APRIL 2020 FORBES AFRICA | 47FORBES AFRICA
INSPIRING WOMENFORBESAFRICA.COMPhotos supplied
Weneedto stepit upand
helpunderpinAfrica’s
potentialthroughits
people,becausehow
Africadevelops,how
it ensuresitsstability,
buildsonitssuccesses
andovercomesits
challenges,willhave
enormousimplications,
notjustforthecontinent
itself,butforevery
countryontheplanet.- ReemAl Hashimy
COVID-19 AND
EXPO 2020:
‘COLLECTIVE
STRENGTH AND
RESILIENCE’
A spokesperson for Expo 2020
Dubai says: “Alongside the
government of the UAE, we
are working hard to adapt to
unfolding events surrounding
the spread of Covid-19. The
health and well-being of
everyone living in and visiting
the UAE is our top priority and
will not be compromised. Like
many governments around the
world, the UAE authorities
have taken robust preventative
measures to contain the rapid
spread of the virus.
“Expo 2020 Dubai is
closely monitoring ongoing
developments and taking
sensible precautions to manage
and mitigate the risk to all
those involved in the Expo.
As we continue to prepare
for this event, we will be
adjusting planned preparations,
as changing circumstances
require. We will be diligently
following the latest guidance
from the Dubai Health
Authority, Ministry of Health
and Prevention, World Health
Organization and other
relevant bodies.
“Expo 2020 is not due to
open until late October and
we continue on track. We are
working very closely with UAE
authorities and the International
Bureau of Expositions in Paris
as the situation around the
world evolves. We will remain
attentive and alert in the
coming days and weeks and are
confident that the collective
strength and resilience of our
Expo community will enable us
to navigate through these most
difficult of times.”“The expo will further catalyze the
relationship with Africa developed over
the last few decades. Last year, we had 24
heads of government from the African
continent in the UAE. The continent
sees us as a partner,” says the articulate
minister in an interview with FORBES
AFRICA in February.
Al Hashimy, who says she is from
a supportive and humble middle class
family and has been blessed with
opportunities in the UAE, has been a
regular attendee at the AU summit inEthiopia for several years now.
She says the UAE recognizes that the
real value lies in the long-term building
of human capital, so plans are to deepen
trade ties with South Africa and the rest of
the continent.
“Now – at the start of the third decade
of the millennium – we need to step it
up and help underpin Africa’s potential
through its people, because how Africa
develops, how it ensures its stability,
builds on its successes and overcomes
its challenges, will have enormous
implications, not just for the continent
itself, but for every country on the planet.”
Al Hashimy further elaborates that the
consortium is “geared towards a vision of a
new, ‘turbocharged’ and connected Africa,
driven by an enabled and optimistic
youth”.
“More than any structures of concrete
or steel, the foundations of this future will
be built on a new generation of creative,
collaborative and critical thinkers.
“Young people are the backbone of
this great continent. And unlocking their
potential, through upskilling, re-skilling
and building a solid digital infrastructure –
is a crucial development priority.
“That is why the first priorities of the
Consortium will focus on digitization
and youth: to ensure that every single
person is connected; that young people
have the skills to embrace, rather than be
overwhelmed by, the opportunities that
will naturally follow, and are able to look
forward with optimism to a future that is
firmly in their control,” adds Al Hashimy.
If current global conditions improve
and all goes as planned, Expo 2020 Dubai,
themed Connecting Minds, Creating The
Future, is expected to bring together 192
participating nations to Dubai. The AU
will focus its participation on the expo’s
sub theme, ‘Opportunity’, aiming to utilize
the platform to tell the African story and
position the continent for hosting a World
Expo in the future.