Malabo: African and Arab leaders pledged to develop fraternal cooperation ⁰

A cream of African and Arab heads of state present in the Equatorial Guinean capital, including Gabon, have pledged to develop and consolidate the cordial relations of fraternal cooperation that exist between the two regions.Among the key political discourse during the forum were the acceleration of the process of establishing the Joint Africa-Arab Disaster Response Fund and the implementation of the Joint Plan of Action on Agricultural Development and Food Security with the aim of working closely together to ensure food security in Africa and the Arab countries by 2025.

The issue of agricultural development and food self-sufficiency reportedly attracted the attention of President Ali Bongo of Gabon who some reports have suggested is conscious of the urgency of being less dependent on the West and Asia.

Co-chaired by Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno, current President of the African Union, the Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President-in-Office of the League of Arab States and His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait, the Fourth Afro-Arab Summit, resulted in the Malabo Declaration. President Biya was conspicuously absent.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai