Addis Ababa — Acting Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Abdalla Hamdok, on Monday met with the newly-appointed Senior Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Charles Boamah, to further discussions on ongoing and new major areas of cooperation between the two institutions.
They restated their resolve to continue to work together in advancing Africa's development agenda, including through the strengthening of the African Union Commission/ECA/AfDB Joint Secretariat Support Office (JSSO).
High on the agenda was the Bank's vision that its "High 5" agenda strategy, which is Light Up and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialize Africa; Integrate Africa; and improve the quality of life for the people of Africa; be endorsed by its partners as an effective way for the continent to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and Africa's 50-year developmental plan, Agenda 2063.
"The meeting was very productive and we are excited because it is all about advancing Africa's development and so our discussions centered on those accelerators, including industrialization, climate and others," said Mr. Hamdok.
The two also discussed initiatives the ECA and AfDB are already jointly working on together. Among these are Climate for Development in Africa Programme (ClimDev-Africa), the Land Policy Initiative (LPI), the fight to curb illicit financial flows (IFFs) from Africa as well as the recently launched High Level Panel on Migration and the African Economic Outlook.
They also pledged to continue to put their respective comparative advantages at the service of the continent and emphasized the need to continue to speak with one voice over issues relating to the development trajectory of the continent.
The two institutions recognize that the JSSO should continue to be an important institutional arrangement to advance collaboration between the Joint Secretariat Institutions, especially as the Pan African organizations seek to successfully implement the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and Africa's Agenda 2063.
The meeting was concluded with a commitment to continue to work closely and consult each other on shared continental agendas, in particular ensuring that resources are provided to enable those working on the ground for the transformation of the continent to do so smoothly.
