerships, Dr Levi Uche Madueke who is the Commissioner General for the AU, overseeing the expo disclosed to Travelpulse and MICE, recently, adding that the expo is expected to offer the world an opportunity to see and understand Africa better.
According to Dr Madueke “In line with the expo’s theme; Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, we will focus on connecting African innovators, technologists, tech-entrepreneurs, manufacturers, R&D hubs and tech financiers to contemporaries from the rest of the world, to build partnerships and conclude business deals.
“We will highlight the efforts and successes attained on governance, peace and security, and the promotion of social stability by telling our story the way it has never been told before, and in the way we want.
“The AU will showcase Africa’s achievements and opportunities that exist in Africa both in terms of trade and investment, and all facets of development underlined in Africa’s development blueprint; the Agenda 2063 aspirations.
“Also, individual African countries have been invited by the United Arab Emirates to participate at the expo, and will exhibit their potential in their respective pavilions.
“It will be an opportunity to bring to the attention of the world the various dynamic socio-economic and political transformations that are ongoing in Africa, which the world is yet to hear about, Dr Madueke explained.”
Speaking on Africa area of concentration in terms of offers and activities, Dr Madueke said “We have identified the following activities which are important to the socio-economic development of Africa, of which agriculture is a vital and integral part, and will be showcased during the six months of expo.
“Our strong holds are culture and the creative industries (art, music, fashion etc); private sector, entrepreneurship, trade and investment in Africa; infrastructure and industrialisation and building green and blue economies in Africa.
“We are also going to display innovations by themes including technology, health, agriculture, communication, natural resources, etc; showcase incubation and commercialisation of innovation projects (led by regional economic communities), which can give opportunities for the youth to commercialise their products and promote ideas; promote innovations in technology: power generation from solar, wind and hydro sources, car assembly plants, mobile money payment systems, weather forecasting apps used by farmers; and social development, with a focus on women and youth.
“We will showcase how we have applied the indigenous approach to addressing the content of the AU Agenda 2063, by implementing the AU flagship projects, examples of which will include our efforts on the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which facilitates trade and the Africa commodities strategy that encourages value addition and addresses the issue of free movement of people.”