Accra, Ghana:20th - 23rd November 2018: The African Union Commission (AUC), Partnership Division in collaboration with the Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) an AU specialized technical agency, convened the 2nd Annual Conference of the African Union Partnerships Coordination & Interactive Platform (AU-PCIP) in Accra Ghana.

Hon. Charles Owiredu, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (political and economic) of the Republic of Ghana, in his opening statement lauded the African union commission for leading the process towards orienting the continent to better understand the partnerships it requires and how to make the best out of them.

“Africa must know itself and what it stands for, plan its development adequately, choose the development partners that can add value to the implementation of this plan and not substitute their own plans to it. To achieve this, Africa must master the art of partnership-building, which requires, Compatibility, Mutual Respect and Negotiation, Interdependence accountability, transparency, integrity and ownership, openness and responsiveness, and trust”, the Deputy Minister said.

In his remarks Mr. Bakary Kone, Director, Regional Office for West and Central Africa of The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), called for teamwork between the AUC, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to ensure that countries receive the necessary support and guidance when they plan to enter into partnership, especially in a world that is increasingly driven by bilateralism

On behalf H.E. Dr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Madueke Levi Uche, the Head of African Union Strategic Partnerships in his address to the delegates said “There is an urgent need for the African Union stakeholders to come together and forge a common front in order to promote the building of synergies, which will not only promote total buy-in of all stakeholders in the development of programmes and projects that will be indigenous, it will also reduce overlaps and parallel processes, promote sharing of knowledge on state of the art inventions and transferable skills, and generally build friendship and collegiality among stakeholders involved in continental development”. Dr. Madueke further tasked the participants at the conference to provide answer to two salient questions; what does Africa want from its Partners and what do Partners want from Africa?

In conclusion Dr. Madueke took the opportunity to encourage the delegates to actively get involved in the upcoming Dubai Expo 2020, which will be held in Dubai and will run from 20 October, 2020 to 10 April, 2021.

“The Expo offers another vista of opportunity for the African Union to showcase to the world who we are and what we represent. It also affords us the opportunity to tell our story and our narrative the way it is” He explained.

The Afro-Champions Initiative, Chief strategist, Mr. Michael Koto in his address, commended the work the African Union Commission is doing in driving the continents development agenda, more specifically, the launch of the Platform (AU-PCIP). He stated the commitment of the Afro-Champions Initiative to support the implementation of the objectives of the Platform and ensure that it is a success and called on the digitalization of the Platform by way of operationalizing the Partnerships Management Information System (PMIS) to speed up implementation, cut cost and reach a wider audience faster.

Other key speaker included, Dr. Nelson Sechere an independent resource mobilization expert, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Service Center (RSC) representative, Ms. Orria Coni.

The conference brought together key stakeholders i.e. AU organs and specialized agencies, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), private sector notably, Pan-African and regional chambers of commerce and the Afro-Champions Initiative, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and the academia to discuss and launch the Partnership Management Information System (PMIS) Project, create a website to share partnership activities for the platform, address capacity development needs for stakeholders to enable them engage with partners from a vantage point and most importantly mobilize domestic technical and financial support to actualize and operationalize the AU-PCIP to enable Africa to speak and act with one voice.

Note to Editors: -

The African Union Strategic Partnerships Office is responsible for the overall vision, strategy and coordination of the strategic partnerships between the African Union (AU) and other parts of the world. These partnerships serve to address the needs of the African people and are aligned with the AU's development and integration strategy, Agenda 2063.

For media inquiries contact:

Faith Adhiambo| Communications Officer- Agenda 2063 | African Union Commission I E-mail: ochiengj@african-union.org

For further information: Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

Follow us –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanUnionCommission, Twitter - @_Africanunion

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AUCommission

Learn more at: http://www.au.int