Africa: Boosting Infrastructure and EU-Africa Economic Partnership

Despite advancements in recent decades, Africa still lags behind other continents in terms of its infrastructure development. Both the European and African Union aim to cooperate in solving this shortcoming by supporting the African Agenda on Infrastructure development, specifically through the provision of support to the African Union Development Agency (AUDA NEPAD) and the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). The main targeted sectors are Water, Energy, Transport and TIC, with a special focus on Transport and Connectivity.

The overall objective of this Technical Assistance project is to boost EU-Africa/African continental economic integration. Through this initiative, DT Global will support the African Union (in particular the African Union Commission and its planning agency, AUDA NEPAD) in the prioritization, programming, and implementation processes related to the infrastructure cooperation agenda.

The Technical Assistance will aim at covering the following main tasks:

• Support to AU-UE infrastructure cooperation, with a specific focus on the implementation of the commitments of the 5th AU-EU Summit.
• Support for the implementation of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Priority Action Plan 2 (PAP 2), which is the second PIDA priority action plan for the period 2021-2030.
• Support for the Joint Africa EU Strategy (JAES) Reference Group on Infrastructure (RGI) and provide cross-sectoral infrastructure coordination in the transport, energy, water, and digital domains.
• Support to the strengthening of synergies between the AU and EU, with a particular focus on the PIDA and the EU External Investment Plan (EIP).

Results to date include:

• Support for the PIDA PAP 2 implementation process, with the deployment of key sector advisors in each of the infrastructure sectors targeted by the program.
• Support to the AFCAC (African Civil Aviation Commission), which is the agency of the African Union responsible for Civil Aviation matters in Africa, to facilitate cooperation and coordination among African States towards the development of integrated and sustainable air transport systems. Strong support is being given to this agency in the effort to advance on the SAATM process (Single African Air Transport Market).