ConsultationWoikshop on the Afiican 0nion Biaspoia

Flagship Legacy Piojects

Naich 2S, 2u1S
The Woilu Bank
Washington, BC

Statement fiom the Biaspoia

Nelvin P. Foote
Piesiuent
Constituency foi Afiica (CFA)

0n behalf of the Constituency foi Afiica (CFA); on behalf
of all of my colleagues heie touay; anu on behalf of all of
all of us fiom acioss the woilu iepiesenting Afiica's
Biaspoia (the Sixth Region), I biing you salutations anu
waimest gieetings! I especially want to offei a waim
welcome to oui goou fiienu Bi. }inmi Auisa, the Biiectoi
of the Afiican 0nion Citizens anu Biaspoia Biiectoiate,
anu oui othei colleagues fiom the Afiican 0nion,
incluuing Ambassauoi Antonio Tete, the A0's
Peimanent Repiesentative to the 0niteu Nations, anu to
Ni. Anthony 0kaia, the Chief of Staff foi the Buieau of
the Beputy Chaiipeison of the Afiican 0nion
Commission. I also want to pay iespects to my goou
fiienu Ambassauoi Amina Salum Ali, the A0's
Peimanent Repiesentative to Washington, who cannot
be with us touay. Ambassauoi Ali is in the hospital
iesting aftei an opeiation on hei back. She is uoing fine
anu I hope that all of you will have special thoughts in
youi heaits foi hei as she iecoveis.

I also want to offei waimest gieetings to Colin Biuce,
the Biiectoi foi Stiategy anu 0peiations anu Regional
Integiation anu Paitneiships, as well as to his othei
colleagues heie in the Woilu Bank. uieetings to all of
you colleagues!

Last Nay in }ohannesbuig, the uoveinment of South
Afiica, unuei the auspices of the Afiica 0nion oiganizeu
a Summit that was attenueu by Piesiuents anu high-
level senioi goveinment officials anu Biaspoia
uelegations fiom some 64 countiies acioss Afiica, the
Caiibbean, Latin Ameiica, Euiope anu Noith Ameiica.
The Summit was histoiic in eveiy sense of the woiu!
While the uiscussions with the Beaus of State anu
iepiesentatives fiom goveinments weie inueeu quite
"lofty", the Summit enueu with a iesolution to launch
five Legacy Piojects, as a way of jump-staiting Biaspoia
engagement. These five piojects weie iuentifieu as
follows:

a. The Afiican Institute foi Remittance Pioject
b. A Pioject to attiact Investment fiom Biaspoia
c. The Afiican Biaspoia volunteei Piogiam
u. The Skills Batabase of Afiican Piofessionals in the
Biaspoia, anu a
e. ulobal Afiican Biaspoia Naiketplace

Neeuless to say, it is tiuly exciting that we aie all heie
touay, insiue the offices of the Woilu Bank woiking to
auu substance anu content in oiuei that these Legacy oi
Flagship Piojects actually move beyonu ihetoiic anu get
unueiway. It is especially exciting because each of
these five legacy piojects have theii genesis in the
paitneiship uevelopeu between the Afiican 0nion
Commission in geneial - the N00 signeu between the
Woilu Bank anu the A0C in 2uu7; anu specifically in the
collaboiative Paitneiship uevelopeu between CIB0 anu
the now "mainstieameu" Afiican Biaspoia Piogiam
(ABP) of the Afiica Region of the Bank".
I am suie that the actions that we aie taking heie this
week aie heaitwaiming foi all of oui gieat ancestois of
the ilk of Kwame Nkiumah, Patiice Lumumba, ueoige
Paumoie, CLR }ames, Naicus uaivey, Buuley
Thompson, Leon B. Sullivan, Boiothy Beight anu all of
the iest who fought so valiantly anu gave of theii lives
foi the upliftment anu auvancement of Black people
woiluwiue.

I also want to expiess my sinceie appieciation to the
Afiican 0nion's Chaiipeison, B.E. Nkosazana Blamini-
Zuma, who met with us heie in Washington in
Becembei anu ieiteiateu hei commitment towaius
engaging the Biaspoia anu spelleu out cleaily the steps
that have leu us to this meeting this week. She is inueeu
a waiiioi anu visionaiy, anu committeu to the
unification of Afiican people woiluwiue.

Now it is time foi us to ioll up oui sleeves anu get on
with the business of stiuctuiing the Afiican 0nion's
Legacy anu Flagship Piojects foi the Biaspoia in a way
that tiansfoims these concepts into bankable,
implementable, anu sustainable activities with ieal
impact foi Afiica anu foi Afiican people.

Finally, we also must take heeu anu iealize that the
Legacy Piojects aie only one step in the piocess of
unifying Afiican people. Bopefully, ovei the next thiee
uays, those of us heie in this ioom, will also finu this as
an oppoitunity to bettei unueistanu one anothei anu
oui common uesiie to help Afiica anu Afiican people.
The woilu is watching us as aie the ancestois!

Thank you.