 The first times I went to Africa, I was accompanying my father on official trips, on vacations, on moments where he shared with me his deep love and respect for people in the African continent. I learned as a young boy the extraordinary warmth, the vibrant opportunities, and the incredible depth of Africa as a continent and as an amazing place for the future. Years later, I would backpack through Africa on my own with some friends, and that was a trip that really allowed me to take time to meet people, to talk with young people my age, with village elders, with a range of voices that helped me truly understand the challenges, but also the passion for building a better future that I met from one end of the continent to the other. And more recently, as Prime Minister on my second trip to Africa, I was able to really see just how deeply your continent is transforming itself. The growth, the change, the opportunities, the potential is tremendous, but also the success is not just to look towards the future, but to look right now at what's happening now, the entrepreneurial, the investments, the partnerships that we can build. This is what is so exciting to me about deepening Canada's partnership with African countries. As you know, as I said, two weeks ago, Minister Houssen, Hing, Champagne and I went to Ethiopia and Senegal. It was not only the occasion to tighten the links that unite us, but also to explore the new future of collaboration with our partners. Senegal is a major economic pole on the continent. Ethiopia is the strongest economic growth in Africa, and the population of African countries is young and connected. For Canadian entrepreneurs and investors, it represents an opportunity abroad. And I have no doubt that African countries will always assume a greater place in the economy of tomorrow, partly because of the reasons I just mentioned. I was especially glad that Minister Hing and a business delegation from Canada could join us in Ethiopia to expand their network and explore new opportunities. There's a lot more common ground between our two countries than some may assume, and it's our interest to build on it. That's one thing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, President Salih Wurzode, and I discussed during our long meetings. Fighting climate change, growing our economy in a way that benefits everyone, managing our resources more responsibly, creating good jobs for people, advancing gender equality, we are focused on so many of the same things. And the same is true of President Salih of Senegal, as well as the many African leaders I met on the margins of the African Union Summit and the Munich Security Conference. I spoke with a number of our partners, including leaders of Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Egypt, Madagascar, Mauritius, Cabo Verde, Somalia, Botswana, and Burkina Faso. And in all our conversations, one thing was clear. We have everything to gain by working together on the priorities we share. Canadians, like people across the African continent, want to see real progress on the issues that matter most to them. And to deliver on that mandate, we have to be ready to work with old friends and new partners who are ready to get things done. So that's exactly what we did during our visit. We strengthened existing partnerships and explored new ones. The people in this room know just how much untapped potential there is between Canada and its African partners. Our government knows it, too. That's why, since we first formed government, we've made it a priority to grow our relationship on the continent. Canada has long been a development partner for Africa, but we're also thinking beyond that. Ethiopia, Senegal, countries across the continent, they are our business partners as well. And that's the kind of relationship ministers Hussain Ng and Champagne and I sought to foster during our visit. I'd like to finish by thanking my colleagues for all their work, not only during this trip, but since the beginning of our mandate to build even more of our connections with African countries. The conversations I had during my visit, whether with other leaders or local entrepreneurs, have reaffirmed the need for me to multiply bridges with Africa. We recognize that, yes, Canada has a long history of investment in development, in humanitarian aid, but the future isn't there. The future is in entrepreneurship, it's in the real partnerships with African entrepreneurs and investors. It's the Canadians who will offer our knowledge, but also Africans who will offer your knowledge to Canadian entrepreneurs. It's partnerships in two ways that it takes, and I'm so optimistic because when we look at the planet and the huge challenges we face together, I see so many solutions in vision, in energy, in potential, but also in the determination of Africans to show that the future belongs to them, and that Canada will be there with you to ensure that it becomes real. That's all I want to say. Thank you very much for being here tonight.