Merging Africa's Infrastructure Development Initiatives AU, Nepad And AfDB Launch Reinvigorated PIDA in Kampala

23 July 2010
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) will be launched on 24 July 2010 in Kampala, Uganda, on the sidelines of the 15th African Union heads of state and government summit.

PIDA is a joint initiative of the African Union Commission (AUC), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Secretariat and the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group.

"PIDA's objective is to merge all continental infrastructure initiatives into a single coherent programme for the entire continent. The program will merge the 'NEPAD Short-Term Action Plan, the NEPAD Medium-to-Long-Term Strategic Framework' (MLTSF) and the African Union Infrastructure Master Plan Initiative," the AfDB programme coordinator, Amadou Oumarou, said. Through its regional integration department (ONRI), the AfDB is the execution agency for PIDA. The AfDB hosted an important PIDA workshop from April 8-9, 2010, in Tunis which was one of the last steps in preparations for the official launch.

The launch aims at informing a wide audience about PIDA and to promote the programme. The launch will also be an occasion to sensitize all stakeholders on the programme's implementation.

"African leaders were unanimous in their call for greater regional integration in Africa," the AfDB president, Donald Kaberuka, said.. "Our role as a development institution is to support this expressed ambition by providing realistic and achievable steps in order to attain this objective," Mr. Kaberuka added.

PIDA provides a vision, a strategic framework and a programme that would be implemented up to 2030. PIDA's activities will focus on the development of transportation, energy, information and communication technologies, as well as trans-boundary water basins.

Infrastructure and regional integration are key priorities of the AfDB's 2008-2012 medium term strategy. The infrastructure sector alone accounts for more than half of AfDB operations, exceeding USD 6 billion in 2009.

The launch will be attended by several African heads of state and ministers, the African Union Commission chairperson, the ECA Executive Secretary, secretaries-general of regional economic communities, representatives of donor agencies and development partners as well as officials of civil society organizations and the private sector.

A large AfDB delegation will attend the event.

Contacts

Lotfi Madani

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

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