Africa Day Celebration 2010 “Time for ‘Bold Action’ for

Continent’s Special Needs”

May 25, 2010 – The annual observance of Africa Day offers an opportunity to reflect on
Africa’s prospects and its plight. On this Africa Day, I would like to reaffirm the support of the
EurOrient Financial Group for the work of the African Union and for the efforts of individual
African men, women and children to build better lives in larger freedom.

Africa Day is an annual commemoration of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity
(“OAU”) on May 25, 1963. On that day 32 independent African states signed the founding charter
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 2002, the Organization of African Unity became the African Union.
Africa Day is celebrated around the world.

On the occasion of the commemoration of Africa Day, today 25 May, 2010 we recall that on the 25
May, 1963, the leaders of the then independent Africa, made history and gave significant impetus to
the continent's collective but then incomplete struggle for independence, by establishing the
Organization of the African Unity. Nearly, four decades followed, in which African states stood
united in the framework of the Organization of African Unity, while making efforts to give depth
and meaning to their political independence and striving for the socio-economic development of
their peoples. Those efforts yielded positive results, culminating in the establishment of the African
Union (“AU”).

The transformation of the Organization of African Unity into the African Union was inspired by the
desire to accelerate the process of integration and harness it for the purposes of socio-economic
development on the continent. The Organization of African Unity focused first on the agenda of
decolonization and subsequently, on the resolution of the myriad of political conflicts that afflicted
the continent. Yet the various conflicts had their roots in the crisis of economic development and
the rising phenomenon of social inequality, exclusion and bad governance. The new African Union
takes cognizance of this linkage and is designed to establish a meaningful balance between the
demands of political stability and rapid socio-economic development.

In a statement to the African Group, Mr. Ron Nechemia the Chairman of the Board of Governors
of the EurOrient Financial Group and the founding father of private sector developing banking
commemorate the Day, the Chairman praised the African Union and other home-grown initiatives
among a range of positive trends underway.
Working Together for Integration and Development

Over the last decade we have witnessed changes of truly global proportions. We have seen an
exponential increase in trade, transport and communications, which bind together every corner of
our planet, like never before.

The world has grown. Fifty years ago, the community of nations consisted of 66 sovereign States.
Today, there are no less than 194. Then, the world population numbered two-and-a-half billion.
Today, it has more than doubled. There has been a remarkable growth in industrial and agricultural
output and trade, with the world economy increasing six fold and world trade several times more.
The world has grown richer and, overall, per capita income has increased. So also, however, have
inequalities, both within and between nations, and today almost one fourth of the world's
population is living in absolute poverty. 1.2 billion People live on less than $1 dollar a day!

Hunger, disease, and less education describe a person in poverty. One third of deaths - some 18
million people a year or 50,000 per day - are due to poverty-related causes: in total 270 million
people, most of them women and children, have died as a result of poverty since 1990. Those living
in poverty suffer disproportionately from hunger or even starvation and disease. Those living in
poverty suffer lower life expectancy.

Every year nearly 11 million children living in poverty die before their fifth birthday. 1.02 billion
people are going to bed hungry every night. Poverty increases the risk of homelessness. There are
over 100 million street children worldwide.

Ignoring the needs of the developing world is grossly unfair and short-sighted. As revenues
plummet, governments will struggle to maintain basic services like healthcare and education. The
risk of social unrest and political instability is growing. If action is not taken, the consequences will
be disastrous for those affected and more costly in the long term.

African Hot Spots

The African Union continues to strengthen its institutions for conflict prevention, resolution and
management. The process of democratic consolidation continues to gain impetus, with many
countries achieving successful transfers of power through open electoral processes. Implementation
of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (“NPAD”) is gathering pace, with progress in
several programmes, including the African Peer Review Mechanism to which 25 countries have
voluntarily subscribed, through policy reforms and through mobilizing domestic resources.

Yet much of Africa, especially in South of the Sahara, continues to suffer the tragic effects of violent
conflict, extreme poverty and disease. In Darfur, attacks and displacements have continued, and at
least 2.6 million people are in urgent need of assistance. In too many countries, poverty and the huge
burden of disease, in particular the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, are inflicting widespread
suffering and reversing hard-won development gains, leaving Africa behind the rest of the
developing world in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Securing Africa’s future:

“Between one in twenty and one in ten Africans aged 15-49 is HIV-positive, and more than 20
million Africans have already died as a result of the epidemic”, pointing out Mr. Nechemia and
added “There is, however, not one, single HIV epidemic in Africa. Across the continent HIV shows
a great geographical variance. Countries in southern Africa form the epicenter of the global
pandemic. South Africa counts more than one thousand new infections a day, the highest in the
world, while in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe at least one in five adults
carries HIV. These are “hyperendemic” countries”

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region in the global AIDS epidemic. More than two-
thirds (68%) of all people infected with HIV live in this region and more than three quarters (77%)
of all AIDS deaths in 2007 occurred there. It is estimated that 1.7 million [upper and lower ranges:
1.5 million-2.0 million] people were newly infected with HIV in 2007, bringing to 22.5 million [20.9
million-24.3 million] the total number of people living with the virus. This represents 6.1% of the
adult population. Unlike other regions, the majority of people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are
women, accounting for 61% of those living with HIV and AIDS.

“Until more of our efforts are focused on preventing crises from arising, we will always be one step
Behind, stressed Mr. Nechemia and he added “while we can rebuild houses, roads, hospitals and
schools, we can never give back life where it has been taken away. For this reason, it is
imperative that the international community invests more in prevention, risk reduction and
adaptation.”

Lack of funds threatens children’s health in Central African Republic

A lack of funds and difficult access for aid workers are threatening the health of millions of people
in conflict-plagued areas of the Central African Republic, including hundreds of thousands of
children. If funding needs are not addressed, at least 300,000 children under five and 100,000
pregnant women will not be able to access integrated health and nutrition packages and 150,000
children under five and 500,000 households will remain unprotected against malaria.

A further 274,000 children in rural areas will continue to have poor access to safe drinking water,
50,000 adolescents living with HIV/AIDS and 500,000 youths at risk will not receive targeted
behavior change advice on prevention, care and treatment, 100,000 orphans will not be able to
access protection services and 1,000 children associated with various armed groups will not benefit
from demobilization and reintegration programmes.

Up to 1 million people have been affected by conflict between Government forces and rebels and a
spill-over of violence from neighboring countries, mostly in northern areas bordering Sudan and
Chad. These include 190,000 internally displaced persons (“IDPs”), 25,000 refugees from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) and 5,000 refugees from Sudan.

Reduction in the proportion of underweight

Reducing poverty continued to represent an urgent challenge for Africa in 2008, as it did in 2007.
Up until 2008, Africa was making steady progress in reducing the proportion of people suffering
from hunger. However, that progress came under threat from the rapid escalation in food prices that
began in early 2008, which undermined food security in the region. The problem of food insecurity
is accentuated by the global economic and financial crisis, which is resulting in a deceleration of
regional growth, putting pressure on average prices, the price of staples, imports, and agricultural
inputs. Recent conflicts in the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Sudan, and Zimbabwe, are further undermining efforts to combat hunger and poverty.

On the reduction in the proportion of underweight children under the age of five in 25 African
countries for which data are available 25, 18 countries reported improvements on this target. Angola
reported the biggest improvement (9.5 percent), followed by Tanzania (8.6 percent), Mali (8.1
percent), and Nigeria (7.9 percent).Seven countries reported a deterioration in the proportion of
children under-five who are underweight. Except for Zambia and Morocco, all of these are countries
that have been under significant political and military stress.

In sum, the indications are that Africa is unlikely to reduce the number of children under five years
of age who are underweight by 2015. Progress on this target may be severely constrained by the
dramatic increases in food prices that began in late 2007. The current economic crisis, with the
resultant inflationary pressures, is also undermining efforts to achieve this target.

Focus on “Peace and Security in Africa”.

Africa today is afflicted by fewer serious armed conflicts than it was just six years ago. When he
issued his first major report on the causes of conflict in Africa in 1998, there were 14 countries in
the midst of war and another 11 were suffering from severe political turbulence. Today, less than
half-dozen African countries are suffering from serious domestic armed conflicts and very few other
countries are facing deep political crises.

The United Nations and the rest of the international community have been "responding more
readily" to armed conflicts in Africa, but much credit for the improvement also rests with Africa.
The African Union, various sub-regional organizations and a number of governments have become
more active in mobilizing military forces for peacekeeping missions or in defusing political crises
before they escalate into large-scale violence, he reports

“In the area of security and the protection of civilians some progress has been made, but pockets of
instability remain, as deep sense of mistrust remains in same part of the African continent and in
some cases the parties are not actively engaging in the peace process between the government and
various rebel groups,” said Mr. Nechemia.

Situations like those in Darfur, northern Uganda, Somalia, and DRC, where civilians continue to
suffer the effects of war, present stark evidence that the immediate and long-term human costs of
failing to prevent armed violence – and delaying our response to it – are immense.

Despite some progress in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, violent clashes between Government and
rebel forces persist, civilians are still dying or being displaced and humanitarian workers are still
coming under attack.

Mr. Nechemia highlighted the importance of creating an environment for the voluntary return of
internally displaced persons and refugees to their homes. “The retention of an estimated 2.3 million
inhabitants in intern development program camps in Darfur constitutes a time-bomb.”

Somalia remains engulfed by one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with millions of people
either internally displaced or living as refugees in neighboring countries as Government forces fight
Islamist rebels. Tensions are also high in the ongoing border dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea.

Mr. Nechemia positioned out that the endorsement of the “Responsibility to Protect” by the World
Summit must now be operationalized through timely international action to prevent genocide, war
crimes and crimes against humanity, both through increasing the capacity of states themselves to
respond and through more timely international action.

Here then lie the challenges for Africa on the eve of the 21st century. To create a more secure
planet where might does not necessarily mean right, where humanity's common future is built on co-
operation, not confrontation and imposition. To bring about a more just planet, where the material
conditions of humanity are improved and no individual suffers from want; where the social fabric of
States is strengthened and the world's finite resources are managed wisely to the benefit of all. And
to build a more free world based on equality and full respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms.

An Agenda for Peace

Development is an indispensable foundation for our efforts to prevent the outbrack of violent and
conflict. Without it, States will lack the capacity to exercise their sovereignty responsibly, to break
free from endemic patterns of conflict, and to build sustainable peace. Meeting the Millennium
Development Goals is thus an integral component of the mission of the EurOrient Financial
Group.

Among those challenges of preventing both new and old dangers there is no higher goal than
preventing armed conflict. This calling is even more pressing today than at any time in history,
because of the cross cutting issues and the interconnected nature of today’s threats. Around the
world, a triad of poverty and disparity, disease and war creates a cycle of death. Civil violence,
human rights abuses and poverty make weak States vulnerable to transnational organized crime,
terrorism and illicit trafficking in human beings, drugs and weapons. That is why sustained
international cooperation to address all of today’s threats is an imperative.

EurOrient Financial Group urge the Security Council to continue to integrate cross-cutting themes
into its work – especially for key drivers of conflict such as small arms proliferation, exploitation of
natural resources, gender equality concerns, the spread of HIV/AIDS, human rights violations and
challenges to civilian protection.

Mr. Nechemia stressed: "We cannot close our eyes to the massive scale of human rights violations
and consequent human suffering in African continent in the past and present. We must intensify are
collective and individual and efforts to find a definitive solution to these problems.” And he
continued “I am convinced that exposing and holding the perpetrators, including their accomplices,
accountable, as well as restoring the dignity of victims through acknowledgement and
commemoration of their suffering, would guide societies in the prevention of future violations.”

Africa is poised to capitalize on its potential. On this Africa Day, let us rededicate ourselves to
fruitful partnerships in pursuit of peace and sustainable progress for all the continent's people.

About EurOrient

EurOrient Financial Group is a private sector global development finance institution accredited by
the United Nations General Assembly on Financing for Development. The mission of the
EurOrient Financial Group is to support the economic and social development efforts of the less
developed countries as they, in particular, seek to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
(”MDGs”).

The EurOrient’s principal objective is to reducing poverty and promoting sustainable economic
growth. EurOrient invests in projects and programs that promote social development, build human
capacities, and address host government priorities for investments in physical infrastructure that
promote and enhance social development. These projects include roads, transportation and
communication systems, water, sanitation and other types of investments with social development
outcomes such as improved quality of life and increased human knowledge and skills.

More detailed information can be found on the EurOrient’s website: http://www.eurorient.org/.

EURORIENT FINANCIAL GROUP EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT

Public Affairs Media Relations

Phone: 818-990-5080 Phone:818-206-5322
Fax: 818-990-5566 Fax: 818-990-5566
Email media.center@eurorient.org