The President of Angola, João Lourenço, today asked for more resources for the African Development Agency, the AUDA-NEPAD, as a condition for Africa to determine its own future in the face of the current international context.
© Lusa
04/10/2026
by
Lusa
O angolan head of state spoke in Egypt, where a summit of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the 8th took place this weekend. Quarterly Coordination Summit between the African Union and the Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms.
As Chairman of the Guidance Committee for the Heads of State and Government of the AUDA-NEPAD, João Lourenço presented today a performance report and highlighted the importance of the African Union Development Agency.
The President of Angola defended “a strong and adequately resourced AUDA-NEPAD” and stressed that “Member State funding remains central to strengthening the sustainability of the Agency and the wider system of the African Union.”.
João Lourenço pointed out that “the international context has become more complex and unpredictable, development funding is under pressure, geopolitical competition has intensified and economies are increasingly exposed to external shocks affecting the trade, energy, food security and public finances of each of our nations.”.
“ We are increasingly aware that our continent cannot achieve its development ambitions by remaining overly dependent on external funding. We should therefore increasingly mobilise our own public, private and institutional capital and guide it to our continental priorities”, he said.
The Angolan President recalled that the African Continental Free Trade Zone represents a historic opportunity by creating a market of approximately 1.4 billion people, with a growth forecast in intra-African trade of 52% by 2035.
The Head of State referred to some of the achievements achieved, such as the harmonisation of procedures in Corridor Abidjan–Lagos, which covers five states, the operationalisation of the Kenya–Tanzania energy interconnection, the entry into service of the 400 kW power transmission line linking Mozambique to Malawi and the completion of the pre-viability work of the Angola-DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) interconnection between Soyo and Inga.
It highlighted the expansion of the Single Stop Border Post model in different regions of the continent and of more than 50 regional Information and Communication Technology infrastructure projects, having been positively evaluated for their financial viability.
The Luanda Summit on Financing for Infrastructure Development in Africa “gave USD 43.9 billion (EUR 39 billion) to build, improve and operate regional infrastructure in the transport, energy, water and digital infrastructure sectors, with greater involvement of African financial institutions.
The Infrastructure Guarantee Platform aims to reach USD 10 billion (EUR 8.8 billion) by 2030, and through African capital 54 billion (about EUR 48 billion) was mobilised for the Pension Fund.
Through the Africa Africa Team Initiative, AUDA-NEPAD consolidated a coordinated portfolio of investments with more than 300 regional projects, valued at approximately 500 billion dollars (444 billion euros).
The report also reports on the Competences for Africa Initiative, valued at over EUR 100 million, which is implementing 48 skills projects in eight countries, in the areas of education, health, youth and empowerment of women.