NEPAD Today 26 June 2013

NEPAD Today

26 June 2013

Editor
Yinka Adeyemi
Assistant Editor
Meseret Arega
Editorial Board: Yinka Adeyemi (ECA), ADOU Jean Yves (AUC), Meseret Arega (ECA)

Full steam ahead: West African countries considering a brand new railway system

A new international rail system could be on its way to West Africa.
A spokeswoman at the Senegalese company Africa Consulting & Trading, or ACT, confirmed to the International Business Times that the firm had been asked to help with fundraising and organization for a railway project involving four West African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Niger. 

The plan is in its earliest stages, and details on the deal are scant. But if an international railway connecting the countries is eventually realized, it would be a boon for trade and development in the region.

As it stands, intracontinental exchanges of goods and services make up only 10 percent of Africa’s total international trade. The rest is between African countries and their partners in the West, Asia and the Middle East.

For full story: http://www.ibtimes.com/full-steam-ahead-west-african-countries-considering-brand-new-railway-system-1317261

Consortium appointed to study potential infrastructure projects in Africa

AfDB has appointed a consortium led by Mott MacDonald as technical advisor for a scheme to study potential infrastructure projects in Africa
The work is intended to support African stakeholders as they identify, assess and prioritise regional infrastructure projects on the continent. Mott MacDonald is working with fellow consultant Sofreco on the infrastructure project preparation fund (IPPF), which is part of NEPAD.

NEPAD-IPPF was established to prepare high quality energy, water, transport and communications infrastructure projects for investment and construction.

The African Union and NEPAD have achieved consensus among African states to focus their efforts on 51 transformational regional infrastructure programmes. These programmes guide the direction of the NEPAD-IPPF, which provides grants to African governments, regional economic communities and other regional institutions.

Mott MacDonald’s project director Wim Verheugt said: “Good quality infrastructure is vital to economic growth in any part of the world. NEPAD-IPPF is scaling up its activities to achieve rapid progress on high quality infrastructure that delivers strong economic return on investment.”

For full story: http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/motts-wins-african-advisory-role

AfDB Board approves the USD$ 5.7 Million multi donor trust fund for Value for Money, Accountability & Sustainability

The African Development Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a Multi Donor Trust Fund of US$ $5.7million to support Value for Money, Sustainability and Accountability programs in Africa (VFM). The Fund has been created with the support of the Government of Norway and the Global Alliance for vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and will be administered by the African Development Bank. Several other donors have expressed interest in pooling resources into this Fund.

African governments spend on average 50% of their public budgets on social services. Large inefficiencies in the use of resources in education and health have a direct negative impact on human capital, with drastic consequences for inclusive economic growth. In an environment of declining aid, achieving greater value for each dollar invested is critical. In addition, and as witnessed by the Arab Spring, African citizens are demanding greater transparency and accountability in both delivery of social services and management of public resources.  

Some 50 African Ministers of Finance and Health strongly requested the AfDB’s support on the Value for Money program (VFM) at a High Level Ministerial Dialogue organized by the Bank in July 2012.  

For full story: http://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/article/afdb-board-approves-the-usd-5-7-million-multi-donor-trust-fund-for-value-for-money-accountability-sustainability-12037/

Upcoming events (some dates or venue may change)

  1. 48th NEPAD Steering Committee meeting – Dakar, End of August/Sept 2013
  2. Seminar on Advancing Regional Integration through NEPAD Implementation:
    Learning Event on Comparative Analysis of African-European Integration Studies September 2013 South Africa.
  3. Africa-NEPAD Week at 69th UN General Assembly (mid-October 2013)
  4. 21st Africa Partnership Forum – Dakar (tbc) November 2013
  5. High Level Summit and Business Conference on Africa’s Domestic Resource Mobilzation (DRM) November 2013)
  6. 5th GEO Health & Environment Community of Practice (CoP), 23-25 July 2013, Washington D.C., USA.

A production of the RCM-Africa Secretariat, AU and NEPAD Support Team, Capacity Development Division (CDD),
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Director: Adeyemi Dipeolu
Email: ecanepad@uneca.org