Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sabri Boukadoum, stressed the need to define innovative measures to urge African migrants to participate more in the political and economic empowerment of Africa.
In his speech during the first meeting of the African Union High Committee on the African Contract of African Migrants and People of African Descent, which aims to build bridges between the African people abroad and their countries of origin, the minister stated that “if the cultural and memory ties between our immigrants and the homeland are inalienable, innovative measures must be identified to motivate our brothers and sisters, wherever they may be, to participate more in the political and economic empowerment of Africa.”
Foreign minister suggested three actions to be taken to achieve the objective set by the African Union on this particular issue. It is related, in the first place, to the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Zone, which “allows our migrants to develop trade and investments on the continent’s level, by building bridges to other regions of the world.”
“Africa can benefit from the skills acquired and the networks that our communities are creating across the world, by promoting and facilitating procedures aimed at attracting our immigrants,” the minister said.
“In this context, the African Union Commission, in cooperation with the African Union Development Agency, is invited to prepare plans in this regard,” Boukadoum adds.
The second proposal of Sabri Boukadoum is related to the implementation of the basic arrangements for the Agenda 2063 in which the sixth region of Africa (naming migrants) has the right to provide added value, by participating in the implementation of various goals and ambitions from health to the base facility through technology.
The minister said, “I would like to suggest the inclusion of a representation for the sixth region in the composition of the Supreme Committee. This will send a positive message to our brothers and sisters abroad and reflect our true commitment to restoring the idea of an African renaissance among Africans and peoples descended from Africans across the world.”
Finally, the head of Algerian diplomacy suggested that “any partnership established with our immigrants to be rooted in the principle of permanence and extend over the long term.”
On the other hand, he considered that African countries are required to “encourage the development of economic and fiscal incentives for our community residing abroad.”
