President of the Republic chosen to lead Natural and Cultural Heritage in Africa

The President of the Republic, José Maria Neves, said today that he was chosen to lead the Natural and Cultural Heritage in Africa, stressing that this choice represents “an enormous gain” for Cape Verde.

The Head of State made this announcement during the press conference on the assessment of his participation in the Extraordinary Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS and in the Second Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Climate Commission for the Sahel Region, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

José Maria Neves, who will succeed the previous leader, the former president of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, said that from now on he assumes the responsibility of leading this entire program for the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage on the African continent.

“In fact, our continent has a very rich and diversified cultural heritage, it is home to treasures such as the pyramids of Egypt, monuments in Zimbabwe and mausoleums in Timbuktu, but this rich material and immaterial heritage, namely music, languages, dialects and all this heritage plays an important key role in building strong cultural identities and shared values across the continent,” he declared.

He also stressed that with this potential, if there is a “combination, union of efforts and knowledge”, the “solid foundations” can be built that will contribute to the growth of the economic sphere in an inclusive way.

He also considered that the African continent is “very rich” in landscapes, exuberant biodiversity, which can become a destination for international tourism, recognizing, however, that all this heritage still hides many weaknesses that translate into vulnerabilities both to the level of physical integrity as well as management and natural practices.

The President of the Republic assured in this sense that there is already all the institutional capacity installed and a “great effort” from the African continent towards the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage, and that many international institutions are joining Unesco with a focus on strengthening measures to preserve the natural and cultural environment of Africa.

“It will be a huge responsibility and as president of Cape Verde together with all my African peers, we are going to invest heavily in the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage of all of Africa”, he said, informing that Cape Verde should present reports annually on the execution of the your action plan.

He highlighted, on the other hand, that during his leadership reflection actions will be promoted on how to promote climate justice and equity in Africa and for Africa, reinforcing that for this he will have to count on all African heads of state and government and all international partners to jointly highlight what is most beautiful in Africa and what is most tenuous, fragile and that deserves everyone's attention.

“At the continental level, I intend to be accompanied in this task by five regional vice presidents, which comprises seven countries, Southern Africa ten countries, East Africa (14), West Africa (15) and Central Africa nine countries”, he stressed, indicating that with this choice will make it possible to mobilize much more resources for the country and for the African continent and to mobilize partnerships with knowledge and other spiritual assets that, in his opinion, are fundamental in the preservation of all the Natural and Cultural Heritage of Africa.