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AU Chairman Kufuor rallies support for
common Pan African Fund for development
From Kwaku Osei Bonsu; GNA Special Correspondent, Algiers
Algiers, March 21, GNA - African Uion Chairman President
John Agyekum Kufuor has called on his colleague African
leaders to back the setting up of a common Pan African Fund
for infrastructure development on the continent.
The Fund would help to provide seed money and counterpart
funds to attract credit lines from development partners for
implementation of specific projects.
President Kufuor said this initiative, a brain-child of
South Africa, which proposes using a portion of pension
funds from AU member countries for the purpose, could be
developed within the ambit of the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD).
He was addressing a day's summit to brainstorm on the
integration of NEPAD into the AU structure held in the
Algerian Capital, Algiers, on Wednesday.
Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, President Thabo
Mbeki of South Africa, Nigerian President Oulsegun Obasanjo,
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Mr Alpha Omar
Konare, President of the AU Commission, were among those who
attended.
NEPAD, represents a new development vision for Africa's
renewal by creating conditions for sustainable progress
through peace and security, democracy, good political,
economic and corporate governance.
Its key priority action areas include ensuring that the
African Peer Review Mechanism becomes functional, supporting
the implementation of regional infrastructure programmes
like transport, energy, water and sanitation, and
Information, Communication Technology (ICT).
Additionally, it is also to facilitate the preparation of a
coordinated African position on market access, debt relief
and Overseas Development Assistance.
President Kufuor said it was time concrete steps were taken
to create the necessary synergy to incorporate the NEPAD,
which already had been acknowledged by the development
partners such as the Group of Eight Industrialised countries
(G-8) into the AU structure for maximum benefits and avoid
the danger of the two developing parallel strategic plans.
He noted that NEPAD has chalked some successes, citing, it's
attraction of projects, including the Global Fund to fight
AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, the e-Schools pilot project
in 16 countries, including Ghana, Uganda, Losotho and Kenya
and the roll out of the Comprehensive African Agricultural
Development Programme (CCAD) under which, the school feeding
programme was being implemented.
President Kufuor said it was on the basis of this that; "We
must all muster the necessary political will to take bold
and decisive actions in our quest to harmonise our
strategies, programmes and projects for promoting
development objectives of the continent."
He said the NEPAD should be used during the forthcoming
AU-G8, and the AU-European Union (EU) summits to identify a
few well-studied projects to invite those partners to buy
into.
"Success in this will make the critical difference we want
African and indeed the entire world to see as what AU with
its NEPAD is all about", he added.
GNA
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