Opening of the Annual Meeting of the Netherlands-African Business Council (NABC), 8 november 2024

 

Your excellencies

 

What a pleasure it is to be able to speak to you – members of the NABC – so soon after my visit to Tanzania, Ethiopia and Egypt.

Although Africa is the continent of the future, you may wonder why the Mayor of The Hague would visit these three countries and why now?

Well there were two main reasons to visit these countries.

 

 

As you well know, The Hague being the international city of Peace and Justice is home to international courts, diplomats and NGO’s active in the field of Peace and Justice.

Every year The Hague organizes the The Hague Justice Week, an event for judges from all over Africa who come to The Hague for training and exchange on international law.

During the last edition of this event some chief justices urged me to come to Arusha.

 

This city in Tanzania is also an important legal capital, housing the Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

This comprises of two branches, the Rwanda Tribunal in Arusha and the former Yugoslavia Tribunal in The Hague.

The African Court for Human Rights is also housed in Arusha.

This year we decided to organize the The Hague Justice Week in Arusha  and this special edition attracted participants from 11 African countries from around the region.

Another main reason to make the visit during this period was the 12th session of the World Urban Forum in Cairo this past week.

Some 33 000 delegates from all over the world came to Cairo to discuss urban development and opportunities to share experiences.

As president of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) I had the honor to open the World Urban Forum alongside the president of Egypt.

 

I took the opportunity to also make a brief visit to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia in order to visit a project of VNG International for the disabled and meet with Dutch Entrepreneurs.

 

I returned only this Tuesday, so the impressions of the visit are still vivid and fresh.

I remember the beauty of Arusha with greenery, and beautiful flowers and trees such as the purple Jacaranda trees which were in bloom.

The friendliness of the people and the mayor of Arusha who took the time to be my host and show me around the city.

Addis Ababa impressed me as a large and busy capital city served by a high quality airline, Ethiopian Airlines, and many new developments such as new libraries, museums and other infrastructural developments.

And in Cairo I was touched seeing the pyramids and royal mummies for the first time.

A true testament of what people could achieve thousands of years ago.

I look back on an inspiring visit, and however brief it was, it gave me an insight into what I believe to be the continent of the future.

In all three countries I had discussions about the youth, the future generation.

Africa in general is a youthful continent, full of energy and fresh ideas.

We discussed with mayors, entrepreneurs and others the need for employment and education and more specifically vocational training for the youth.

Providing the youth with skills they can use to become a plumber, an electrician or to work in tourism.

Education is not only for academia, or to become a professor.

Another point which came up in discussions about business was the need for good governance and a predictable and stable business environment.

Entrepreneurs in and around Arusha and Addis Ababa saw good opportunities due to the good climate, the market potential and other positive factors.

However they stressed the need for good bureaucracy at the local, regional and national level and a predictable environment for their investments.

I am very happy to have the opportunity to reflect on my visit here in this setting and look forward to strengthening the relation between the Netherlands and countries in Africa.

I see many opportunities to work together on improving the business links and cooperation for a successful business climate.

A climate in which the public and private sector work together, creating new opportunities for the future generations.

 

Thank you for this opportunity to share my recent experiences with you, an appetizer for future visits.