The assignment is designed as one of the building blocks to contribute to a key objective of Agenda 2063 that specifies “the need to re-orient Africa’s partnerships in line with the Continent’s ambitious agenda for economic, political, social transformation”. This assignment is a key part of an overall strategy to strengthen Africa’s voice and global representation with the aim to effectively leverage technical and financial resources for its own development. The assignment focuses on Africa’s technical partnerships in support of project implementation under Agenda 2063, based on the AUDA-NEPAD’s role which is to act as technical interface with Africa’s partnerships in support of implementation. Further, the assignment supports a key objective of the AUDA-NEPAD which is to develop, create and manage flexible financing and fund models to support Member States to implement their development agendas and Agenda 2063. This part of the consultancy which primarily focuses on technical partnerships for the implementation of Agenda 2063 and its flagships, will connect with the AUC led assignment which targets Africa’s policy and political partnerships towards the development of a holistic AU Partnership Strategy and Framework.

In order to support this re-orientation, there is need to first and foremost map and make a critical analysis of existing partnerships for an evidence-based understanding of the full scope, clusters and quality. The definition of a shared AU-wide technical partnerships criteria will guide the mapping and analysis of data, and further shape the AU Partnership Strategy and Policy Framework. The results of the mapping will support a structured classification of existing and potential technical partners into primary and secondary clusters with direct relevance to Agenda 2063. Further, the mapping results will assist in the development of an AU Inaugural State of Technical Partnerships in Africa Report and a baseline upon which to undertake period evaluations.