Africans will head to Europe if they do not find hope, chance for life: Sisi at Paris summit

CAIRO – 23 June 2023: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi affirmed that people in Africa who do not find the hope and chance for life will tend to move toward Europe in pursuit of this hope and chance.

Sisi made the remarks as he participated in the final panel of the New Global Financing Pact Summit held in Paris on 22-23 June.

“We talk frequently about human rights and I agree,” Sisi said. However, it was confirmed that [an average of] 2,700 men, women and maybe children annually drowned while illegally migrating from Africa to Europe over the past 10 years, he added.

Sisi spoke about climate challenges, affirming that the $100 billion allocated by developed countries at the climate summit in 2015 as an annual contribution to promote climate action was a “very good matter.”

However, Sisi stressed that “there is a very big difference between the plan and its implementation.”

In this regard, Sisi criticized pledges made by some leaders in developing countries to peoples during elections amid current challenges worldwide.

“Leadership is responsibility,” Sisi said, affirming that rich and developed countries, which possess the technology and knowledge, should shoulder the responsibility toward others, which do not possess this technology.

"This is a moral responsibility and it may be political," the president said.

He underscored the necessity of boosting work to attain all aspirations of peoples in developing states, including Egypt.

The president stressed the need of pumping the climate funds allocated by developed countries to the African continent at present in order to contribute to developing the infrastructure in Africa.

President Sisi said that when he was the chair of the African Union for two years, he attended many conferences and went with African leaders to Japan, China, India, Russia and England for economic cooperation with the African continent.

Sisi also participated in the summit on Thursday, where he called for updating funding and bank policies to accommodate climate change.

Sisi emphasized that funding is the main factor for achieving sustainable development.

Swift decisions must be taken to prevent a major debt crisis, and development bank policies must be updated to maximize their capabilities, Sisi emphasized.

Highlighting Egypt's keenness on green development, Sisi said the country has a transformation program for new energy until 2030 and we treat 13 million cubic meters of water to be reused.