Abuja, 27th February, 2020. The African Union Commission (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commenced a 3-day Regional capacity building workshop on 26th February, 2020 in Abuja, Nigeria to train Member States and regional agencies on the process and criteria for the selection of inclusive and multidimensional projects for the second phase of the Priority Action Plan for the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA-PAP II) spanning 2021 to 2030.

.The participants of the workshop comprising of experts from the Telecommunications, Energy, Transport and Water Resources sectors of ECOWAS Member States and Agencies will identify projects which may be part of the PIDA Priority Action Plan 2 (PIDA-PAP 2) through a “bottom-up” approach where projects will be proposed by Regional Economic Communities (RECs) based on Regional Master Plans and proposals by Member States.
The Commissioner of Infrastructure of the ECOWAS Commission, Pathe Gueye, in his remarks at the opening of the workshop stated that, infrastructure plays a key role in economic growth and poverty reduction.

“Infrastructure deficit in Africa brings about a decline in the competitiveness of businesses and negatively impacts the flows of foreign direct investment towards the continent. This in turn slows down the continent’s economic and social development”, he said.
The Commissioner stated that in order to address this challenges, the Heads of State and Government of the AU adopted PIDA at the 18th ordinary session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 29 and 30, 2012. PIDA constitutes the continental strategic framework for infrastructure (transport, water, energy, telecommunications) until 2040.

He highlighted some benefits of ECOWAS in the first phase of PIDA-PAP which spanned from 2011-2020, such as the Institutional and legal Framework study for the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor project to the tune of about 580,000euros and about $600,000 for Development and Investment Plan for the Praia-Dakar-Abidjan Corridor.

Speaking on behalf of the AU, its PIDA Coordinator, Mr. Yagouba Traore, highlighted that the training workshop on the PIDA PAP-2 project selection process will enable them conclude the final list of projects for each sub-region as part of the long-term vision of the African Union. He highlighted that the screening and selection criteria for PAP 2 has peculiar criteria that touches community citizens including the potential of the project to create jobs, gender sensitivity, rural connectivity, climate friendliness and smart/innovative technologies.

Hence, the participants of the workshop will be familiarized with the principles for the project-selection criteria, be equipped with information on identification consolidation which will enable them identify priority projects and submit their proposals for screening which will be presented to the African Union general assembly in January 2021 for its adoption.

With PIDA-PAP 1 (2012-2020) coming to an end, the African Union Commission and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) have decided to accelerate the development of the second phase of the PIDA, PIDA-PAP 2.

PIDA-PAP is in line with the new strategic direction of the AU Agenda 2063. It aims to help Member States build a prosperous and integrated Africa, based on inclusive growth, decent and sufficient jobs and sustainable development.