2021 Amujae Leader and former Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry in Botswana, Bogolo Kenewendo, emphasized the need for partnerships with foreign governments during a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Africa Program event.

On how Africa’s foreign relations could develop post-COVID-19, Ms. Kenewendo said:

“Africa’s aspirations are all about unification… We want our partners to rise to the same ambitions, to recognize that our priorities are on economic development, on developing value chains, on infrastructure development that will facilitate intra-African trade, and by extension the rest of the world.”

Ms. Kenewendo also noted that vaccines need to be distributed equitably around the world, and acknowledged concerns about vaccines being hoarded by developed countries at the expense of less wealthy nations. The panel also discussed climate change, noting its outsize impacts are being felt across Africa, even though the continent’s production of greenhouse gases remains low. In conclusion, Ms. Kenewendo said, “The world is only as strong as its weakest .”

More information about the event, ‘Africa’s Global Reset: Foreign Relations in a Post-Pandemic Era,’ can be found here.