Brussels, 06 May 2019 - Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Richard Sezibera attended in Brussels an EU-Africa Brussels' Roundtable held in the morning of the first day of the European Business Summit 2019. This Roundtable was the result of an initiative promoted by H.E. Didier Reynders, the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs. In attendance was approximately 180 guests from across Africa and Europe, representing both the public and private sectors in a wide array of industry.

Minister Richard Sezibera participated on the first panel entitled "Towards a renewed Africa - EU alliance".

The three sessions that took place throughout the morning were a High-Level Ministerial Panel addressing key issues facing the deepening of an EU-Africa Alliance, a session on the challenges and opportunities of the current finance and investment climate, as well as a third session on the required parameters for building a more sustainable and innovating agricultural sector in Africa.

Esteemed speakers included Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Rwanda, Morocco and the Ivory Coast as well as European and African Union's Commissioners. Other speakers came from notable organisations such as The African Bank of Development, OCP Africa, UNIDO, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), Bank of Africa Group, the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises and the European Investment Bank.

At the upcoming EU-Africa Business Summit 2019 in Marrakech, national and European policy-makers, business leaders and experts will gather once again with the aim to find effective answers to the observations raised during the debates in Brussels.

Minister Dr. Richard Sezibera also met with Didier Reynders, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, also Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defense on the sidelines of European Business Summit 2019 held in Brussels. They exchanged on EU- AU relations as well as on bilateral cooperation and regional developments.

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