Germany has announced €30 million to support the African Union (AU) activities in the continent for the next two years. The announcement was made during a negotiation on Development Cooperation between the AU and the Government of Germany held late on Wednesday in the presence of officials from both sides at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
The German delegation emphasized the pivotal role of the AU for the process of African integration and for Africa as a partner in the globalised world.
Specifically, the German delegation lauded the AU Strategic Plan 2009-2012 and the significant progress the AU made in advancing the African political agenda, e.g. peace & security, the AU said.
According to the joint media statement, both sides agreed to focus cooperation on few selected areas of pan-African importance in order to maximize impact and visibility and to enhance aid effectiveness.
Peace and security, shared values (good governance), water and institutional transformation are areas the two sides agreed on to boost their cooperation.
“AU/German Cooperation will focus on respective priority agendas, in particular the establishment of the African Peace and Security Architecture, the Sharm el Sheik Water agenda and the Charter for Democracy and Elections, amongst others, with special emphasis on regional infrastructure,” the statement pointed out
The joint statement added that Germany will contribute €10 million to the Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility at the African Development Bank (AfDB), which is preparing regional and pan-African AU priority infrastructure projects.
The AU delegation was led by the deputy AU chairperson Erastus Mwencha while the German delegation was headed by Thomas Albert, deputy director general in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development together with the German Ambassador to the AU, Dr. Claas Knoop.
Source African Press Agency
