Excerpts from a memo from Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) to the staff of the NEPAD Agency on the outcomes of the 23rd NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) and the 15th African Union (AU) Summit held in Kampala, Uganda from 19-27 July 2010.

I am pleased to inform you that NEPAD had a very good outing at the 15th AU Summit. As the head of the NEPAD Agency delegation at the Kampala Summit, I was privileged to address the 20th Meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (African Ambassadors accredited to the AU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) and the 17th Executive Council (AU Foreign Ministers).

Both forums positively welcomed the progressive strides being made in the NEPAD Agency transition and programmatic outlook. I had the opportunity to brief the delegates at these forums on the activity report of the NEPAD Agency for February to June 2010, stressing that the NEPAD Agency had worked closely with the African Union Commission in its attempts to adopt the AU rules and regulations on key issues such as finance and human resources.

I also briefed the delegates on the strategic direction of the NEPAD Agency which is oriented towards the thematic areas of Agriculture and Food Security; Climate Change and Natural Resource Management; Regional Integration and Infrastructure; Human Development, Economic and Corporate Governance; as well as the crosscutting issues of Gender and Capacity Development. These thematic areas are linked to the sector priorities in the 2001 NEPAD framework.

Again, I must stress that the African leaders in attendance at the 23rd HSGOC and also at the 15th AU Assembly welcomed the positive direction that we are taking with NEPAD. This is the first time in over 4 years (and also since the establishment of the NEPAD Agency) that NEPAD was given this singular honour.

Consequently, the 15th AU Assembly agreed on a number of specific important steps and decisions based on the 23rd HSGOC Summit recommendations.

Highlights include:

1. The re-affirmation of the mandate and status of NPCA as the technical body of the African Union based on the 14th AU Assembly Decision;
2. Welcoming and endorsement of the NEPAD Agency Strategic Direction: 2010-2013, including the thematic priorities, operating model and organizational design. The Assembly also re-emphasised the overriding need for the NEPAD Agency to continue implementing all the sector-priorities identified in the 2001 NEPAD framework;
3. Recognition and renewed drive towards promoting Africa’s regional infrastructure by the HSGOC which agreed to setup a High Level Sub-Committee on Infrastructure comprising South Africa (as Chair), and Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal as members;
4. Emphasis on re-focusing the work of the NEPAD Agency towards programmatic delivery given the logical conclusion of NEPAD integration into the African Union;
5. Approval of name change of the ‘NEPAD e- Africa Commission’ to the ‘NEPAD e-Africa Programme’ to drive the NEPAD Agency ICT agenda;
6. An appeal to the NEPAD Agency to get in volved in AU-driven activities arising from the continent’s strategic partnerships and; 7. The need to popularize NEPAD principles and implementation activities across all key audiences – particularly within Africa.

As invited guests, ex-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown addressed the NEPAD HSGOC on ‘Economic Partnerships and Africa’, while the representative of Canada’s Prime Minister shared G8 Presidency views on the G8/G20 Summits’ outcomes held in Muskoka and Toronto last June.

Again, whilst there is clear recognition – from the African leaders, civil society, the media, academia and the development partner community - that we are heading in the right direction with regard to the strategic direction and transition of the NEPAD Agency it is also clear that moving ahead we need to direct our energy towards the delivery and the implementation of key projects and programmes.