Today, I want to explain what is NEPAD and what are the missions we execute every day. When I was appointed Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD in 2009, I set out to transform what was then a secretariat into a planning and coordination agency capable of leading projects on the ground. Indeed, I was convinced that what Africa needed was a driving force, an authority responsible for identifying projects and ensuring they were viable, for providing visibility for investors, for coordinating and serving as a catalyst for various initiatives while partnering with the private sector. Established under the aegis of the African Union and its 54 Member States, NEPAD serves this exact purpose, and want to be a catalyst for African integration.
This long-term vision for Africa is underpinned by six main pillars of development, that are key to meeting the continent’s development challenges.
First, there is agriculture, food, and nutrition security: in this field, NEPAD pursues a proactive approach to agricultural policy and works with over 40 nations across Africa through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, which promotes sustainable changes in agriculture practices.
The second pillar concerns climate change and natural resource management, for which NEPAD helps countries to coordinate and promote regional and national programs designed to curb these threats.
The third pillar is about regional integration and infrastructure. Integration isn’t an end in itself: I firmly believe that it’s a prerequisite for the development of our continent. Indeed, how can we connect our countries to the power grid and lay asphalt on our roads without coordinating each country’s efforts?
The fourth pillar concerns human development: it is what makes economic growth possible. NEPAD plays an active part in efforts to eradicate poverty on the continent by developing synergy in areas vital to human development, including education, science, technology and healthcare.
Besides, moving forward with development and regional integration in Africa requires an environment conducive to good governance at both the micro- and macroeconomic levels: this is what the fifth pillar is about.
In addition to the five theme areas presented above, NEPAD focuses its efforts on several fundamental, cross-cutting issues: private-sector involvement, gender & development, capacity development and information and communication technologies (ICTs).
As such, NEPAD is active in every area of development, taking a long-term approach to developing key infrastructure, defining framework agricultural policies and bolstering capacity-building at a national level, while also pursuing short-term initiatives to combat crises requiring emergency measures, such as piracy and the Ebola epidemic. We have to continually anticipate future development challenges in Africa to stay ahead of the curve.
From coast to coast, we are beginning to break ground on the first major projects led by NEPAD. I would like to single out five of these initiatives that will be completed in a matter of years: the Abidjan-Lagos corridor; the Dakar-Bamako rail link; two hydroelectric dams, Sambangalou in Guinea and Ruzizi III in Rwanda; and the road from Serenje to Nakonde in Zambia.
These projects are only the first chapter in a story that we shall write together. For more information about the challenges that lie before us and how NEPAD intends to meet them, please feel free to visit our website. I am convinced that together we will realise our dream of an African continent whose countries are open both to each other and to the world.
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