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Mobility and Transport
News article25 July 2019Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport

Africa-Europe Alliance: Transport Task Force presents recommendations to promote sustainable development and jobs

The Africa-Europe Alliance Transport and Connectivity Task Force will today bring together leading experts from the public and private sectors of both continents from the world of mobility and connectivity. They will conclude their joint work with a series of recommendations to promote sustainable development and jobs, especially in Africa.

This meeting, which was co-chaired by European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc and African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, H.E. Amani Abou-Zeid, is the culmination of work undertaken since the Task Force's launch in January 2019. It brings together key recommendations in all three of the Task Force's clusters: Infrastructure and Connectivity, Road Safety, and Air Transport.

Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc said:"The EU-Africa Transport Task Force is a clear sign of an increased focus on partnership between the African Union and the European Union. Our cooperation is in the first phase focused, in a form of concrete recommendations and clear action plans, on 3 priority clusters: connectivity with a trans Africa connectivity infrastructure, aviation with the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), and road safety with a comprehensive system approach. Cooperation based on a mutual respect and shared commitments is a solid foundation for long term partnership including exchange of good practices, investments and joined global engagement."

Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, said:"Improving transport and connectivity is vital if Africa is to achieve its full potential. These recommendations will enable Africa to better harness the transport sector and use it as a key driver of economic integration, increased investment, and job creation. I thank all involved in producing the recommendations presented today. Our next job is to ensure these ideas are taken up and implemented, so that both African and European citizens can benefit."

The members of each cluster will firstly meet separately to conclude the work on their recommendations, before joining together to present the final recommendations. The Task Force as a whole will meet with a view to endorsing the overall recommendations across the three areas. A single report presenting these recommendations, as well as key challenges that are faced, will then be published as soon as possible.

Background

This task force is part of the 'Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs' announced by President Juncker at his State of the Union speech in 2018. The aim of the Alliance is to take the EU's partnership with Africa to the next level by working together to boost strategic investment and create jobs.

The Transport and Connectivity Task Force was one of four set up as part of the Alliance to deliver this vision. The others focus on agriculture, the digital economy and energy.

The Transport and Connectivity Task Force consisted of key players from both regions notably the European Commission, the African Union Commission, EU and AU Member States, as well as financing institutions, the private sector and academia.

For more information

Find out more about the Africa-Europe Alliance.

Find out more about the previous meetings of the different clusters which comprise the Transport Task Force - Connectivity, Air Transport, and Road Safety.

20 JULY 2021
2019-07-factsheet-africa-alliance.pdf
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Details

Publication date
25 July 2019
Author
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport