EC Proposes Action Plan for Transport Cooperation with Africa
October 23, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
The European Commission (EC) announced on Oct. 22 it will initiate an action plan with Africa to discuss ways to strengthen transport links between the two continents on an ongoing basis.
The announcement was made at the Euro-African Transport Forum, which was held during the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Days Conference in Naples.
The forum was attended by representatives of the EC and the European Union (EU) member states, as well as those from African countries and regional organizations.
The forum is directly linked to the EC's recent communication on partnership between the EU and Africa, which proposed reinforcing cooperation in the transport sector by making Europe's experience in this area available to Africa and by writing preliminary thoughts about a concrete action plan aimed at strengthening the interconnections between the EU and the African transportation networks.
Further cooperation is expected to lead to increased trade and improved safety and security, as well as a transport system that is better equipped to deal with the challenges of climate change.
"Africa has the potential to emerge as an important trade partner to the EU, but weak transport infrastructure and services are preventing economic development in the continent," said EC vice president Antonio Tajani, in charge of transport. "An efficient transport system will be key to accelerating this process and our experience of the TEN-T can be of great use as we are faced with many of the same challenges, such as fighting climate change and improving standards for safety and security. It is part of being a good neighbor to find solutions together."
Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim, commissioner for infrastructure and energy of the African Union Commission, said, "Africa has opened doors to various development partners to work together to find solutions to the implementation of its infrastructure programs. The EU-Africa Infrastructure Partnership is one of the key partnerships that Africa expects to result in significant progress in infrastructure development in the continent. The EU-Africa Transport Forum would be a special opportunity to discuss strategies for realization of this objective."
The EC said that improving Africa's infrastructure - in particular, its transport networks - should lead to better interconnected networks, and to safer and more reliable transport services, which will have a positive impact on living conditions as well as on the economic growth of the entire continent. However, Africa is often not always in a position to cope with such challenges by itself.
"The EU-Africa Transport Forum will provide a platform for ongoing discussions on how to reinforce transport interconnections and strengthen the cooperation between our two continents; we are already working together with African countries, in particular on setting up a partnership on civil aviation," added Tajani.
The EC said that the results of the Euro-African Transport Forum's discussions and the identification of priorities should be considered as the starting point for establishing a priority action plan and identifying the possible financial resources that could be allocated to that action plan by mid 2010.
For more information, see the TEN-T Days Conference web site.
Source: European Commission (EC).