THE 37th African Union (AU) Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa closed on Sunday with a commitment to prioritising education across the continent.

Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, president of Mauritania and the new chair of the AU, said high-quality education in Africa that embraces science and technology was key to the success of the continent’s sustainable development.

As he took over the helm of the African bloc for the next year, Mr Ghazouani said education was “a crucial catalyst for security, stability and the cultivation of skills that pave a pivotal role in breaking the cycle of unemployment, poverty and fragility.”

He warned that the loss of Africa’s youth, who constitute about 62 per cent of the continent’s population, “is synonymous with the loss of Africa.”

President Ghazouani said: “Witnessing millions of young Africans lacking basic skills, unemployed in their own countries or risking their lives on perilous migration journeys underscores the urgent need for a radical transformation of our educational systems.”

A major problem in Africa is the lack of access to formal education and the high drop-out rates, with many children being forced to work to contribute to household incomes rather than attend school.

One of the central features of the summit was Africa’s relationship with China.

Underlining the importance of the growing relationship between China and Africa, the Chinese President Xi Jinping sent the summit a congratulatory message on Saturday.

He said the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century: “The global South represented by China and Africa is booming, which has a profound effect on the course of world history.”

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on a state visit to Ethiopia, said his country was willing to develop educational programmes in Africa and promote intense exchange of teachers and researchers.