By Our Reporter, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
The Vice President of Tanzania, Emmanuel Nchimbi, represented President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the 11th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
The summit took place at the Sipopo International Conference Centre, bringing together leaders from member states to discuss key global challenges and strengthen cooperation within the organisation.
During the opening session, leaders emphasised the need for institutional and systemic reforms within the OACPS to enable the bloc to effectively address current global challenges, including political conflicts, wars and climate change.
The leaders also stressed the importance of timely financial contributions by member states to enable the organisation to become financially independent and maintain a stronger and more independent voice in the international community.
Participants highlighted the need to utilise the bloc’s vast human capital of about 1.5 billion people by strengthening capacity building, innovation and the use of artificial intelligence to accelerate development among member states.
The summit further underscored the importance of expanding trade among member states and strengthening cooperation with other regional blocs.
Leaders also called for greater empowerment of youth and women so that they can actively participate in development activities.
Tanzania’s participation in the summit reflects the country’s continued commitment to actively engage in regional and international platforms while contributing to global discussions on development and cooperation.
During the meeting, the President of Angola, João Lourenço, officially handed over the chairmanship of the OACPS to the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
The OACPS is an international organisation comprising 79 member states from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
It was established in the 1970s to promote economic and political cooperation among countries that were previously under European colonial rule.
The organisation’s legal foundation was formalised on June 6, 1975 through the Georgetown Agreement.
For more than four decades the group was known as the ACP Group before it was officially renamed the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States in April 2020 following amendments to the agreement.
This year’s summit is held under the theme “A transformed and renewed OACPS at the service of an inclusive, sustainable and trust-based multilateralism.”
Vice President Nchimbi was accompanied by Zanzibar’s Minister for Agriculture, Irrigation, Natural Resources and Livestock, Suleiman Masoud Makame, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, James Milya, Tanzania’s Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea (with residence in the Democratic Republic of Congo), Said Juma Mshana, and Tanzania’s Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union, Jestas Nyamanga.
