AfDB, AUC sign grant agreement on Africa's infrastructure

31 January 2014

Xinhua

African Development Bank (AfDB ) and African Union (AU) Commission have signed an 8.9-million-U.S.- dollar grant agreement for capacity building in infrastructure development in Africa.

The signing ceremony for the three-year capacity building grant took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during the ongoing 22nd AU summit, and was witnessed by officials from AU, AfDB, the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA), said AU in a statement on Wednesday.

The grant will support activities aimed at strengthening the capacity of African countries through their respective Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as the AU Commission and NPCA to plan, prepare and coordinate the implementation of regional infrastructure programs and projects.

The implemented programs and projects are necessary for enhancing Africa's physical and economic integration and socio- economic trans formation with a focus on the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

The grant will support the accelerated implementation of PIDA Priority Action Plan (PIDA PAP), a set of 51 priority programs and projects at an investment cost of 68 billion dollars to be implemented by the year 2020.

PIDA considers priority the regional cross-border infrastructure projects in energy, water, transport and ICT intended to interconnect, integrate and transform Africa through modern infrastructure.

It provides the strategic framework for African stakeholders to build the infrastructure necessary for more integrated infrastructure networks to boost trade, spark growth and create jobs as well as to support regional integration and linkages into the global economy.

Infrastructure remains a core priority for the AfDB and for Africa, and over the six years up to 2012, the Bank invested directly over 20 billion dollars in infrastructure, according to the statement.

Category: Transport