President Ma Ying-jeou went to the Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei on the evening of May 25 to attend the opening of an exhibition displaying achievements associated with ROC assistance to Africa, as well as a reception to mark Africa Day 2010. Ambassadors to the ROC from Swaziland, Burkina Faso, São Tomé and Principe, and Gambia were on hand for the event. After touring the exhibition, the president specially introduced a project that the ROC is carrying out in Burkina Faso that is providing solar-powered lamps to children throughout the nation. He said he hopes that the longstanding friendly and cooperative relations between the ROC and its African allies will continue in the future.
President Ma noted that Africa Day is held to mark the May 25, 1963 founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The OAU was reorganized as the African Union (AU) on July 9, 2002. For many years, he said, the members of the AU have jointly strived to address the many challenges facing Africa, including poverty, hunger, disease, a lack of fresh water, illiteracy, and ethnic conflict.
The president said that the ROC and its African allies have maintained friendly relationships over the past 40 to 50 years, adding that he is particularly pleased to see the results of the aid the ROC has provided to its African friends over the past several decades. The president noted that the ROC began assistance projects to Africa in the 1960s, starting with cooperation in the area of agricultural technology and then expanding to vocational training and medical cooperation. In addition to these projects, the president particularly introduced to the guests attending the evening's gathering a very special assistance project, namely the Light for Africa project that is being carried out in Burkina Faso. President Ma said that many schoolchildren in that nation have no choice but to do their homework under streetlamps at night due to insufficient power generation facilities there. The president commented that the Central Training Center in Taichung observed this situation when it went on a fact-finding tour of Burkina Faso. It decided to work with LED lighting companies to develop a solar-powered lamp that is light, portable, durable, and powerful. Each one-watt LED light can operate continuously for four and a half hours after a recharge that takes only 30 to 40 minutes. This lamp, he said, will help to address the lack of light facing the children of Burkina Faso when they are attempting to study at night. President Ma said that production of the lamp has begun, and the price of each lamp is about US$10. The Burkina Faso government, he said, has ordered a first shipment of 1,000 lamps, and the lamps have been delivered. The president urged even more people to join the project to assist Africa's next generation.
At the same time, the president expressed special appreciation to the ROC's friends and allies in Africa for their support of the ROC in the international community and speaking on behalf of the ROC at many venues. This has helped to win increased breathing room for the ROC in the international community, and enabled it to participate in international activities. For instance, the ROC's Minister of Health recently attended the World Health Assembly in Geneva, which marks just the second time in the past 39 years that the ROC has attended the event, he said. President Ma commented that the ROC is pleased to share its development experience with its African friends and establish close bonds with countries there. He said he hopes to see even more cooperative initiatives in the future. Lastly, the president asked everyone to raise their glasses and toast the stable development of the AU and the solid friendship between the ROC and its African allies.