NEPAD CEO Dr Ibrahim Mayaki yesterday met Australia’s personal representative to the G20 or Group of Twenty, Dr Heather Smith to discuss strengthening cooperation between Africa and the Grouping. The G20 is a forum for governments and central bank governors of the world’s twenty major economies in the world.

The meeting held at the NEPAD offices discussed support Africa’s development priorities and strengthening synergies. Australia is the current chair of the G20and will host the leader’s Summit in Brisbane in mid-November. Dr Smith is responsible for preparing the agenda for the annual summit.

Dr Mayaki said that regional integration is key for Africa’s development, underscoring that most of its challenges do not have optimum national solutions, but should rather take a regional approach. He said that NEPAD is designed to boost the delivery of regional integration.

The NEPAD CEO said that Africa’s development agenda needs to be inclusive and that job creation for the youth and women must be at the core as they make up the largest proportion of the continent’s population. He also briefed the delegation on NEPAD’s  Programme for Infrastructure Development (PIDA) and African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (AMRH) Programme.

Dr Mayaki handing information on NEPAD  to Dr Smith

Dr Smith spoke about the G20’s priorities which include quality investment in infrastructure; reducing barriers to trade; promoting competition;  employment and participation. “The G20 and African governments are working to tackle similar challenges and we need to establish mechanisms to build synergies, learn lessons and avoid duplication,” she said.

The G20 membership includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.

NEPAD has engaged the G20 and its previous chairs France, Mexico and Russia since 2011 on issues such as infrastructure development, agriculture and the post 2015 Agenda.