Our elephants are under siege because of an illegal international market that has driven ivory prices in the region up significantly. I call upon the international community to join us in this fight.
We must be practical. Talking about trade and other nice things are more soothing to the ear than security. But it won't be until we have sufficient security against internal, regional, and continental threats that we can be sure of real development.
After securing security, we can be confident that our achievements will be safeguarded and also have the capacity to construct infrastructure such as regional railways, airports, and highways that will facilitate trade and help us to integrate faster.
Although we live in a safe and stable country, Central Africa as a region has been held back by seemingly perpetual conflict - over power, resources, and who controls them.
As the leader of an oil-producing nation, I know how hard it can be to prioritize environmental issues, but the short-term risk to our economic security is far outweighed by the potential risk to our national and regional security.
The attacks in Jordan, just like those before it in Indonesia, Egypt, Spain and the United States, demonstrate that terrorism does not discriminate by race, ethnicity or region. Instead, terrorists indiscriminately target those seeking to live a peaceful, loving and free life.
A bugbear of mine is bragging rights in regional derbies: it would be a lot more worth to the regional game if we did something special in European rugby.
When I get the morning report on security, I call those battalions in the regions where there are problems.
This project would not only open up venues of cooperation in the oil and gas sector between the member countries but also help bring the people of regional countries together.
Every good government's duty is to do more for the regions that are underdeveloped.
