The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the African Union and the UNECA, Ambassador Mohamed Arrouchi, who was speaking at the 41st session of the AU Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) on Wednesday by videoconference, ahead of the next AU Summit (February 6 and 7), underlined the importance of the transfer of remittances and the know-how of the African diaspora in the process of socio-economic and cultural development of the African continent.

The Moroccan diplomat who was speaking during the examination of the Note on "The Decade of African Roots and Diasporas", welcomed the "Lomé Framework", an initiative aimed at bringing together the African diaspora to provide support for African projects, events and strategies in the development process in Africa.

The Moroccan delegation called on member states to work together within the framework of this initiative to strengthen the official channels of remittances from African diaspora and encourage them knowing that they remain an important source of development both at the socio-economic and cultural levels in Africa.

The Moroccan diplomat also recalled that remittances from African diaspora neared US $ 50 billion in 2018, hence the importance and the need to strengthen official channels, which remain an important source of income for African countries.

Arrouchi submitted, for the appreciation of the Permanent Representatives Committee, the proposal to organize an annual congress of African diaspora in order to offer them an ideal opportunity and an adequate framework to consolidate networking within the African diaspora, strengthen their exchanges and connectivity and ensure their full and effective contributions on all themes relating to the development process of the African continent.