The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), have reaffirmed their commitment to breaking barriers to Africa’s economic growth and international trade.
They made the commitment when Mrs Nardos Bekele-Thomas, AUDA-NEPAD’s Chief Executive Officer, paid a working visit to Dr Omar Touray, ECOWAS Commission’s President, on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that AUDA-NEPAD is the AU’s technical and development agency, which plays a crucial role in accelerating Africa’s 50-year development framework’s implementation called Agenda 2063.
The African Union’s 50-year vision, otherwise known as “The Africa We Want,” aims for a prosperous Africa driven by its own citizens and globally competitive.
The duo emphasised the need to strengthen AUDA-NEPAD-ECOWAS collaboration, particularly by supporting regional economic growth, international trade and regional agencies like the West African Health Organization (WAHO), among others.
Touray reaffirmed ECOWAS’ support for AUDA-NEPAD and expressed commitment to joint priorities, especially in preparation for the 2025 Spain-Africa Summit.
He emphasised that ECOWAS’ participation was guided by a delivery-focused approach, with a priority on economic growth and overcoming barriers to regional and international trade.
Speaking earlier, Bekele-Thomas introduced the Team Africa AUDA-NEPAD’s platform for implementing Agenda 2063, as the “AU’s 50-year Vision for The Africa We Want.”
She noted that while the first Ten-Year Implementation Plan (2014–2023) achieved some progress, critical gaps remained in areas such as economic transformation and institutional governance.
According to her, the second 10-year implementation plan aims to accelerate progress with greater ambition.
NAN also reports that NEPAD (initially called New Partnership for Africa’s Development) was established in July 2001 by AU Heads of State and Government for Africa’s renewal and accelerated economic development.
Its initial vision was to eradicate poverty, foster sustainable economic growth, promote regional and continental integration, and halt the marginalisation of Africa in global processes.
In 2010, NEPAD’s Secretariat was transformed into the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency to better respond to the evolving demands and complexities of Africa.
It was subsequently transformed into AUDA-NEPAD as a planning and coordination agency in June 2018 at the 31st Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State and Government.
AUDA-NEPAD is the AU Agenda 2063 key implementing arm for development strategy, focusing on incubating high-impact projects, enhancing knowledge sharing, driving socio-economic transformation through industrialisation and people-centered innovation.
