The CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, Ms Nardos Bekele-Thomas paid a courtesy call on H.E. Macky Sall, President of Senegal and current Chair of the African Union, on 8 July 2022 in Dakar. This is the first visit of Ms Bekele-Thomas to Senegal since she took office as AUDA-NEPAD CEO in early May 2022.

During the meeting, the African Union Chair and the AUDA-NEPAD CEO agreed on some key priority areas to focus on in the short and medium term to help meet the goals of Agenda 2063. The priority areas include the development of infrastructure, creating a conducive environment for youth employment, and developing financing mechanisms for the private sector and in particular young entrepreneurs. 

H.E Macky Sall held elaborate discussions with Ms Bekele-Thomas on the progress made in executing Agenda 2063, including with respect to his role as one of the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative leaders. President Sall lauded the considerable efforts by AUDA-NEPAD which are devoted to the execution of Agenda 2063’s First Ten Year Implementation Plan (2013-2023) and welcomed the evaluation and harnessing of lessons learned for the design and development of the Second Ten Year Implementation Plan.

Ms Bekele-Thomas also met with the AUDA-NEPAD staff based in Dakar during her stay. She encouraged staff to pursue the good work they are doing to make sure AUDA-NEPAD fulfills its mandate and better serves the African countries and fulfills its obligations vis à vis various partners.

“Given the international context and the current priorities in Africa, it is necessary to reflect on the best ways of fine-tune AUDA-NEPAD priority areas to better address the needs of the continent,” Ms Bekele-Thomas remarked.