Brussels, 24 April 2017: Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, the African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy has stated that the AU-EU partnership is the most structured of all the partnerships that Africa has with implementation mechanisms institutionalized at all levels right from the technical implementation level, policy and decision-making at the highest political level as embodied in the AU-EU Summit of the Heads of State.

Commissioner Abou-Zeid made this remark on Monday at the meeting of the Reference Group on Infrastructure (RGI) jointly convened by the European Union and the African Union Commission to develop the 2018-2020 strategic infrastructure roadmap in Brussels, Belgium ahead of the Africa-EU Summit.

“During this meeting, we will focus on developing the roadmap for the next three years … Even as we focus on large scale projects that will result in integrating Africa and linking with Europe, our attention is drawn to rural and remote areas in Africa,” the Commissioner told a packed room of African and European partners outlining some of the continent’s successes.

Commissioner Abou-Zeid substantiated her point by proposing a strategy for infrastructure development in rural and remote areas through an integrated approach that will prioritise programmes and deliver roads, energy and ICT to help these regions leapfrog in their development trajectory.

“We are convinced that such a paradigm shift is necessary in order to achieve the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and even our very own Agenda 2063,” the Commissioner opined.

The Commissioner was joined by presenters including Mr. Cheikh Bedda, Director at the Department for Infrastructure and Energy who outlined the African Union Vision and the AU Agenda 2063, highlighted a few of the many achievements and set the scene for initiatives currently underway at the African Union including the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

On his part, Mr. Roberto Ridolfi, Director for Sustainable Growth and Development at the European Commission spoke about the European External Investment Plan (EEIP) whose main objective is to encourage investment in Africa and the EU neighborhood and to strengthen partnerships and contribute to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the AU Agenda 2063. He explained that the Plan will “assist in developing economically and financially viable projects to attract investment in Africa”.

The Reference Group on Infrastructure (RGI), which is mandated under the Joint Africa-EU Strategy to steer strategic Infrastructure policy orientations and cross sectoral coordination, aims to address the cooperation challenges and priorities arising from the Agenda 2030, the AU Agenda 2063 and the proposed 2017 New European Consensus on Development through the lenses of energy, transport, water & sanitation and ICT.

The meeting agreed to put Africa-EU relations on a new footing, based on the pursuit of shared values, common interests and strategic objectives. They also agreed at strengthening their strategic cooperation as equal partners.

The meeting brought together both African and European partners: the European and African Union Commissions, Members States of Africa and the EU, European and International Financing Institutions, African Regional Economic Communities and Sectoral/Thematic Institutions.

For further information, please contact:

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

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