President Paul Kagame yesterday joined other African Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa Ethiopia to discuss ways of addressing challenges faced by Africa to finance its infrastructure projects. 

Meeting under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee, the leaders took stock of the current progress.

As the ICT Champion within Nepad-PCI initiative, President Kagame presented a report on the progress in this sector, highlighting the recent Transform Africa Summit held in Kigali and attended by heads of States from Burkina Faso, Gabon, Kenya, Mali, Uganda, South Sudan.

Progress in ICT

The summit held in October 2013 resulted in the Smart Africa Manifesto which calls for African leaders to ensure information and communication technology play a central role in socio-economic transformation, improve access to ICT and promote the role of the private sector in ICT.

The President is accompanied by First Lady Jeannette Kagame and Foreign Affairs minister Louise Mushikiwabo.

Meanwhile, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) meeting was also held during which South Africa, Mozambique and Benin presented their individual country reports on key priorities areas including education, health, economy and infrastructure.

Sideline meeting

The Mechanism, established in 2003 by the African Union, serves as a framework for implementation for Nepad.  

Minister Mushikiwabo said under the APRM, nations hold each other accountable, learn from each other and face common challenges together.

Later, President Kagame held bilateral meetings with former President of Ghana, John Kufuor and Hilde Johnson, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in South Sudan and head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the South Sudan.

Today, the Heads of State are expected to hold an opening session which will be followed by a closed discussion on several issues, including peace and security in the region, agriculture and the post 2015 Millennium Development Goals.  

The African Union has declared 2014 the Year of Agriculture and Food Security in Africa.