Africa-Press – Angola. Angola, during its presidency of the African Union, plans to hold a summit on financing infrastructure on the African continent, with a view to industrial development, the country’s Foreign Minister Téte António said Wednesday in Addis Ababa.
The diplomat disclosed the information after separate meetings with the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Bankole Adeoye, and the director general of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Nardos Bekele-Thomas.
Angola chose to focus its presidency on the theme of “the importance of investment in infrastructure as a factor in Africa’s development”.
According to the Angolan top diplomat, the Angolan presidency of the African Union is very interested in the issue of infrastructure, especially its financing, and so the organization of the summit will be the starting point to begin to deal more carefully with this issue, without which there can be no talk of economic integration, movement of goods and services, industrial development or diversification of the economies of member states.
Therefore, this agency, taking into account its mandate within the African Union, will work with us so that we can achieve this objective,” said Téte António.
Nardos Bekele-Thomas, the director general of NEPAD, on her turn, expressed willingness to work with Angola to benefit from its experience in infrastructure development.
We will have a full mission in Angola. The African Union Development Agency will be there with all its technical capacities to discuss with the different ministries and see what we can get from Angola, but also what we can offer to Angola,’ she said.
The director said that the summit, at which NEPAD will present a roadmap for the industrialization of Africa, will be an opportunity for Angolan technicians and officials from the institution to share experiences, but most importantly, the country will present ways to finance infrastructure in 2025.
The NEPAD official emphasized that it will also be an opportunity to “go deeper” and have this conversation about the drivers of Africa’s socio-economic transformation and how Angola can be part of this process, “not only be part of it, but also lead the transformation processes.
About NEPAD
NEPAD is an African Union (AU) initiative launched in 2001 to promote sustainable development, good governance and economic integration on the African continent.
Created by African leaders as a strategy for poverty reduction and economic growth, NEPAD focuses on key areas such as infrastructure, agriculture, education, health, science and technology.
One of its main goals is to promote sustainable development.
The initiative promotes projects and policies aimed at ensuring sustainable economic growth and improving the quality of life of Africans.
NEPAD also seeks to consolidate good governance and democracy on the continent by promoting good governance practices and strengthening peace and security, essential conditions for an environment conducive to progress.
Another key aspect of NEPAD is to strengthen regional integration and intra-African trade. The initiative encourages cooperation between countries and works to remove trade barriers, making the continent more competitive on a global scale.
To achieve these goals, NEPAD is investing heavily in infrastructure development in the areas of transportation, energy, telecommunications and water supply.
These investments are helping to modernize African economies and improve connectivity between countries.
NEPAD attaches great importance to the promotion of education and innovation.
By promoting education and scientific research, the initiative aims to reduce the continent’s technological dependence and encourage the creation of African solutions to local and global challenges.
In 2018, NEPAD was restructured and officially renamed the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), giving it an even more strategic role in the implementation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, a long-term plan for the continent’s socio-economic transformation.
AUDA-NEPAD leads projects ranging from agricultural development and industrialization to youth empowerment and digitalization, aligning African initiatives with global trends in innovation and sustainability.
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