Foreign Affairs committee  I agree that having the youth in different aspects of African political life is going to be key. The median age is 18.8, for example, and yet the median age of African leaders is about 62. There's that mismatch. Having the youth in different aspects is going to be very important.

Foreign Affairs committee  Colonialism is part of it, but one single thing that is a major driver of instability and challenges on the African continent, apart from borders, is food. If you read the literature carefully, any time there's food insecurity, it's usually followed by political unrest, and political actors take advantage of it.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think he has it spot-on. What I would add is that we could have proactively gone behind the scenes with the African Union, because it has been engaged in that particular discussion. However, it was isolated in the international system, because there were so many tracks that were put in place.

Foreign Affairs committee  For me, “Agenda 2063” is a very important document that opens up the window for anyone who really wants to engage with the African continent, because it's seen as Africa's strategic document. Within Africa's “Agenda 2063”, there are a few things that I think are very important for Canada to pay attention to.

Foreign Affairs committee  If I may go first, I just want to add a bit to it. I've heard a number of other witnesses emphasize the importance of bringing the regional economic communities. I would also emphasize that for me, it will be very important to also have a permanent delegation to these regional economic communities.

Foreign Affairs committee  We don't have enough. We're only present in about 17 of them, and we are spread too thin. If we are strategically positioned in all of the regional economic communities and use them as a contact point for those countries, it will free us up to be able to then strategically position other missions in the areas that reflect our core interests.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you so much, honourable Chair and members of the committee, for inviting me to contribute to this important study. This study is a signal to me that our Canadian political system is finally catching up with realities in our classrooms. Canadians, especially younger ones, want a stronger Canada-Africa partnership.