AU Summit put Africa on new growth path - Cabinet

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Minister in the Presidency for Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe, said on Thursday the resolutions placed Africa on a new path of development and growth that will enable the continent to take its rightful place in global affairs.

Resolutions included a united and functioning single military by the end of the year and the acceleration of the operationalisation of the African Standby Force (ASF).

"Cabinet applauded the initiative by the AU towards greater regional integration and trade through the launch of negotiations for the establishment of a continental free trade area that will forge stronger ties between African economies," said Minister Radebe.

He was addressing media on the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, in Cape Town.

Minister Radebe said Cabinet also welcomed the meeting of the AU Ministers Responsible for Gender and Women's Affairs, following the 2nd AU High Level Panel on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment which was held on the margins of the AU Summit.

The outcome of the meetings, held under the theme "Make it Happen Through the Financial Inclusion of Women in the Agribusiness Sector", was a declaration and a call for action regarding the financial inclusion in agribusiness.

The meetings called for the implementation of women's right to access, control, ownership and benefit from financial resources, including access to public procurement processes in education, information and skills development, innovative technologies and practices, to capacitate and develop women's economic empowerment in agribusiness.

The ministers further called for the intensification of initiatives to create a conducive environment for women to conduct agribusiness and the agricultural value chain through prevention and responding to conflict on the continent, addressing, adapting and mitigating climate change impacts, and addressing the impact of epidemics and natural disasters.