EU-Africa Summit: Paul Biya On The Frontlines

By Emmanuel TATAW, Cameroon Tribune, 03-04-2014
The audience granted CAR interim President Catherine Samba-Panza yesterday was one of the many indications of President Paul Biya’s remarkable and effective participation at the 4th EU-Africa Summit.

After two days of meetings in Brussels, leaders of the European Union and Africa strove to address the challenges the two continents face.
The everyday concerns of their citizens, their job prospects and their future as families and individuals were at the centre of discussions at the Summit. In the debates at the working sessions, the close to eighty Heads of State and Government and Heads of EU and African Union institutions insisted on deepening the partnership of equals and seize further cooperation opportunities by expanding political, economic, investment and trade ties. President Paul Biya and his peers examined what the historic partnership has achieved, set objectives and took a fresh look at new zones of possible future relations. Day two of the Summit yesterday began as early as eight o'clock with the arrival of Heads of State and Government at the Justus Lipsus building. The third working session on “Populations” kicked off with introductive speeches, followed by debates. Working session number four followed suit with its theme of “mechanisms of financing and the institutional dispositions of the EU-Africa partnership”. The same methodology of introductory speeches and debates was followed. At the end of the day, the project of the final declaration was examined before the closing ceremony and press conference that dropped curtains on the 4th European Union-Africa Summit.

Diplomacy of Peace

The active participation of President Paul Biya in the two days Summit ensured that the theme of investing in people, prosperity and peace will be translated into concrete reality. In his contributions during the debates on Central Africa Republic and during the working session on peace and security, the Head of State brought out the intrinsic Cameroonian values of peace, as the foundation of national harmony and security. His wealth of experience and expertise in the constant search for peace as a solution to all differences, stood the President in good stead among his peers. Cameroon's oft-quoted “island of peace” and the President's highly admired and successful diplomacy of peace in the resolution of the Bakassi Conflict insured that when he takes the floor in any debate within and without the Continent, his peers will listen attentively and his words always have a favorable echo in the concert of nations. Reactions to the President Paul BIYA's views during the two days Summit brought out positive and favorable acclamations, according to inside sources at the Justus Lipsus building. They provided, in large part, indices of the final resolutions and for the most part constituted the framework for solutions. In the final conclusions of the special meeting on Central African Republic, Cameroon’s contribution in harmony with the vision of President Paul Biya was largely evident.

Stability

The special high-level meeting on Central African Republic held at the margins of the EU-Africa Summit brought together about twenty five Heads of State and Government with almost equal numbers from Europe and Africa. Co-organized and co-chaired by the President of the European Council Herman Van Rumpuy, the French President Francois Hollande and President Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, the current President of the African Union, it strove to urgently restore security and re-establish stability in the Central African Republic. The Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza and the UN chief scribe Ban Ki Moon also took part in the meeting.>>>