NOV 25 – President William Ruto has urged Africa’s development partners to back the continent’s industrial growth instead of entrenching a culture of dependency.
Speaking at the 7th African Union-European Union Summit in Luanda, Angola, on Tuesday, the President called for a move from “extractive to productive” relationships, saying African countries must stop exporting raw materials and focus on exporting innovation and finished goods.
He said Africa’s partnerships had for too long been framed around aid and charity, which do not offer lasting solutions to the continent’s challenges.
“Each has what the other needs. Together, we are not two continents facing each other; we are two halves of a single horizon,” President Ruto told the summit, urging leaders to seize the Luanda meeting for concrete decisions rather than “prevarication”.
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He said genuine partnership with Europe should be built on mutual strengths, noting that Europe possesses capital, modern technology and strong institutions, while Africa has vast natural resources, a youthful population and a rapidly growing market.
To maximise cooperation with the EU, the President said Africa must deepen regional economic integration, starting with fully implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area, a single market of 1.4 billion people.
“As African nations trade more with one another, they will also trade more and better with Europe,” he said.
President Ruto also pressed for closer collaboration on digital transformation, climate adaptation and fair labour mobility.
On climate change, he called for accessible, predictable and fair climate finance, arguing that investment in Africa’s resilience was in the shared security interest of both continents.
“Let us make climate finance accessible, predictable and fair. A partnership that invests in Africa’s climate resilience is not a gift to Africa. It is an investment in both Africa’s and Europe’s own security and in humanity’s survival,” he said.
On migration, he said there was need to recognise qualifications across borders, establish clear migration frameworks and protect migrants’ rights wherever they work.
The President described digitalisation as a major equaliser, saying African innovators were already reshaping finance, agriculture and education.
“From Kigali through Nairobi to Lagos, digital entrepreneurs are reshaping finance, agriculture and education,” he said, urging the EU to support Africa’s digital agenda.
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He further asked the EU to back reforms of the United Nations Security Council so it reflects contemporary global realities, and to support changes to the international financial architecture to make it more responsive to developing countries.
“Africa asks only for fairness — for a seat at the table, not a place on the menu; for a partnership grounded not in pity, but in parity,” he said, calling for a shift “from promises to progress, from frameworks to follow-through”.
President Ruto also warned that illicit financial flows continued to undermine African countries’ efforts to raise domestic resources for essential services. He called for stronger global action on asset recovery and the establishment of an intergovernmental platform under the UN to advance inclusive international tax cooperation.
“Domestic resource mobilisation is the only source of finance which is reliable, predictable and timely,” he said, adding that strengthening domestic revenue systems would be key to achieving sustainable development goals.
The summit, attended by Angolan President and AU Chair João Lourenço, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and several Heads of State and Government, opened on Monday.
Later on Tuesday, President Ruto was scheduled to present a report on African Union institutional reforms, a portfolio he champions within the AU.
