Remarks by Minister Carlos França at the second working session of the G20 Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Development: Sustainable Development of the African Continent – Italy, June 29th, 2021

Thank you, Chair,

This debate on sustainable development in Africa is a laudable initiative of the Italian Presidency. It is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, at the centre of international cooperation efforts. Much has been done, but the African continent needs much more, even though it has become one of the fastest growing regions of the world.

Over the past few decades, Brazil has considerably increased cooperation in favour of sustainable development in Africa. For the past 20 years more than 700 initiatives with our African partners have been carried out and 75 of them are still going on.

We have managed to build a capital of trust with our fellow African partners, who have come to know the value of our initiatives and working methods. They know that Brazil’s cooperation is demand-driven and that we arrange, together with local institutions, the form and content of cooperation actions, while respecting national priorities and policies.

Brazil is committed to strengthening our cooperation with Africa by undertaking new initiatives aimed at reinforcing institutional systems in a wide array of sectors such as health, education, agricultural production and productivity, food security, science and technology, public finance, among others. Our ambition is to provide Africa with the necessary skills and capacities to design and implement its own endogenous solutions to face the challenges of sustainable development.

In our dealings with Africa, we have been applying shared principles such as respect for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, partnership among equals, and mutual benefit. This choice stems from a Brazilian constitutional principle whereby cooperation between peoples is a cornerstone of our foreign policy. As a developing country, Brazil is ready to share its experiences among nations with common challenges.

In Africa, we also implement trilateral cooperation frameworks, which include partners outside the continent. That modality reduces costs, expands means and can offer solutions closer to the reality of our African partners.

Dear colleagues,

This first meeting of Development Ministers is a unique opportunity to advance a partnership for the benefit of the African Continent, an initiative led by governments but open to the private sector and civil society. Our action must rely on multilateral consensus, while aiming at concrete results and outcomes for the sustainable development of Africa. This is a commitment of the Brazilian Government and its development partner institutions.

Thank you all.