Africa Union Commission: Spotlight on Infrastructure Development in Africa at Expo 2020, Connections with GMES and Africa

In Dubai, on 31st October and 1st November 2021, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) convened a high-level conference to mobilize support for strategic continental infrastructure and energy projects in Africa.

The conference delivered the African vision for transformational infrastructure, while engaging stakeholders on the effective delivery of infrastructure and energy in Africa.

“We believe that Africa’s better days lie ahead of us. Appropriate infrastructure is a prerequisite for implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). However, the lack of well-prepared and bankable infrastructure projects has been a major constraint. This is why we are working with AUDA-NEPAD, AfDB and other partners in the NEPAD Project Preparation Facility, encouraging strategic partnerships with the private sector,”

The links with existing African initiatives, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA-PAP2), the Green Funds, and the importance of Impact Investors, Public-Private Partnerships and, Strategic Partnerships, were pinpointed. The PIDA PAP II consist notably of 11 Information Communication Technology projects. There is also connections with the GMES and Africa Programme that would need further explorations.

Like its predecessors, the AUC GMES and Africa Programme contributes to the development of infrastructures in Africa, infrastructures that have a transformational potential. Its specificity is to vehiculate Earth observation data and products to users: Between 2016 and 2021, around 200 Earth Observation data and products receiving stations have been delivered by the MESA and GMES and Africa Programmes to a equal number of beneficiaries distributed in 54 African Countries.

These EO Stations continuously receive broadcast of data and products from the EumetCAST system. In order to offer alternatives to satellite broadcasting, collaborations with the EU Africa Connect Programme have also been explored.

In two decades, the Projects and Programmes PUMA, AMESD, MESA and GMES, have created in Africa an ecosystem composed of human and material resources, in some cases mature capacities, that can contribute to the transformation of Africa.  

Implemented by the ESTI Department (Education Science Technology and Innovation) and a Joint Initiative of the European Union and the African Union Commission, the GMES and Africa Programme is a flagship Programme of the African Union Commission.

 

 

Source: The African Union Commission
https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20211104/spotlight-infrastructure-development-africa-expo-2020


More information

• The Event, https://africaexpo2020dubai.au.int/en/events/infrastructure-development-africa
• The PIDA-PAP 2 is the second PIDA priority action plan for the period 2021-2030 serving AU vision, https://pp2.au-pida.org/
• EUMETCast is the primary dissemination mechanism of EUMETSAT for the near real-time delivery of satellite data and products, http://gmes4africa.blogspot.com/2021/10/gain-insight-on-eumetcast.html
• Co-funded by the European Union and delivered locally by regional organisations - UbuntuNet Alliance, WACREN and ASREN, together with GÉANT, the AfricaConnect Programme supports the creation, development and use of advanced, reliable internet connectivity for the teaching, learning and research communities of Africa. https://africaconnect3.net/