It has been a great opportunity, a unique privilege and distinct honour to serve the African Union (AU) as the Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD entity.

Building capable, effective and resilient pan-African institutions to anchor and deliver on the continent’s development agenda is a significant component of the African Union system. The birth of NEPAD in 2001 was the first concrete manifestation of the will of African States to regain leadership on the continent’s development issues. NEPAD was the first international institution to take a truly African perspective and represented a paradigm shift in development thinking and practice. This rejuvenation of Pan-Africanism was coupled with a pragmatic approach to Africans looking inwards for home-grown solutions and championing regional integration.

To drive this new and holistic development agenda inspired by the core principles of African ownership and leadership, AU Member States and organs as well as the Regional Economic Communities were the frontline actors. They were supported by development partners to ensure that the continent’s marginalisation came to an end and for Africa to claim its rightful place in the global scene. This contributed to promoting a more diversified, smarter and intelligent partnership-base for the AU system.

One of the greatest achievements of NEPAD is that it has put Africa on the global agenda and has galvanised international support for the continent’s development agenda. An impressive accomplishment of NEPAD has been the strengthening of partnerships with the rest of the world. For example, NEPAD engaged the G20, G8, OECD, FOCAC, TICAD and the UN system on a new development cooperation and aid architecture and by strengthening a common African Voice. This played a catalytic role and served as the pacesetter in promoting a new notion and practice of African partnerships for development, inspired by the key principles and shared values of equity, mutual respect, accountability and responsiveness. The NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee played a critical role in championing and accelerating Africa’s development agenda by providing political leadership and strategic guidance.

The implementation of NEPAD over a period of two decades resulted in concrete positive development results in several areas. NEPAD spearheaded the design, development and implementation of continental development frameworks at regional and national levels, including the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Plan and Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa with significant impact on socio-economic growth and regional integration.

The transformation of NEPAD into the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) in 2019 was a critical milestone and reaffirmation by African countries to accelerate regional integration and strengthen impact and operational efficiency of the African Union.

As we mark two decades of NEPAD, it is clear to me that the vision and values of NEPAD remain as relevant today and as they were twenty years ago. The journey of NEPAD is an embodiment of the continent’s development pathway.

I am proud and inspired by the way AUDA-NEPAD has risen to the COVID-19 pandemic challenge with agility, resilience and commitment. We have made continuous improvements as a fully-fledged development agency and, most importantly, for the African men and women we serve. 2021 was a remarkable year. We expanded our footprint in all AU Member States and moved with speed and scale to respond to the COVID-19 health crisis quickly and efficiently with programmes and resources redirected to deal with the emergency to save lives. We also dealt with the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 regionally, nationally and on a community level to save livelihoods. Our signature solutions are aimed at responding to the effects of the pandemic and focused on three priority areas, namely Health, Food as well as Economic Growth and Jobs.

As my tenure as CEO of AUDA-NEPAD is coming to an end, I am optimistic that the future of Africa is surely promising. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all success in your endeavours. Remember that ‘The Africa We Want’ to see relies heavily on our joint efforts to move forward our common development agenda.