Late last week Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a group of African leaders in New York, including the presidents of Togo, Rwanda and Sierra Leone and Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers of twelve other African nations.
During the meeting Togo President Faure Gnassingbe told the group, “Africa is beset by difficulties and Israel holds the key to them”.
Gnassingbe has been a key African supporter of Israel. In August he visited Israel where he explained that Israel had mastered the expertise required to develop Africa and even though he understood Israel was not the only nation, it was “the most dynamic and the most competitive.”
At the meeting in New York, Netanyahu said, “Africa excites our imagination. We would like to propose friendship and partnership with every one of your countries.”
Afterwards Netanyahu and Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon held an event to present the latest Israeli technological developments to heads of state from Africa and developing countries.
Dozens of ambassadors, senior UN officials and representatives from the private sector also took part in the event, during which Israeli companies each presented their innovations individually.
One of the innovations was an Israeli company looking to provide 50 million Africans with solar power by 2020.
Togo will be hosting an Israel-Africa summit in the spring of 2017 to further strengthen the relationship between Israel and Africa.
