Accelerating NEPAD implementation through domestic financing

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Midrand, South Africa 16 March, 22012- The NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, the technical arm of the African Union, will on March 28 organise a one-day colloquium and congress in Addis Ababa to brainstorm on the future of NEPAD and Africa’s development.

The event, whose theme is: “Africa’s decade of change: accelerating NEPAD implementation through domestic financing”, will be declared open by the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Chairperson of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee, Mr. Meles Zenawi, and the AU Commission Chairperson, Mr. Jean Ping. 

African Heads of State, ministers, diplomats and representatives of international organisations and development partners are expected to participate in the forum. Africans from the Diaspora, scholars, civil society activists, youths and women leaders have also been invited.

 The event, taking place at the new AU Conference Centre in the Ethiopian capital, will be graced by former African Heads of State including Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo and Ghana’s Jerry Rawlings.

Topics lined up for discussion include:

1. Contextualizing NEPAD within Continental and global geo-political order

- Is the 2001 NEPAD vision relevant for today and future development undertakings?

2. Improving Governance - Quality African Leadership and Ownership

- State building in Africa - Role of the Developmental State, Youth and Women

3. Mobilizing domestic resources to finance Africa’s development

- Moving Africa beyond Aid - Partnerships for Development Effectiveness

- Agriculture & Food Security and Infrastructure – Catalysts for regional integration

4. Natural resource governance and advancing sustainable development

- Innovation for Private Sector Investments, Inclusive Growth, Jobs & Wealth Creation

5. Africa by 2050

- A transformed Continent!

The event is being jointly organised by the AUC and the NEPAD Agency’s key partners. These include: the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation in the Netherlands (ACP-UE/CTA), the German International Cooperation (GIZ)

Journalists are invited to cover the NEPAD Congress and Colloquium on 28 March 2012.

For Further Information consult the following websites: www.au.int / www.nepad.org /

Interview requests should be addressed to Mr. Gilles Eric Foadey, OIC Communication, Tel +27 83 555 9696; email erickf@nepad.org , Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou, Directorate of Information and Communication, Tel. +251 911 3611 85, e-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org