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Home / PM to attend NEPAD, AREI meetings in Ethiopia
PM to attend NEPAD, AREI meetings in Ethiopia
2017-06-30Staff Report 2 Kuzeeko Tjitemisa Windhoek-Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila will lead a delegation of cabinet ministers and senior government officials to the 29th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly in Ethiopia, the presidential spokesperson Albertus Aochamub confirmed yesterday. Aochamub said President Hage Geingob has delegated the Prime Minister to attend the 36th Session of the NEPAD Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative Committee, which will be held on the margins of the AU Assembly. Speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said: “Namibia has presented an infrastructure development project proposal to the committee which is being considered.” She said as a member of the Board of Directors of the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), President Geingob would also attend the board’s third meeting that will discuss the governance and rules of procedures of the organisation. “AREI seeks to achieve at least 10 gigawatts of new energy capacity by 2020 in Africa, and additional renewable energy generation of at least 300 gigawatts by 2030,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is also the deputy prime minister. During last year’s 28th AU Assembly Geingob signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the African Peer-Review Mechanism (APRM), making Namibia the 36th member state of the APRM. The APRM is a tool for sharing experiences, reinforcing best practices, identifying deficiencies and assessing capacity-building needs to foster policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration. According to Nandi-Ndaitwah, Cabinet directed that the government begin the process for institutionalising the APRM, including establishing the necessary structures, such as the National Governance Committee, the secretariat to service the committee and a technical research team from tertiary institutions, to collect and analyse data, carry out research and compile relevant reports. She said relevant government offices, ministries and agencies are therefore seized with the matter and the entire government machinery is expected to work together to improve good governance and strengthen the country’s democratic institutions. Nandi-Ndaitwah added that APRM members would also take advantage of the Assembly to consult on matters related to its activities. The week-long 29th AU Assembly that started on Tuesday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa will end next week Tuesday under this year’s theme ‘Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investment in the Youth’. The Assembly will be preceded by a meeting of permanent representatives and the executive council. 2017-06-30Staff Report 2
