On Monday, November 16, the Africa Center hosted a roundtable for African ambassadors and other stakeholders on the role of MASHAV, the State of Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, in Africa with Ambassador Gil Haskel, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel and Head of MASHAV.
Africa Center Director Dr. J. Peter Pham and H.E. Michael Moussa-Adamo, Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic to the United States and Chair of the African Ambassadors Group, welcomed participants and introduced the discussion.
In his remarks, Haskel highlighted Israel’s capabilities and expertise regarding its development and humanitarian assistance across the African continent. In particular, Haskel pointed to emergency response as one of the country’s most notable strengths. Haskel also emphasized MASHAV’s focus on sustainable development, and specifically a focus on capacity-building, technical support, and assisting in building model facilities. Overall, Haskel stressed both the importance of local ownership in development projects as well as the role of trade, rather than aid, as the main driver for economic development in Africa. He also emphasized the importance of water as a key development priority since without access to a reliable and clean water supply, discussions of agriculture and energy were superfluous.
Other participants in the event included H.E. Babacar Diagné, Ambassador to the United States ofthe Republic of Senegal; H.E. Joseph B. C. Foe-Atangana, Ambassador to the United States of the Republic of Cameroon; H.E. Stanislas Moussa-Kembe, Ambassador to the United States of the Central African Republic; H.E. Palan Mulonda, Ambassador to the United States of the Republic of Zambia; H.E. Ernest Ndabashinze, Ambassador to the United States of the Republic of Burundi; H.E. José Luis Rocha, Ambassador to the United States of the Republic of Cabo Verde, H.E. Joseph Henry Smith, Ambassador to the United States of the Republic of Ghana; and Seydou Sinka, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Burkina Faso. Also taking part in the event was the Honorable Constance Berry Newman, Africa Center Senior Fellow and former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs as well as former Assistant Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in charge of the Bureau for Africa.