African Heads of State and Government who oversee the work and impact of the NEPAD Agency have commended the important role the Agency plays in transforming the continent. The NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) is a grouping of 20 African leaders who meet twice a year on the margins of the African Union Summit to take stock of the implementation of the NEPAD Agency. 

The 32nd HSGOC Summit in Ethiopia’s Capital Addis Ababa yesterday made important decisions. They endorsed the Implementation Strategy for the Dakar Agenda for Action on Financing Africa’s Infrastructure and the Service Delivery Mechanism (SDM) of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), in support of early stage Infrastructure Project Preparation.

President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairperson of the HSGCO Macky Sall commended the NEPAD Agency for accelerating the implementation of concrete transformative regional infrastructure projects. ”The NEPAD Agency is helping to overcome our weakness in project preparation and making selected regional infrastructure projects bankable,” President Sall said. 

President of Senegal and HSGOC Chairperson Macky Sall (right)

He spoke on the outcomes of the Dakar Financing Summit (DFS) which was the first ever financing Summit targeting 16 trans-boundary and regional infrastructure projects. He said that the Summit, which his Government hosted in June 2014, was a major moment for the mobilisation of leaders, the private and public sector. President Sall commended the sincere commitment made by all involved in seeing the Dakar Agenda for Action becoming a success. It outlines concrete actions towards financing for Africa’s Infrastructure development. He reminded all present that African leaders must remain engaged in PIDA as the programme has reached its second phase of implementation.

President of South Africa Jacob Zuma (left) and President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe (right)

The HSGOC was attended by the Presidents and Heads of Government of Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as well as foreign ministers, diplomats and heads of development partner Agencies.

“The NEPAD Agency has also provided technical support to the Presidential Infrastructure Championship Initiative under the continued strategic guidance of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa,” NEPAD Agency CEO Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki noted in his 2014 NEPAD Agency progress report.

Dr Mayaki made reference to various NEPAD programmes and projects including the Agriculture, Climate Change Framework Initiative, which is targeting at least 25 million small scale farmers, especially women, to practise climate smart agriculture by 2025. He highlighted the NEPAD Climate Change Fund as an important success story in strengthening the resilience and adaptation of countries and Regional Economic Communities to climate change.

Dr Mayaki spoke on the interventions taken by the Agency in empowering African women, in line with the AU Summit’s theme “Year of Women Empowerment towards the Development of Africa’s Agenda 2063”. Giving an example of the NEPAD/Spanish, Dr Mayaki noted that “the Agency has empowered 21 856 vulnerable women through financial assistance, agriculture education and training, micro credit entrepreneurship and skills development in the agribusiness value chain.”

The CEO recalled 2014 as an important year for Africa’s partnerships in the context of the changing global order and advancing meaningful partnership support for the continent’s development priorities, leading to the approval of the Africa Global Partnership Platform by the Malabo AU Assembly last June.

Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (above) emphasised on the need for NEPAD programmes and priorities to be aligned to Agenda 2063. She noted that the adoption of Africa’s new transformation agenda will be an important moment for Africa to look back and develop an implementable roadmap for the next 50 years.  It will be of paramount importance that the AUC, NEPAD Agency and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) work hand in hand to make Agenda 2063 a success, Dr Dlamini Zuma emphasised.

The opening ceremony was followed by closed sessions in which the Orientation Committee held robust discussion on the implementation of PIDA, mobilising financial resources for Africa’s infrastructure development and tackling policy challenges to promote an enabling regulatory environment for infrastructure investments. Also discussed was how to be better strengthen the institutional capacity of RECs as well as Africa’s global partnerships, especially with regard to UN System-wide Support to NEPAD.

The HGSOC lauded the achievements made in PICI presented by President Zuma who is the Chair of the presidential Initiative. He gave an update on some of the PICI projects ranging from the North-South Road and Rail Corridor, the missing links of the Trans-Saharan Highway and the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, which are being championed by African Heads of State to fast-track their implementation.

Also endorsed was the implementation of the post-Malabo Declaration on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) to ensure an African-owned and led agricultural transformation, especially relating to African Women and Climate Smart Agriculture.

The HSGOC meeting was followed by a press briefing with 30 local and international media houses attending.

(l-r) Dr Mayaki with AUC Director of Information and Communication El Mejri Ep Scheikh Habib and Rwanda Minister Jean-Paul Kimonyo

Journalists asked questions on the issue of financing of development programmes, progress made in infrastructure projects carried out in Rwanda as well as Africa’s global partnership engagements. 

Earlier that day, the organising team including (l-r) Jacinta Ndegwa, Pamla Gopaul and Victoria Afam worked tirelessly to ensure that the event will be a success.

The 24th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly will officially open today at 8:00 CAT, to consider the adoption of Agenda 2063. It is also expected that African leaders will discuss peace and conflict in Africa, and efforts to stem the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.