Secretary John Kerry's speech today in Addis Abba, Ethiopia: Commitment to Africa
Hallelujah, thank you very much for a spectacular introduction. Thank you for even getting out of the city and up into the mountains. And everything is so beautiful. This is an extraordinary building, and I just had the pleasure of walking out on the veranda here and enjoying the view. I understand this is the first green building, totally green building. So I congratulate the Gullele Botanical Gardens, and I particularly congratulate the University of Addis Ababa. Thank you, Mr. President, for being here. And thank you, all of you, for treading up the hill to join me this morning. I saw a couple of donkeys out there. Did some of you come up on the donkeys? (Laughter.) But a lot of buses and cars, and I am very, very appreciative. It’s really good to be back in Addis, and I want to thank the Prime Minister and -- Foreign Minister Tedros and Prime Minister Hailemariam for a very generous welcome. And I want to thank them particularly for their terrific support in efforts not just with our development challenges and the challenges of Ethiopia itself, but also the challenges of South Sudan, the challenges of Somalia, the challenges of leadership on the continent and beyond.
I was here last spring to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the African Union and it was an appropriate time to take note of the meaning behind the AU’s significant emblem, the red rings that remind us all of the blood that was shed for an Africa that is free, and the palm leaves that remind us of the fact that the blood was not just shed for freedom, but it was shed for peace. And then the gold that symbolizes the promise of natural resources and economic potential. Today, as I come here to this hilltop, it’s important to understand how we will fulfill the promise of still another symbol of the African Union’s crest, the interlocking rings of green that embody all of Africa’s hopes and dreams. These are the dreams I believe absolutely can be realized if we are, all of us, together, prepared to make the right choices. And it is a matter of choice. There is no pre-determined destiny out there that pushes us in a direction; this is up to the will of the people, and the will of leaders. We need to make certain that we grab the choice that seizes the future, and we need to refuse to be dragged back into the past.
I have absolutely no doubt that this could be an inflection point for the new Africa, a time and a place where Africans bend the arc of history towards reform, and not retribution; towards peace and prosperity, not revenge and resentment. And it’s important to acknowledge -- at least I feel it's important to acknowledge candidly -- that for too long the ties between the United States and Africa were largely rooted in meeting the challenges and the crises of a particular moment. But we’re discovering that, at the beginning of the 21st century, we both want a lasting and more grounded relationship, one that is not reflective, but visionary and strategic. And for many Americans, Africa was too long a faraway place on a map, a destination for philanthropy, an occasional and harrowing image on the TV screen of starvation and war, a place of distance and some mystery. The fact is that today Africa is increasingly a destination for American investment and tourism, that African institutions are increasingly leading efforts to solve African problems. All of this underscores that dramatic transformations are possible, that prosperity can replace poverty, that cooperation can actually triumph over conflict.
But even as we celebrate this progress, we are also meeting at a time of continued crisis. Conflicts in South Sudan, which I visited yesterday, Central African Republic, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the events that we've just seen in Nigeria, these are among some of the things that are preventing millions of Africans from realizing their full potential. And in some places they are plunging the continent back into the turmoil of the past. Now, some things are absolutely certain as we look at this panorama: Africa has the resources; Africa has the capacity; Africa has the know-how. The questions that Africa faces are similar to those confronting countries all over the world: do we have the political will, the sense of common purpose, to address our challenges? Are we prepared to make the hard choices that those challenges require? The continent’s course is ultimately up to you. It's up to Africans. But we firmly believe that the United States is Africa’s natural partner. One thing we know for sure, the United States could be a vital catalyst in this continent’s continued transformation, and President Obama is committed to that transformation.
Read more at: http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/05/225571.htm