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Opening Statement delivered by Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe, Advisor to the AU Chairperson presented to the ECOSOCC Sensitization and Motivation Campaign, Lusaka, Zambia, 12 August 2014

Opening Statement delivered by Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe, Advisor to the AU Chairperson presented to the ECOSOCC Sensitization and Motivation Campaign, Lusaka, Zambia, 12 August 2014

Your Excellency, the Minister for Community Development, Republic of Zambia
Your Excellency, the Assistant Secretary-General (Programs) COMESA
Colleagues from the AU and COMESA
Members of the African Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Delegates of Civil Society
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me distinct pleasure to be back here in Zambia today for this illustrious event. Our presence here today celebrates the people-oriented impetus of the African Union. The Constitutive Act of the Union stresses that it will be a partnership between governments and all segments of civil society. To uphold this cardinal principle, the Union provided for the establishment of a unique organ, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, a civil society organ that will participate directly in the policy making process of the AU.

The Organ is composed of about 150 members including two representatives for each of the 54 Member States, 5 continental representatives, 10 sub-regional representatives, 20 members of the Diaspora and 6 nominated representatives for special interest groups. The role and functions of the organ and its importance will be highlighted subsequently by a former member of the ECOSOCC General Assembly, its highest internal Organ. Suffices to say it is a body elected by civil society and representing civil society people for the people by the people.

ECOSOCC carries the principle of democracy to its highest level. It brings the grassroots to the portals of decision making where its own elected leaders interface directly with political leaders elected through universal suffrage to assume responsibility for the integration and development project of the continent.

We are here today to ensure that these democratic principles are implemented to the fullest. ECOSOCC has had two preceding parliaments. First, was the Interim Assembly from 2004-2007 under the leadership of the late venerable Wangari Maathai, our much acclaimed Nobel Laureate. She provided a solid foundation for the development of the Organ and ensure its recognition with both continental, regional and global levels, Prof. Maathai set the pace for the rising profile of ECOSOCC and adroitly led the process that put in place the 1st Permanent General Assembly that functioned between 2008-2013.

The Executive Council of the Union then directed the Commission of the Union to put in motion the process of electing the second General Assembly of ECOSOCC. The Commission began the process in earnest but was constrained from composing the ECOSOCC between 2012 and early 2014 because it could not get a quorum of eligible candidates for this purpose. The Commission then reported back to the Assembly and put forward a series of option and recommendations for moving forward. The precise and substantive details will be provided in a thematic presentation that will preface our interactive question and answer session.

What is important for us at this point is that the Executive Council through its Decision EX.CL/849(XXV) directed among other things that the Commission should undertake a sensitization and motivation campaign that will mobilize African Civil Society organizations to participate in the elections. Subsequently, the ECOSOCC Assembly must be composed by November or December 2014, certainly before the end of the year. The Commission is focusing the campaign on states that do not have sufficient number of eligible candidates for the elections.

This is the enterprise that we begin here in Zambia today and which will subsequently cover all the five regions of the continent.

It is remarkable to observe that this exercise brings the partnership of governments and civil society to new heights. It is an exercise in which governments of the Union through its highest policy organs, the Executive Council and Assembly is mobilizing the civil society to organize itself for leadership of the continent and to share power and responsibility with governments. The elections in which we are motivating you to participate in is solely an election for and by civil society. Civil society will be the electors and elected. Governments and the Union organs will be observers with legal representatives as the electoral commission. Thus, the fundamental process of states elections are now turned on its head, you will be forming a government and states will be the observers. The shoe is now on the foot and the challenge to civil society is to now do as you say. Show us off. Demonstrate those integrity and democratic principles that you reproach states for.

It is also important that those whom you have elected will share responsibility for policy and decision-making and guidance of the continent and must work with other stakeholders. This is the challenge and responsibility that we have come to ask you to take.

In this process, we wish to thank the government and people of Zambia for hosting this meeting and our sister organization, COMESA, for sharing the platform and responsibility of canvassing with us as a pillar of the AU. The notice we gave COMESA was short but they are here with us in the spirit of integration and the people-centred craving of our continent. We want to thank and salute them and to urge them to work closely together in partnership with ECOSOCC and our Citizenship Directorate (CIDO) to cement this enterprise.

Our greatest honor lies in the fellowship with the civil society community. We see the presence of the African Civil Society and the media as a clarion response to the call for service. Africa is “all of us together” and we are pledged to live, serve and die in the service of the motherland.

I thank you.

Opening remarks by H.E. Aisha Abdullahi, Commissioner for Political Affairs
2nd Steering Committee Meeting of the Association of Africa Electoral Authorities held in Inter-Continental Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
7 – 8 August 2014

Distinguished Chairpersons and Commissioners of the Steering Committee of the Association of Africa Electoral Authorities
Representatives of African Regional EMB Networks
Colleagues from the African Union Commission,
Good Morning
It gives me great pleasure to open this 2nd Steering Committee meeting of the Association of African Electoral Authorities (AAEA). As you are aware, I have opened all the meetings of AAEA in person. This reflects the level of commitment of the African Union Commission and the Department of Political Affairs to its revival. So from the onset, I want to reiterate the point that the Department of Political Affairs will continue to support your work until the objectives of this Committee are fully attained.
Distinguished chairpersons and commissioners
Let me put this meeting in historical perspective. It should be recalled that the need to revive the AAEA emerged as a recommendation during the Continental EMB Forum in Lusaka in 2014. Following that, the Department of Political Affairs took up the challenge to implement the recommendation of the Continental EMB forum to revive the AAEA.
The first meeting was organised in May 2013 in Addis Ababa where an Interim Steering Committee was appointed comprised of Prof. ATTAHIRU JEGA of Nigeria, Dr. SAMUEL AZU’U FONKAM (Cameroon), Mr. AHMED HASSAN ISSAC (Kenya), ADV. PANSY TLAKULA (South Africa) Mrs. MAIDA SA-ADATU (Ghana) and Prof. MERGA BEKANA (Ethiopia).
The meeting also proposed that a study be carried out in order to understand what needs to be done to make the AAEA fully operational again. Consequently, the first Steering Committee met here in Addis Ababa from 7- 8 February this year to consider the Study submitted by the consultant and worked on a draft Charter. One of the suggestions of the Steering Committee was the need to expand the Steering Committee to bring on board EMBs from all regions of the continent. The objective was to ensure that there is a common understanding and agreement from the entire continent on the importance of reviving the AAEA. This explains why this meeting includes EMBs or EMB networks who are participating for the first time. I want to, therefore, take the opportunity to welcome you and to say that your participation is critical to the revival of the AAEA and that it is not late for you to make your contributions to that effect.
Distinguished Chairpersons and Commissioners,
You will all agree with me that since that first meeting in May 2013, a lot of progress has been made: a comprehensive study has been carried out that points to a new direction to be taken; and a draft Charter has also been developed. This progress, in my mind, means that we are closer to realizing our objective of reviving the AAEA. I therefore want to encourage you to use this meeting, which I understand is the last meeting of the Steering Committee, to conclude your work. I am happy to note that one of the items on your agenda today is preparation for a general assembly meeting during which the new AAEA is expected to be launched. I am personally looking forward to that meeting.
Distinguished Chairpersons and Commissioners,
As I have emphasized over and over again, the AAEA is very important institution for democratic consolidation and the management of credible elections in Africa. The role played by the AAEA in the past attests to this fact.
Again, there many of regional networks of EMBs currently playing leading roles in democratic elections on the continent. While the regional networks are very important, the AAEA can play an overarching role to further consolidate democratic elections. It is for this reason that we must do whatever we can to ensure that the AAEA is fully operational again.
Distinguished Chairpersons and Commissioners,
I have no doubt that a revitalized AAEA will be of immense benefit to both regional EMB networks and the continental and also to the AU Commission especially in the area of technical assistance. For instance, the AAEA and the African Union Commission could work hand-in-hand in the provision of technical assistance for its members. Also a united AAEA could play an important role in African Union Election Observation Missions. In the end, the whole African continent will reap the benefits of a revived AAEA.
Distinguished Chairpersons and Commissioners,
I want to conclude my brief remarks by thanking you once again for taking time off your busy schedules to be here today. I wish you successful deliberations and look forward to receiving the outcome of this meeting.
I now have the honour to declare this meeting open.
I thank you.

Keynote Speech لاy H.E. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime,
Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture

on the occasion of the Panel Discussion on “Integration of Higher Education into CAADP and National Investment Plans"

23 July 2014

09:00-10:30

Hall Pungue

Fourth Biennial Conference of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), Maputo, Mozambique

 
Dr. Paul Nampala, Grants Manager, RUFORUM and Master of Ceremonies
Dr. Lindiwe Sibanda, CEO, FANRPAN and Moderator of the Panel
Hon. Dr. Zerubabel N.Ntyira, Minister of State for Agriculture, Republic of Uganda
Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director, FARA
Prof. Mandi Rukuni, CAADP and S3A Co-Member Expert Panels
Vice Chancellors
Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen

Following onto Dr. Yemi’s presentation on Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa, my work seems to have been eased. You explained what CAADP is, CAADP being the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, the over-arching framework for African agricultural transformation.
I would like to start with a bit of contextualization. Perhaps, we have not been close to institutions of higher learning in CAADP implementation. This makes pertinent, the topic for this Panel discussion: Integration of Higher Education into CAADP and National Investment Plans.

I will speak about how we can work together in the implementation of CAADP.
CAADP for Africa is like the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for Europe. CAADP is not a project. It is a continental framework for driving the process of agricultural development on the African continent. It contains virtually everything related to agriculture from water and land management, to private sector engagement and market access, from food and nutrition security to agricultural research and technology generation and dissemination.
As has already been said, this is the AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security. Following the declaration by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union of 2014 as the AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security, the AUC and NPCA working with RECs and Member States started the process of implementing the AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security also marking ten years since they adopted the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program CAADP in 2003 here in Maputo Mozambique.
This process entailed extensive multistakeholder consultations with civil society, private sector, women, youth, partners and Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture, on the progress registered, challenges encountered and lessons drawn from the last ten years of CAADP implementation. The culmination of this process was the AU Summit in June 2014 in Malabo Equatorial Guinea. At that Summit, Heads of State and Government considered the outcomes and recommendations of key stakeholders and partners and adopted the Accelerated African Agricultural Transformation and Growth Agenda, a recommitment to sustaining the CAADP momentum considering the large number of AU Member States that have signed the CAADP Compact and formulated the National Agricultural Investment Plans. The Heads of State and Government came up with a number of commitments including:

• Recommitment to the principles and values of the CAADP Process;
• Recommitment to enhance investment finance in Agriculture;
• Commitment to ending hunger by 2025;
• Commitment to halving poverty by 2025;
• Commitment to boosting intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services;
• Commitment to enhancing resilience of livelihoods & production systems to climate variability and other shocks; and
• Commitment to mutual accountability to actions and results

The implementation of these commitments will be by you and that is where science, research, technology and innovation come in.
Indeed, CAADP, by virtue of its Pillar IV on Agricultural Research and Technology Generation and Dissemination, already takes into account the involvement of institutions of higher learning in advancing research and innovation for agricultural transformation.
The agricultural sector on the African continent has had a lot of challenges. It is of concern that productivity has fallen below expectation in the context of increasing population and rising food demand; it is also of concern that despite existence in Africa of among the best scientists and their research findings, the technology uptake has been low and not translated into adoption by smallholder farmers to increase productivity. Even the 4 per cent agricultural GDP growth in the African agricultural sector has largely been attributed not to innovation but rather to land expansion.
It is therefore imperative that Universities and other institutions of higher learning notably the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) enhance their participation and contribution to advancing the Accelerated African Agricultural Transformation and Growth Agenda adopted by the AU Heads of State and Government.
The role of Universities within the CAADP framework will, therefore, be expected in three principal areas, notably Planning, Implementation and Mutual Accountability:

• Planning process: Universities should be used as knowledge centres and specialized policy research institutions to support the process of elaborating CAADP investment plans and programs. You should be the source of information for country investment plans where RECs, NPCA, AUC and Member States use consultants. Therefore, countries will have more accurate identification of priority investment in agriculture. Universities should be part and parcel of the multistakeholder CAADP country teams and play a lead role in the robust work of stocktaking of policies and interventions that have worked and those that have not; and identifying the key drivers of growth in the agricultural sector.

In the national consultative and planning process, Universities’ publications should be made user friendly and disseminated to policy makers, farmers and other practitioners. Universities research findings and publications should respond to some of the unanswered questions such as those related to GMOs.

Implementation phase: Once the investment plans have been put in place, Universities should continue to work with other stakeholders to implement these plans.

Capacity Building

In that context, Universities should adapt their curricula and collaboration with the NARS to adjust the needs in supporting the implementation of investment priorities by training adequately professionals such as scientist and extension workers. University should particularly focus on adequate training of youth and women in agripreneurship and agribusiness along value chains. The Malabo Declaration gives particular attention to the creation of job opportunities for the growing population including the youth and strengthening the capacity of smallholders on priority commodities.

Farmer centred approach

National Agricultural Research Systems need to ensure they reorient their curricula with new emphasis on working with communities through the Community Action Platforms. Universities need to link to farmers and also link with extension workers to help take the Universities’ innovations and technologies to farmers and assist the farmers to apply the innovations and technologies to increase agricultural productivity and reduce post-harvest loss among others.
Private sector

The private sector is so key for CAADP implementation. There is, therefore, need for linkage of Universities with the private sector because there are gaps in value chains that require products of your research. Therefore, work with innovators some of whom are in Universities but others are elsewhere, to improve technology uptake to increase agricultural productivity. This could contribute in translating the research findings of universities to practical applications in agriculture, agroprocessing and agribusiness.
Partnership
As you all know, Agriculture is multi-sectoral and its interventions cut across multiple institutions. Hence the need to work with other stakeholders and not only the Ministry of Agriculture. I am glad to have heard that you are already engaged in this multi-institutional collaboration. It is critical to advance partnerships between universities, government and private sector to create a new generation of professional - scientists and entrepreneurs - able to innovate and provide the enabling environment to use the latest technologies such as Market Information Systems, GIS and remote sensing, agroprocessing technologies and innovation, innovative agribusiness along value chains etc. Linking universities with the private sector to increase uptake of academic research findings and innovations will also require policy interventions as well as institutional reforms so that enabling policies are put in place by government and specific institutions are established to facilitate this productive interplay in the implementation of CAADP.
• Mutual accountability and result delivery improvement: We will put in place a mechanism for the enhanced role of Universities in CAADP. Universities should act as knowledge centers for improving the delivery of results led by the implementation of CAADP investment plans and programs through their support to accountability platforms such as Joint Sector Reviews and CAADP Partnership Platforms. These kinds of platforms are established to ensure that CAADP implementation remains on track. Universities can serve as a source of information that can facilitate policy makers to take informed decisions with imperial evidence. Universities need to be proactive. We will be required to report progress every two years to the Summit of Heads of State and Government.

According to the CAADP Results Framework, all stakeholders must be held accountable.
Countries that are doing well have CAADP Platforms where stakeholders meet and in a number of cases, Ministers chair these platforms and task stakeholders. Ethiopia has the Agricultural Transformation Agency that has checks and balances.
Institutions of Higher Learning should get monitoring tools developed and followed up.
CAADP Results Framework is scientific and must be done by Universities. It highlights 5 main results areas that our stakeholders want to see happening in AU Member States. These are: production and productivity, Food and Nutrition security, Natural resource management and Resilience, private sector investment in agribusiness along value chains and intra African Trade.
Universities and other institutions of higher learning should be able to say what countries need to do to make the desired impact in terms of increasing productivity, reducing expansion of land to instead get more per unit area cultivated, to meet the needs of the increasing population and to turn the youth budge into an opportunity by building their capacities in reoriented curricula, working with farmers and extension workers.

Having highlighted the role expected of Universities and other Institutions of higher learning in CAADP implementation from Planning through Implementation to Mutual Accountability, I hope that your Capacity Building Programs, Research, Innovation and Technologies will be directed to these areas in a more focused and structured way towards the Accelerated African Agricultural Transformation and Growth Agenda.
I thank you for your attention.

Remarks by Ms. Shumbana Karume on the occasion of the Opening of BRIDGE Training in Dar Es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania on Voter Registration
21 – 25 July 2014

Distinguished Chairperson, National Electoral Commission, Hon Justice (Rtd) Damian Lubuva,
BRIDGE Facilitators,
Colleagues from the Africa Union and the Media,
Participants,
Good morning!
Let me first of all welcome all of you on behalf of the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Dr. Aisha Abdullahi who would have liked to be here to open this training herself, but for her busy schedule.
I am obviously happy to be here today in Dar Es Salaam to open this BRIDGE Training, the second in the United Republic of Tanzania, after a similar training in Zanzibar on Gender and Elections which was held from 7 to 11 July. Today, we are here to open yet training on Voter Registration.
Distinguished Guests and Participants!
The importance of voter registration in an electoral process cannot be over emphasized. Putting the right legal framework and building the necessary capacity to deliver an accurate voter register is always an asset to organizing peaceful elections. Over the years, in most African countries, one of the major challenges that keep recurring during elections has been imperfect nature voter registration processes and the ensuing unfair voter registers that in some cases tend to disenfranchise voters.
Therefore a good investment in voter registration such as this BRIDGE Training is always necessary. It is based on this assumption that the Africa Union Commission, through the Democracy and Electoral Assistance Unit is proud to organize this training in collaboration with the National Electoral Commission
In relation to voter registration system, it is the objective of the African Union
Commission to contribute to their design and implementation to ensure that their outcomes are devoid of controversies and have contributed contentious electoral outcomes in several Africa countries. It is our hope that this training will contribute the capacity of the National Electoral Commission to come out with a voter register that enhances voter participation and in effective on the Election Day come 2015.
Distinguished Guests and Participants!
To ensure that EMBs all over the continent have enhanced capacity to manage elections, the African Union Commission now lays a lot of emphasis on technical assistance. Therefore, for the year 2014, the Africa Union Commission has already provided BRIDGE Trainings for the EMBs of Burkina Faso and Madagascar. The United Republic of Tanzania is the third country this year to benefit from this form of technical assistance. Other countries expected to benefit from Africa Union assistance this year include Guinea, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Central Africa Republic, Comores, and Tunisia.
As I stated during the opening of the BRIDGE training on Gender and Elections in Zanzibar, this BRIDGE training on Voter Registration for the NEC marks the beginning of a series of engagements by the African Union Commission to support the ongoing electoral process in the United Republic of Tanzania in preparation for elections in 2015.
To be specific, the BRIDGE Trainings are expected to be followed by the introduction of a project on electoral risk management which is intended to assist the National Electoral Commissions and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission to promote peaceful election before, during and after. Discussions have already begun with the Zanzibar Electoral Commission and the National Electoral Commission on this project.
The next commitment of the Africa Union Commission to the electoral process in the United Republic of Tanzania will be the deployment of long term observers. We also have a Follow-up program through which we work with Elections Management Bodies (EMBs) to implement recommendations emanating from the work of Africa Union Election Observation Missions. The Follow-up program is to ensure that the work of Africa Union Commission in electoral processes in Member States does not end with elections observation but there is an effort to ensure that recommendations offered during elections observation are implemented to bring about improvements in subsequent elections.
Distinguished Guests and Participants!
The National BRIDGE Training, as it is known, forms part of the Technical assistance of the Africa Union Commission to Elections management bodies in Africa. Since its inception, over 20 Member States have benefitted from it. The objective of the national BRIDGE Training is to deliver on the mandate of the Africa Union to enhance the capacity of EMBs to organize credible elections. Building the capacity of EMBs either before or after an election is clear demonstration of the commitment of the Africa Union Commission go beyond elections observation missions to ensure that Member States’ Election Management Bodies retain the necessary capacity to organize credible elections and hence support democratic consolidation on the continent.
Let me also add that assistance provided by the Africa Union Commission on electoral process is not limited to only BRIDGE Trainings. The second aspect of technical assistance to EMBs includes the provision of experts to work with EMBs as part of preparation for elections. Under this programme an EMB can request the assistance from the Africa Union Commission for the services of a consultant to provide expertise for a critical aspect of the elections, for example in the area of Information Technology.
Distinguished Guests and Participants!
In the five days, I hope our team of facilitators will take us through all the essentials topics on Voter registration and I hope that they will meet your expectation. I want to encourage all participants to put in their best and share experiences to enrich the training since all of you bring on board years of experiences.
As I conclude my remarks, I would like to urge you to show great commitment and participate fully in this training. I look forward to a great and wonderful training these next five days. Let me end by saying that the Africa Union through DEAU will be ready to support you any time it becomes necessary and that this training is just the beginning of many such capacity trainings to come.
Ashanteni Sana!

STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE AU COMMISSION H.E. DR. NKOSAZANA DLAMINI ZUMA

AT THE SEVENTH CONFERENCE OF AFRICAN MINISTERS IN CHARGE OF INTEGRATION (COMAI VII)

MINISTERIAL MEETING
17-18 July 2014

EZULWINI, KINGDOM OF SWAZILAND

 
Representative of His Majesty, His Excellency, the Right Honourable Dr. Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Swaziland
Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Paul Dlamini
Honourable Ministers and Leaders of Delegations
Chief Executives of Regional Economic Communities,
Excellencies, Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Dr. Anthony Maruping and Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Dr. Elham Ibrahim
Leadership of both Houses of Parliament of the Kingdom Swaziland
Representatives from the UNECA, the ADB and the Nepad Agency
Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Officials from Capitals, the RECs and the AU Commission
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to be with you in this beautiful town of Ezulwini, Swaziland and to welcome you to the Seventh Conference of the African Ministers in Charge of Integration (COMAI VII).

We thank His Majesty’s, his Government and the People of the Kingdom of Swaziland for the hospitality and excellent arrangements and facilities accorded to the Conference and delegations. It is always a great pleasure to come back to Swaziland, where I spent five of my youthful years at the Mbabane Public Hospital as a doctor. Two of my daughters were born here, so it feels like coming home.

Your Excellencies,
This 7th Conference of Ministers in Charge of Integration focuses on the theme of ‘Regional integration through infrastructure development.”
During the yearlong Golden Jubilee celebrations of OAU/AU last year, Africa looked at the past, the present and planned for the future. Through consultations with Africans from different walks of life, young and old, men and women, rural and urban, workers and professionals, business persons, academics and artists, we developed our vision for the future, which we call, Agenda 2063. The Africa we Want.
They related their aspirations, that they want an Africa that is integrated and prosperous; peaceful, democratic and inspired by the values of Pan Africanism; an Africa that takes her rightful place in the world. Agenda 2063 is not only about aspirations, it is about bringing together into one framework our continental, regional and national plans. It also sets out milestones which we must achieve in the first five years, the first decade, by 2025, 2037, 2050 up to 2063.
The Malabo AU Summit agreed to allow more time for further consultations in Member states, the RECs, and inputs from broader society, to be submitted in writing by the end of October this year and by January we will adopt the framework and the first ten year plan.
It gives this important sector of Ministers in Charge of Integration a further opportunity to make an input into this framework, as has many other sectoral meetings of Ministers.
Excellencies,
Building on the lessons and experiences of the fifty years since the formation of the OAU, we know that the unity and integration of the continent and the development of its infrastructure remains key to constructing an Africa that is peaceful and prosperous.
At national levels, infrastructure such as energy, transport, ICT and infrastructure to expand access to basic services such as sanitation and water, health and educational facilities, are the important hardware for development and a better life for all our citizens. At regional and continental levels, through the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the Infrastructure Master-plans of the RECs, we seek to connect African capitals and commercial centres through road, rail and ICT, to power our economies and communities through energy projects, including renewable and fossil fuel energy, and to increase agricultural production through irrigation projects, building storage facilities, distribution infrastructure and markets.
Infrastructure are the hardware without which economic and social development, industrialization, agriculture and intra-Africa trade on the continent will remain very slow. We therefore have to address the constraints - such as project development and implementation capacity and skills, financing, and the cross-border coordination issues that hamper the implementation of PIDA priority projects.
The software are equally important, especially the need for investments in our people, as our most precious resources: in their education, access to basic services and health. Our development will be continue to be at half-pace if we also do not empower women to play an important part in the social, political and economic affairs of our societies.
In the same vein, we must make full use of the fact that we are a youthful continent. We therefore talk about an education and skills revolution, especially in science, technology, research and innovation, to ensure that we educate, train and empower millions of young people in high and medium level skills, to enable us to develop, build and maintain the infrastructure we need, to beneficiate our natural resources, to build agribusinesses and to industrialize.
To effect this education and skills revolution, we must act at national level, but we must also work together at regional and continental levels; by strengthening and harmonizing our university, technical and professional training, so that qualifications are recognized across the continent, to build centres of excellence and share critical skills.
Technology also allows us to leapfrog development, and with the advances in ICT, we are exploring e-learning with universities and industry, to enable us to massively increase access to further and higher education.
The other software issues are the integration actions on which we will receive reports today. We have amongst other things undertaken to launch the Continental Free Trade Area by 2017, a target that is now less than three years away; we have projects in some RECs to harmonise financial regulations and practices; in others we cooperate around border and customs issues and deal with non-tariff barriers that make the flow of goods, services and persons difficult.
We must however agree, that given the competitive advantages of the continent (especially our human and natural resources) and the need to claim our proper stake of global trade and production, the pace of African integration is very slow. Indeed we hope the discussions at this Conference, will give us ideas as to how concretely to accelerate integration.
The benefits and synergies of integration are no doubt well-known to us all, including larger markets. An economy of 50 million can easily be ignored, but an integrated economy of over two billion people, will be difficult to ignore. Integration therefore remains at the core of the Pan African vision and of the mission of the African Union.
Your Excellencies
It is for these reasons that Integration is seen as a critical enabler of Agenda 2063, and Agenda 2063 as a driver for continental integration.
The just-concluded AU Summit in Malabo noted the aspirations of our people that emerged from the consultations we held with different sectors, including the RECs and different Ministerial meetings. In addition, it noted that Agenda 2063 encapsulates our various continental, regional and national plans and frameworks into a coherent whole.
More importantly, it urged all of us, to ensure that we prioritise those actions that will in the coming decade move our countries, regions and Africa towards the critical tipping point, where transformation becomes real and irreversible.
In the Agenda 2063 popular version, a number of such priority actions are identified, including the critical issues of skills and infrastructure we spoke about earlier, but also the free movement of people and goods, including consideration of an African passport.
The call to action also talks about flagship projects such as the development of a Pan African integrated high speed rail network, that will not only link all our capitals and commercial centres, but also provide an important boost for research, development and technology transfer, skills development, manufacturing and to intra-Africa trade and tourism.
We will have a session later when we will discuss in further detail Agenda 2063 and our Post 2015 Common African Position. These contain Africa’s vision and aspirations for itself. It goes without saying, that unless we take responsibility for ensuring that this vision is realize, no-one else will. This includes the issue of domestic resource mobilisation to finance African development.
One of the bitter lessons from the last fifty years is that we cannot continue to develop visions and frameworks, and then expect others to take responsibility for financing our development and institutions.
Long time ago, our founding fathers and mothers, said that we have to be self-reliant, and that donor money, no matter how important and appreciated, cannot be the mainstay of African development. That is still true today.
We have the opportunity to do things differently: to be confident that our peoples’ aspirations and the dream of an Africa that is integrated, peaceful and prosperous is achievable, provided that we construct this future based on actions taken now. We all must play our part, as Member states, Regional Economic Communities and continental institutions
On that note, may I thank all of you for attending this important Conference and wish the 7th COMAI fruitful deliberations.
Thank you for your kind attention.