In light of the pandemic and several crises ... the 34th summit of African Union leaders is launched

The work of the African Union summit began on Saturday via video, and during the opening, Moussa Faki called on the President of the Union Commission to stop fighting and pay attention to development, while the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, called for soft loans to overcome the Corona pandemic.

Through video technology, the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa witnessed the launch of the 34th summit of heads of state and government of the union, which is scheduled to last for two days, to discuss political, security and health issues, as well as border disputes and the Renaissance Dam crisis.

During the opening, Faki said in his speech that the AU's priorities are to silence the gun and achieve development and stability on the continent.

Faki added that the African Commission is determined to end conflicts, fight terrorist groups, and achieve stability and security.

In turn, the South African President announced the transfer of the Presidency of the Union from him to the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Antoine.

Ramaphosa told the summit that more needed to be done, despite the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank making available significant financial resources to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic.

He continued, "The injection of new resources by the International Monetary Fund through reallocation and issuance of new special drawing rights with the preference of the developing world; this will correct the stark disparity in fiscal stimulus measures between advanced economies and the rest of the world."

Ramaphosa stressed that access to concessional financing will remain essential at a time when African countries rebuild their economies.

The dangerous debt burdens of a number of African countries have deteriorated due to the repercussions of the pandemic.

A Reuters count showed that Africa, which has a population of 1.3 billion, has now recorded more than 3.6 million cases of Coronavirus, and more than 94,000 deaths.

On Monday, Ramaphosa said that the African Union has so far obtained one billion vaccine doses, including 700 million doses from the global "Kovacs" program, which is co-led by the World Health Organization.