The implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) is on course and the first two major projects — the power interconnections between Nigeria, Benin and Togo, as well as between Algeria, Morocco and Spain — will be announced shortly, Wiseman Nkuhlu, the chairman of the Nepad Steering Committee, said on Monday.
Nkuhlu told the second African Investment Forum in Johannesburg that right from the start, Nepad saw the need for partnerships with business and the need to create a stable investment climate for business.
“That is why there is so much focus in the Nepad documentation on corruption and corporate governance, which are impediments to investment and sustainable development,” he said.
The Nepad Secretariat together with Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) and South Africa’s Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) are hosting the AIF.
“Conferences such as this one help to build mutual trust and responsibility between business and governments, as well as show casing African investment opportunities. Nepad is only 30 months young and its implementation will stretch over many decades,” Nkuhlu said.
Building on the success of the ground-breaking Commonwealth-Africa Investment Forum held in Abuja, Nigeria, April 2002, the Johannesburg, Africa Investment Forum will explore the means for delivering cross-border development projects.
Stressing the need for some “quick hits” to encourage progress, the sessions will focus on key investment issues including infrastructure development and finance; expanding regional markets; information and communications technology; and agriculture. – I-Net Bridge