Nepad Chief Executive To Address Infrastructure Conference

13 September 2006
press release

Washington, DC — Professor Firmino Gabriel Mucavele, Chief Executive of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Secretariat, will address the first annual U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference from September 27-29, 2006.

"We are delighted to host Professor Mucavele in Washington for our first infrastructure conference. Dialogue on infrastructure development in Africa cannot take place without NEPAD's support and participation," said Mr. Stephen Hayes, President of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).

NEPAD is expected to showcase pipeline infrastructure development projects at the conference that will appeal to U.S. businesses. Pipeline projects are typically at an advanced stage of development or can be fast-tracked. These projects also offer solutions to policy, regulatory or institutional constraints to infrastructure development. Underpinning all NEPAD infrastructure initiatives is a commitment to transparency and regional integration.

"NEPAD's emphasis on strengthening and developing sector-specific governance arrangements is very encouraging to the U.S. business community," Hayes added.

Mucavele is expected to provide remarks at a plenary session on Regional Integration during the conference.  He will be accompanied by Mr. Reatile "Chicks" Mochebelele, Head of Infrastructure, Water and Sanitation at the NEPAD Secretariat. Mr. Mochebelele has extensive professional experience working on regional water projects development in Africa and will speak at the Public-Private Partnerships workshop.

Mucavele was appointed Chief Executive of the NEPAD Secretariat on August 1, 2005. He was invited in February 2001 to integrate the Steering Committee of African Economists to develop the Millennium Africa Recovery Program (MAP), which was presented and approved by the Heads of African States in Lusaka in July 2001. This became the New African Initiative and on October 23, 2001, in Abuja Nigeria, this program was designated as NEPAD.

He holds a PhD in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Florida. He is also a Special Adviser for NEPAD Programs to the President of the Republic of Mozambique.

CCA, established in 1993, is a nonpartisan 501(3) (c) membership organization of nearly 200 U.S. companies dedicated to strengthening the commercial relationship between the U.S. and Africa. CCA members represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa. Visit CCA on the web at www.africacncl.org

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.