Editor,

RE: "AU summit opens with call for solidarity, unity” (The New Times, July 11)

All eyes, throughout the African continent and even across the globe, are inevitably focused on Remarkable Rwanda, where the 27th African Union summit opened Sunday with a call for solidarity and unity among African nations.

All the ambassadors of the 54 African states and AU officials deliberated on ways and means to enhance engagement among themselves. The AU summit has endorsed the fact that unity is strength.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the African Union Commission chairperson, said that the implementation and realisation of the continent’s long-term goals, programmes and priorities, call for solidarity and mutual support for each other’s efforts.

While competition is always a healthy practice, collective bargaining by African nations could take the continent to greater heights.

Africa, as a whole, is blessed with an abundance of natural resources. Yet, if we take Rwanda as an example, despite a lack of natural resources, the country has forged ahead in the services sector and in other areas of the economy.

If African countries effectively complemented each other and leveraged each other’s strengths, they would grow stronger together and lead to a truly united Africa.

This would automatically reduce dependence on foreign aid and encourage countries across the world to seek to become business partners with Africa.

This year’s AU Summit theme, "Human Rights with a Particular Focus on the Rights of Women”, could not have blended better, with the meeting taking place in Remarkable Rwanda which obviously puts great emphasis on women empowerment.

Clarence Fernandes