Dec 28, 2015 | News

NEPAD Agency’s participation in the Africa Development Forum (ADF)

The NEPAD Agency took part in the Africa Development Forum (ADF) organised on the margins of the first US-Africa Summit in Washington D.C. The ADF is a four-week set of discussions, panels, talks and related events taking place in support of the Summit and co-sponsored by Africare, the Meridian Institute, the NEPAD Agency, the Society for International Development, USAID Alumni Association (UAA) and the Woodrow Wilson Center. The objective is to stimulate thought about African development to the current situation and prospect.

Briefing to the Group of African Ambassadors

During this mission, the CEO took the opportunity to brief the Group of African Ambassadors to the US on NEPAD implementation, with specific emphasis on the centrality of regional integration and the role of partnerships. The interactive session that followed further provided the opportunity for the CEO to discuss with the Ambassadors the issues of managing Africa’s natural and environmental resources, illicit financial flows, the institutional dimension of NEPAD’s integration into the AU architecture and how the Agency’s programmes tackle these issues. 

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Meeting with UN Foundation

A meeting took place with Reid Detchon, the UN Foundation (UNF) Vice President for Energy and Climate, Judy Siegel, the Energy and Security Group President, and other high level energy practitioners at UNF, to explore possible areas for cooperation on Energy in Africa, including through the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) High Impact Opportunity (HIO) on Sustainable Bio Energy soon to be launched.

Pressing issues related to the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit were first brought up such as the President Obama’s initiative “Power Africa”, youth employment, and the energy-security as well as the energy-health nexus in relation with the Ebola outbreak. Discussion of global frameworks for international cooperation highlighted the importance of spurring multi-sectorality in the general thinking, particularly at institutional levels, and capacity development for implementation and project preparation. Accent was also put on the critical significance of energy amongst the SDGs and keeping the momentum for SE4ALL as their implementing framework. Lastly, the meeting also discussed with great interest the interrelation between agriculture and energy, which is a core element for developing a productive capacity in rural areas. The SE4ALL HIO on Sustainable Bio Energy was presented as a comprehensive channel to engage both the private sector and smallholder farmers, while being committed to sustainability, with clear synergies with NEPAD given the key role played by NEPAD in the SE4ALL Africa Hub and its well established flagship programme in agriculture, CAADP.

 

To conclude, decision was made to explore further the Bio Energy sector and join efforts through the HIO to raise awareness on the one hand and spread best practices on the other. The CEO committed to place the issue of Bio Energy high on the agenda of NEPAD’s governing structures in 2015. 

Meeting with World Bank

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The CEO held a meeting with Makhtar Diop, Vice President of the World Bank for the Africa Region and Juergen Voegele, Senior Director of the Global Practice on Agriculture, as well as other high officials of the World Bank.

On the issue of agriculture, the discussion focused on implementing the outcomes of the recently concluded AU Summit of Malabo, as well as the future of the Multi-donor Trust Fund. The meeting also addressed the issue of infrastructure and more specifically the implementation of the Dakar Agenda for Action. 

Engagement at the Meridian Institute

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The African Development Forum event on Prospecting Sustainability, Equity and Resilience: Africa's Challenges and Opportunities was co-organized by NPCA and the Meridian Institute. The event was attended with over 50 participants from US Government agencies and think tanks. The Key note presentation made by Estherine Fotabong set the tone for the panel discussions on resource rights and environmental governance and Gender equity in Africa.

The participants shared experiences of the evolving African perspectives and outlook on issues in the natural resource sectors with respect to policy/ reforms, laws, changes in attitudes, emerging grassroots movements and on some of the challenges, emerging opportunities and future priorities including the role of the international development community.

Emerging from the discussion the issues of land and women empowerment and participation were considered as critical for Sustainability and Resilience in a content of inter-societal and inter-generational equity. Like all the other ADF events, the aim was to expose the Washington DC Development community who are also practitioners on the ground and have significant influence on USA Government policy, Africa’s development priorities. The Event was also the first time that these organizations sate together in a room and shared their experience and learn of each other’s work in the African.

Ahead of the event the CEO met with Ms. Barbara Stinson, Senior Partner and co-founder of the Meridian Institute, for a courtesy call meeting.

Panel on Youth Employment at the Society for International Development – Washington chapter

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The CEO was key panellist in a seminar on “Demography and Development: Youth and the Future for Africa’s Development”. Following the presentation by Deon Filmer, Lead Economist at the World Bank and co-author of the 2014 World Bank report on Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, the CEO emphasised that, as demonstrated through the case of Tunisia, youth employment is a political issue rather than being a purely economic issue and it is critical for our governance systems to integrate the youth in the design and formulation of policies. The CEO also stressed the urgent need for rural transformation to occur and called for affirmative action towards women farmers.

Other panellists included Magatte Wade, Founder and former CEO, Agence d’Execution des Travaux d’Interet Public (AGETIP), SENEGAL and David Baxter, Director, Institute for Public Private Partnerships (IP3) and Africa Regional Representative (SOUTH AFRICA) for WHO Program on Global Change and Social Transformation. Pape Samb, President and CEO of Exeleadmen and Chairman of the Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN) animated the interactive session with the audience following the panel discussion.

 

Keynote speech Development Dialogue on “Development in Africa – whose agenda?” (USAID Alumni Association (UAA) and DACOR)

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The CEO provided the keynote speech at a luncheon event organised by the UAA and DACOR, the association of US foreign affairs professionals and discussed the issue of whose agenda is driving the current development process in Africa. After defining the concept of development in Africa and showing how Africa has gradually reclaimed ownership of its development process, the CEO emphasised that, to sustain the positive results achieved, it is essential to ensure that growth goes hand-in-hand with transformation and job creation. This will mean that we are able to benefit from the potential of the demographic dividend at the social level, that we successfully achieve beneficiation of our raw materials and industrialisation at the economic level, and that we create a more open space for public policy-making at the governance level. Our overall success in tapping into these levers of transformation will require the active support of our partners, which will be essential in helping us achieve Africa’s vision of strong regional institutions, empowered local communities and a facilitating State. 

Visit to the National Institutes of Health

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Together with President Sassou Nguesso of Republic of Congo and President Kikwete of Tanzania, the NEPAD Agency delegation took part in a visit organised by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to discuss the achievements reached through partnerships between African scientists and NIH, meet NIH senior leadership team, and visit the Clinical Centre, the largest research hospital in the world.

During the meeting, the CEO had the opportunity to highlight the key areas of the NEPAD Agency’s work on health, with particular focus on the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa and NEPAD’s coordinating efforts for research through networks of regional centres of excellence. The CEO also touched upon the NEPAD African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization Programme (AMRH) from the angle of research and capacity.