The NEPAD Agency and partner development institutions have endorsed the Africa Development Bank (AfDB’s) Africa50 Fund as the continent’s vehicle to facilitate large-scale mobilisation of resources and to unlock international private financing for infrastructure.

The endorsement was reached at a meeting hosted by the AfDB in Tunis on July 19. NEPAD was represented by Professor Tandeka Nkiwane, adviser to the CEO on Inter-Institutional Affairs, and Mr Symerre Grey-Johnson, Technical advisor to the NEPAD Agency on infrastructure.

The high level meeting was attended by AUC Chairperson Dr Nkosazanan Dlamini Zuma, Dr. Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), President of the AfDB, Dr Donald Kaberuka, representatives from Regional Economic Communities (RECs), regional Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) and the NEPAD Agency.

Professor Nkiwane expressed the NEPAD Agency’s appreciation for the Fund initiative. She also informed the meeting about the upcoming Dakar Financing Conference scheduled for November 2013, and stressed the necessity for complementary African initiatives to consistently coordinate with one another.

The Africa50 Fund will be innovative in its design and structure, leveraging infrastructure financing resources from African central bank reserves, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, the African Diaspora, and high net worth individuals on the continent.

AfDB President Donald Kaberuka underscored the critical role of infrastructure in Africa’s development.  “The one thing which can really slow down the recent performance in its tracks is infrastructure. No country in the world has been able to maintain 7% GPD growth and above unless the infrastructure bottleneck is overcome,” he said.

A joint communique at the end of the meeting stated, among other key points that:

The AUC will provide leadership on the regional and international advocacy, with strong engagement of African Heads of State and Government. The NEPAD Agency will maintain the momentum including around the Africa 50 Fund, through the November 2013 Financing for Development Conference in Dakar while the Economic Commission for Africa will contribute in enhancing the capacity of member states and regional economic communities to undertake studies for transformational projects, as well as monitor and evaluate their implementation.

On their part, the regional economic communities will collaborate on necessary financial, policy and regulatory actions to enable the development of the regional transformational projects. The African Development Bank as the premier development financial institution for Africa, using all its expertise, to create the structure of the Africa 50 Fund, while the regional development financial institutions will serve as relays for the Fund at sub-regional level, and the mobilization of additional resources.