KUWAIT: Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Ambassador Hamad Al-Mashaan seen during the Africa Day celebration. KUWAIT: Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Ambassador Hamad Al-Mashaan seen during the Africa Day celebration.

KUWAIT: Thousands of people descended at the Regency Hotel on Wednesday as Africans, Kuwaitis and expatriates celebrated Africa Day in a colorful style. The event featured lots of cultural displays - with each African country showcasing its rich tradition and cultural heritage in their respective booths. There were food fair, bonanza, free gifts and traditional dances.

"This is a good avenue to showcase African diversity and success. Africa has a lot of economic potentials with lots of investment opportunities and untapped resources. We used this event to promote investments opportunities and also to highlight African achievements as we work to promote peace in the region," the Charge D'Affaires of the Nigerian Embassy Bunuyaminu Hammawa noted. He praised the Kuwait's efforts in promoting peace and development in Africa.

Speaking on the occasion, Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Ambassador Hamad Al-Mashaan lauded the steadily developing Kuwaiti-African relations. "Kuwait's relations with African nations are deeply-rooted - and date back to pre-oil discovery era," Mashaan said. He added that the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has been playing a pivotal role in financing development projects across the continent.

"Only six months after its inception in 1961, the KFAED offered the first loan to an African country. KFAED has financed projects in 40 African countries, including 19 West African nations and 21 Central, Southern and Eastern African nations in recent times - granting West African nations 139 loans amounting to $1.640 billion, while the loans provided to Central, Southern and Eastern African nations has reached $1.217 billion, he said.

Mashaan recalled the initiative announced by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in the Kuwait-hosted Third Afro-Arab Summit to launch a one-billion-dollar fund to finance infrastructure projects in African countries. He noted that several African delegations have visited Kuwait recently to boost bilateral ties in various domains. "The unique status of Kuwait for African nations was reflected in the African Union Summit held in July 2012 in Addis Ababa to which His Highness the Amir was invited. His Highness the Amir attended the summit as the first Arab leader from the Asian continent," he added.

African Day is an annual commemoration of the 1963 founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), presently known as the African Union (AU). Celebrations were held in many countries across the globe on that day. On the 25th of May, 1963, African leaders created an umbrella union called Organization of African Unity (OAU). On this day, leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 1991, the OAU established the African Economic Community, and in 2002 it metamorphosed to the African Union (AU). The African Union, comprised of 53 member states, has brought together the continent of Africa to collectively address the challenges it has faced, such as armed conflict, climate change and poverty.

By Chidi Emmanuel