WE WANT AFRICA TO BE TREATED EQUALLY! RUTO SPEAKS AS HE REPRESENTS AFRICA AT AFRICA G7 SUMMIT!!!

[00:00:00]We are presenting a new paradigm shift of relationship between Africa and our partners.

[00:00:07]This is no longer going to be a relationship about dependency.

[00:00:11]It's going to be a a relationship about sovereign equality. It is not going to be a relationship about um aid, charity, assistance. It's going to be a relationship that we want about mutually beneficial partnerships. And number three, our proposal is that extraction is no longer acceptable or tenable.

[00:00:40]Going forward, we believe that the most consequential and beneficial relationship is through investments that are mutually beneficial so that African assets, natural resources, vast energy renewable energy resources, um arable lands, and human capital including market should be useful not just for us as Africans, but mutually beneficial for those who are going to invest with us. So, we are clear on what we have what we have come to achieve and what Africa's position is going to be. Secondly, we will be in the new global order.

[00:01:29]Uh we believe that a new San Francisco moment is imminent.

[00:01:36]The world order as we have known it is faltering.

[00:01:40]It is not that it's going to happen, it's already happened.

[00:01:45]We But we also believe that international institutions, including the United Nations, are an necessary imperative.

[00:01:54]World Bank, IMF, other institutions have a serious role to play. But, we need a new relationship. We need a new engagement. Africa was not present when these institutions were um reconfigured.

[00:02:10]>> Mhm.

[00:02:11]>> Then, this time round, Africa must be at the center of it.

[00:02:18]>> Mhm.

[00:02:18]>> We cannot continue to have an international governance order, for example, that is not democratic, that is not representative, and that is not accountable.

[00:02:30]Our position is that, whether it is seats at the UN Security Council, use of the veto, which is very controversial, and also accountability, >> Mhm.

[00:02:43]>> because the United Nations, as we see it, in the new order, >> Mhm.

[00:02:51]>> must be run not by an an administrator, >> Mhm.

[00:02:54]>> but as a by a reformer.

[00:02:57]>> Mhm.

[00:02:57]>> And number two, it must be a UN >> Mhm.

[00:03:02]>> that is representative, that is democratic, and that is accountable.

[00:03:10]>> Mhm.

[00:03:11]>> And this is not about accommodating Africa. No.

[00:03:16]It goes to the heart of the legitimacy of the UN, of the credibility >> Mhm.

[00:03:24]>> of the UN, >> Mhm.

[00:03:25]>> and actually the existence of the UN, >> Mhm.

[00:03:28]>> as we know it.

[00:03:29]>> Mhm.

[00:03:30]>> So, we are going to have a very candid, forthright conversation with partners.

[00:03:38]>> Mhm.

[00:03:39]>> And um these are positions we have consolidated.

[00:03:43]We have built consensus as as as a continent. And therefore, um uh I think it's it's a it's great opportunity for Africa, for us, um, to be able to position uh, Africa rightfully in where it truly should be. It is not done until it is done.

[00:04:05]Rome was not built in a day.

[00:04:09]Success is not a flash.

[00:04:13]It is built incrementally, and I believe that, uh, we are making the necessary steps towards solving some of the most pressing global challenges.

[00:04:26]And I think the mere appreciation that three significant things inform this meeting.

[00:04:33]Number one, global solidarity and new partnerships. There is a realization that the international architecture, the UN as we have known it, is no longer fit for purpose.

[00:04:50]This has been our position.

[00:04:53]And therefore, there is a reality that people are living with.

[00:05:00]Many people thought, for example, that you can, uh, solve, uh, global conflicts in days or weeks.

[00:05:10]We have seen what is happening in, uh, in Ukraine.

[00:05:14]We have seen what's happening in Iran.

[00:05:18]So, there's a new reality that we all must face, that a new world order is necessary, that deploys new tools for, uh, engagement. This is a most consequential and significant meeting, especially happening against the background of, uh, what is happening globally.

[00:05:40]And, for us in the African continent, it is a build-up from where we were in 2023.

[00:05:48]First, we convened the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi that brought together African heads of states and stakeholders to discuss and consolidate our position, ideas, and suggestions on how climate change and the effects of it were affecting not just us and Africa did not did need to continue just being a victim, but a significant contributor to how a solution could be found.

[00:06:23]It is also against the background of Africa Forward Summit that we held last month where 33 heads of state are were in attendance with our friends from France. And again, we built consensus on where is Africa, where is Africa going, how is it um going to play in the global scheme of things. We come here with very clear ideas.

[00:06:53]Number one, there will be three sessions. Session number one will be about forging new partnerships, international solidarity that is going to inform the new world order.

[00:07:09]We are also going to be discussing um development.

[00:07:15]We are going to be discussing how we are we we are going to forge a new development paradigm of shared economic activity and shared growth that is global and who is going to play what. And And finally, we're going to be discussing about technology.

[00:07:39]How e-government, AI technology, governance How is everybody going to play? You remember very well that um Africa was absent when um all the other revolutions were being discussed. This fifth or sixth revolution around artificial intelligence and technology Africa is not just going to be consumer.

[00:08:06]It's going to be a co-creator. We want to be at the center of it to write the rules together. So it's going to be different because we are structured, we are organized, we know what we what we want, and we will be putting our ideas, suggestions on the table with the rest of the global leaders.

[00:08:26]>> So, Mr. President, the huge potential and Africa's contribution to global prosperity.

[00:08:34]And let me say this.

[00:08:36]Africa is not a problem to be solved.

[00:08:39]Africa is an asset.

[00:08:41]Africa is an opportunity.

[00:08:44]Africa is not anybody's liability.

[00:08:47]Africa is actually can actually significantly and will significantly contribute to global prosperity.

[00:08:55]Why?

[00:08:56]Number one we have huge natural resources that can be used including critical minerals that are necessary for for energy transition.

[00:09:10]We have vast resources of renewable energy from wind, solar, geothermal um hydro that again are important for the world's prosperity. Number three, it is not possible going forward to discuss world food security without the vast untapped arable lands of the African continent.

[00:09:41]And number three, 40% of the world's workforce by 2050 will be will live in Africa.

[00:09:49]25% of the world's population will live in Africa.

[00:09:53]Africa is not only only going to be a workforce, it is also going to be a market.

[00:10:00]And therefore, going into the future, we must sort out three significant things.

[00:10:06]Number one, we must sort out the issue of access to concessional resources to unlock the potential of Africa.

[00:10:16]We must sort out number two, that Africa continues to borrow from the international community at significantly high interest rates, even higher than comparable economies everywhere in the world. And number three, we must deal with a mispriced Africa.

[00:10:39]One that is um that global credit rating agencies over exaggerate the risk of Africa. And by so doing, undermine the opportunities and the prospects of the African continent. These three significant um uh challenges must be addressed. And we have suggestions on how this can be addressed. Number one, we are saying with clarity that Africa is not the risk that everybody wants uh everyone else to believe.

[00:11:16]And there are mechanisms that we can de-risk whatever it is that people think is is is a risk in Africa. There are African multilateral financial institutions that we are building that now can act as guarantors for us to access those resources. Number two, we are also very clear that Africa is not does not lack capital.

[00:11:47]>> Mhm.

[00:11:48]>> We have $4 trillion, for example, in domestic resources in pension funds, in insurance resources, in central bank reserves.

[00:11:59]What is lacking is the mechanism to mobilize these resources.

[00:12:03]We will be proposing to partners here how those resources can be mobilized to drive African growth. And we will be asking for a win-win outcome. We are not asking for Africa to be treated in a special way. We are asking for Africa to be treated equally.

[00:12:26]It's not a special treatment we are asking for.

[00:12:30]It It is to be treated equally, and I don't think that's too much to ask. I am very clear that we will leave here tomorrow with a number one, our position having been understood.

[00:12:43]And number two, having concrete proposals on how Africa can access concessional resources.

[00:12:51]Africa can contribute its assets to global growth. And number three, whether it is energy transition, whether it is food security, whether it is labor mobility, or whether it is building a bigger market, Africa will have a say.

[00:13:09]And finally, that we will agree on how technology, this time round, artificial intelligence, Africa is not going to be merely a consumer.

[00:13:21]That Africa is going to write the rules.

[00:13:23]And is going to be co-creators on how artificial intelligence drives the next industrial and global revolution.