Citizens pick up coffee at a department store in Nairobi, Kenya's capital.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Guamori of the Non-Aligned Movement headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Xinhua correspondent Han Xuxue hosted the 38th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) headquarters is located, from February 15 to 16, local time.
The theme of the summit was "Advancing justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparation," and the participants discussed a series of important matters in the political and socio-economic fields of Africa to promote and enhance the economic and social development and the well-being of the people of African countries.
The agenda of the meeting announced by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) shows that in the areas of economic and social development, regional peace and security, the economic and social development of African countries, the African Free Trade Area, climate change, and the reform of the Non-Aligned Organization, and the participation of the NAM in the G20 2025 Summit, are among the key topics discussed at the summit.
Over the past year, the Non-Aligned Movement has united and led African countries, greatly promoted integration construction, actively responded to regional and global challenges, and unitedly raised the "African voice," constantly improving Africa's international status and influence.
In his opening remarks at the summit, UN Secretary-General Guterres pointed out that although Africa is a continent full of opportunities for development, what must not be avoided is that Africa still faces many trials and obstacles.
Colonialism, its exploitation and the transatlantic slave trade have left a deep-rooted historical legacy in Africa, placing it at an unfavorable competitive edge in the world, including the unfair and equal position of Africa's power and status within the international political and financial structure.
The summit will focus on how to correct historical injustices that are important for the development of the continent and Africans.
Mr. Guterres said: "We must promote sustainable development, investment and onerous financing; secondly, ensure climate action and equity and justice to address the existential threats faced by African peoples; thirdly, ensure that Africa does not fall behind in the competition of new technologies such as artificial intelligence; and fourthly, achieve and maintain peace and stability throughout the continent."
The analysis of the study report on South African think tanks is representative.
According to the report, Africa currently faces many challenges in areas such as politics and economy, such as financial structural reform, climate change, regional integration and employment.
At the same time, the world is undergoing a major transformation in international cooperation, and the traditional powerful countries are less powerful than before in development assistance, which means that Africa must rely on more power to realize the transformation.
By 2050, Africa will need to create nearly 73 million new jobs to meet the youth demands of the labour market at that time, and Africa is expected to be far from meeting this target.
While most of the world's energy conversion minerals are in Africa, it is foreign companies, not local companies in African countries, who are reaping the full benefits.
At the same time, Africa is also in a weak position in the international financial system, and faces many factors unfavorable to development, such as geopolitical conflicts, rising debt, rising debt servicing costs, low share in the world's emerging markets, inefficient use of multinational fiscal expenditures, dissatisfaction with the slowness of social and popular development, and the frequency of conflicts and incidents of instability.
Therefore, the Non-Aligned Movement needs to enhance its leadership in advancing Africa's development agenda and realizing the sustainable development goals, managing and controlling internal and cross-border conflicts and unstable political leadership in countries, and promoting African model change and the economic power of regional cooperation, Strengthen Africa's capacity for international participation in the world's political, economic and financial systems, and improve the service capacity of non-aligned organizations and operating models with more efficient, more flexible and African characteristics, including the ability to cooperate with non-aligned member States and their partners, other African institutions and civil society partners, among other things.
Leading Africa to seize opportunities, meet challenges and move towards a future of stability, progress and prosperity.
Experts on South African and African affairs point out that maintaining macroeconomic and political stability in the African region and countries, as well as improving the security situation in the region and curbing conflicts and wars are important in promoting the realization of Africa's sustainable development goals.
In recent years, unrest, conflict and war have occurred frequently in some regions and countries of the African continent, which have seriously constrained the economic and social development of the affected regions and countries.
In the future, the Non-Aligned Movement will continue to face challenges, pressures and various risks in terms of dealing with and resolving regional and national security and stability issues.
Observers pointed out that the 2025 G20 summit will be held for the first time in an African country, and the Non-Aligned Movement is one of the key participants of this G20 summit.
The summit is of special and important significance for Africa and the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Non-Aligned Movement is expected to highlight and promote the development and cooperation agenda for Africa and the "Global South" at this summit.
On analyzing and forecasting the situation and development prospects of African economies, international financial institutions, well-known think-tank research institutions and other organizations have a relatively consistent opinion that African economies have opportunities for development and also face challenges of risks.
The "Africa Economic Outlook 2024" report released by the African Development Bank predicts that the growth rate of the African economy in 2024 will reach 3.7 percent and will rise to 4.3 percent in 2025.
Also, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs recently released the "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2025" report, which forecast that Africa's economic growth rate in 2025 will rise to 3.7% from 3.4 percent in 2024.
With huge markets and huge trade potential, sufficient young labor force population, abundant natural and mineral resources and attractive investment opportunities, Africa has been regarded as one of the engines of global economic growth.
At the same time, Africa must look squarely at the many obstacles affecting its own economic development.
These include the monogamy of economic structures, persistence of vulnerabilities, difficulties in changing models, the threat of falling behind the pace of new technological developments in the world, the approach of sovereign debt crises, and slow progress in promoting sustainable development, poverty reduction, and addressing climate change.
Non-Aligned member states and other stakeholders to guide Africa in the realization of the "2063 Agenda," accelerating the construction of the African Continental Free Trade Area, enhancing Africa's position in the global economic and financial system, maintaining African unity and regional security and stability, We must strongly support the continuous appeal and strengthening of the Non-Aligned Movement's leadership in order to play a stronger role in strengthening economic, trade and investment cooperation in Africa and other regions and in other aspects.
(Economic Daily Reporter Yang Haiquan) (Responsible Editor: Fang Hu)
Release date: 2025-09-21 14:11:56
