•PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu (centre) introduces Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba (left) to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia, yesterday. Picture by SALIM HENRY/STATE HOUSE

By ANTHONY MULOWA –

in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has described the just ended 26th session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) as a success, whose outcomes will have a positive impact on Zambia.
Mr Lungu said the hosting of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) in Lusaka and the election of Zambia to the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the AU would have a positive impact on the country.
Mr Lungu told journalists shortly before departure for Zambia at Bole International Airport yesterday that the summit deliberated on topical issues affecting the continent.
“It has been very successful gathering because we have been able to reflect the views on topical and hot issues like that on Burundi.
“We have also been able to win the privilege of hosting ECOSOCC and we have also been elected to the Peace and Security Council and we take our seat in March, for us these are some of the positives, “he said.
He also had a number of bilateral meetings, which would help woo investments in various sectors of the economy.
Mr Lungu had meetings with the senior Russian officials and Sudan President Omar al-Barshir among many others.
He said Zambians should maintain the current peace the country was enjoying as it was a pre-requisite for investments.
“Our election to the Peace and Security Council, confirms that we are a peaceful people and sends a message back home that we should maintain the peace. People want to do business with you when you are peaceful,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Lungu said the Zambian Government had secured a 10 acre plot in the upcoming and modern suburb area near the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport for the construction of the ECOSOCC secretariat.
The President said this when he presented a statement during a session on Zambia’s bid to host the ECOSOCC office yesterday.
He said Government would closely work with the African Union Commission (AUC) to ensure that the mandatory process, necessary to ensure an efficient and smooth transfer of the ECOSOCC secretariat, was undertaken.
The President also attended another session on the C10 summit, at which he said the reform of the United Nations (UN) Security Council had now become more than ever a must, an obligation and duty, if Africa was to ensure achievement of its core mandate which among others is to achieving peace and security on the continent.
Mr Lungu said the full participation of the African continent in issues of peace and security, formulation of interventions that would address the various challenges threatening the stability and security of the continent was vital.
He said Africa remained better placed to offer viable and workable solutions to African problems that were presented before the UN Security Council, as it was the Africans themselves that best understood the dynamics of their challenges on the continent.
“Africa knows what Africa needs and what Africa wants, so it is imperative that Africa is accorded an equal opportunity to make decisions taken in the quest to achieve peace and security to allow for sustainable development, “he said.
He said the growing global concerns such as climate change, terrorism and the global economic situation, invariably affect continents like Africa the most because of the regions challenges in responding effectively to these issues.
He said these concerns would only be adequately addressed once Africa takes up two seats on the UN Security Council that would represent one committed voice and send a single message.