The African Development Bank (AfDB) will participate in the 16th African Union (AU) heads of state and government summit, scheduled from 30-31 January 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the theme, "Towards greater unity and integration through shared values".
The Bank's delegation, led by President Donald Kaberuka, will take part in parallel deliberations on economic and development-related issues. These include climate change, governance, regional integration, institutional capacity building (fragile states), and regional infrastructure development, which are among the Bank's core mandate, and reflect the "shared values" of the AU's summit theme.
In December 2010, the AfDB, supported by African leaders at the Conference on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico, stressed the importance of setting up an African Green Fund to help finance climate change impact-mitigation activities on the continent.
Mr Kaberuka and his delegation will also use the opportunity to share, among others, perspectives on pertinent African development challenges notably, the prevailing global economic situation and its impact on African economies.
The AfDB collaborates with the AU and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in promoting strategic development initiatives such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), where it serves as lead agency for infrastructure development, banking and financial standards
Key aspects of the Bank's support include the design of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the preparation of NEPAD's Short Term Action Plan (STAP) and the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).
Some 34 heads of state and government are among 4,000 delegates including representatives of international organisation, development agencies and civil society organisation, expected to participate in the summit.
A number of other meetings will take place on the sidelines, in addition to numerous bilateral discussions.
These include the 24th NEPAD summit as well as its steering committee meetings, the Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) deliberations, and the Committee of Ten Heads of State on United Nations Reform meeting.
Contacts
Felix Njoku