African Countries Show Interest in ALBA

(Awaazmagazine)--Jean Ping, president of the African Union (UA) Commission conveyed the interest of African countries in approaching the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) to profit from the experiences of that regional mechanism in social and economic projects.

Ping was received last Tuesday by the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, to coordinate details of the II South America-Africa Summit (ASA by its Spanish acronym), which will take place between 14 and 19 September in Caracas. ‘Countries like Cuba, to whom we hold important relations, are part of the ALBA. We wish to take advantage of this help, and it seems to us that the ALBA is the mechanism to strengthen health services, the training of doctors and tourism’, stated the visitor.

The official indicated that the African countries are going to work rapidly on the organisation of a meeting between the UA and the ALBA in order to explore the possibilities and advantages of a closer cooperation between both regional organisations. ‘Cuba and Venezuela are vanguards in medical training; the African countries have no resources to develop this kind of initiatives’, he underlined after highlighting the importance of the two regions coming together to face common problems and obtain mutual benefit.

Ping also stressed the importance of communications to enable the countries from the South to build their own image and talk among themselves, and in this regard he praised the experiences of the TeleSur television channel. He also emphasized the task of Banco del Sur in the stimulation of financial cooperation. The Gabonese diplomat indicated that the September meeting, which will be attended by tens of heads of State from both regions, would handle themes concerning cooperation in education, health, energy and communications, as well as forms to face the present economic crisis.

In turn, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Nicolás Maduro expressed confidence that the next Summit will be ‘the people’s Summit’ and will include the cultural expression of the African roots, which are present throughout the continent. Maduro was optimistic concerning the relations with Africa, a region he described as ‘a great political, economic, cultural, social and human pole’, the same as South America.

The ASA Summits are held every two years, alternating the venue. The first edition was celebrated in November 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria, where Venezuela was unanimously approved as venue for the second meeting.

<< Back to main