AU Finalizing Ten-Year Plan for Massive Infrastructures that Integrate Africa

ENA,February 10/2020 The African Union has a development agenda for infrastructures in Africa with the purpose of integrating the continent through competitive economy, AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy said.

In press briefing she gave to journalists today, Abou-zeid Amani, AU Commissioner for Department of Infrastructure and Energy said a ten-year plan for development in areas of ICT, transport, energy and tourism sector is nearing completion.

The plan is crucial as development is the basis to generate employment, lift population out of poverty through building infrastructures, she added.

AU has a development agenda for infrastructure in Africa, with the purpose of integrating the continent through competitive economy.

The department has completed the mid-term review of Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (2012-2020) which took stock of its implementation and drew key findings and recommendations, according to Amani.

The second phase of the programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA)
from 2021-2030 is among the list of priority projects that will be presented to the AU Summit for adoption in January 2021, it was learned.

According to the commissioner, the second phase of the project expected to consume 135 billion USD is going to be gender inclusive along value chain.

The programme is a robust framework that defines priority infrastructure projects to be implemented across the continent at national and trans-boundary levels, Amani added.

She further stated that the transport sector, which aims at creating smart, dynamic, and reliable cross-border linkages throughout the African continent, is a combination of African Integrated High-Speed Railway Network project and Single African Air Transport Market.

The department has been working on two major projects namely the Digital Transformation Strategy (DTS) for Africa and the Policy and Regulation Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA).

It will guide a common, coordinated digitalization agenda to enhance synergies and avoid duplication of efforts, the commissioner explained.

On energy sector, the AUC actions focus on continental electricity market, continental power system master plan, geothermal risk mitigation facility, African energy information system and energy transition programme.

The aim of the african energy information system (AEIS) is to gather a large amount of information and data on energy to contribute to African energy development, based on accurate energy statistics.