Romania adopts National Strategy for Africa

Romania’s new strategy for Africa is designed to revive the country’s ties with Africa, leveraging a promising basis for collaboration, ahead of President Klaus Iohannis’ upcoming tour in Africa, which starts on Tuesday.

This visit marks the first high-level political and diplomatic engagement with Africa by a Romanian president in the last three decades and aims to rejuvenate Romania’s relations with the continent in the wider context of the need to revitalise EU-Africa relations, the presidential administration said.

From 14 to 23 November, Iohannis will visit Kenya, Tanzania, Cape Verde, and Senegal.

Recognising Africa’s key role in shaping global trends in the 21st century, the strategy aims to rebuild Romania’s relations with Africa, capitalising on the existing potential for cooperation and exploring unexplored areas, the Romanian Foreign Ministry said.

During the Communist era, Romania had good political and economic relations with African countries – something which, according to the document, “may diminish over time, particularly due to generational changes”.

Bucharest’s objectives include cooperation with African states in education, peace and security, economic cooperation and agriculture. It also focuses on untapped sectors with significant growth potential, such as digitalisation and sharing experiences in areas of mutual interest, such as climate and environmental protection, civil protection, phytosanitary and food safety regulations, and cybersecurity.

“Romania’s recent history is a facilitating factor for the re-engagement with Africa, from the perspective of the accumulated experiences and lessons learned during the country’s transition to modernity, characterised by democracy, market economy, rule of law and respect for human rights,” the presidential administration explained the need for the visit.

(Cătălina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)

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