In Nouakchott, Mauritania, the NEPAD Agency submitted recommendations for the endorsement of the Continental Transmission Network to the Specialised Technical Committee Ministerial Meeting. The continental transmission network will link Africa as whole to Europe, Asia and the Gulf States. It will also enable any country in Africa to source its energy from the most competitive supplier and create a mega size energy trade market within Africa and with other continents and regions.

The African Union, in collaboration with Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania organised the First Ordinary Session of the Sub Committee on Energy of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructures, Energy and Tourism. The first meeting of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Energy was convened on 21-22 March, followed by STC Ministerial Meeting on 23 March.

The main objectives of the STC sub-committee on energy were to take stock of the action plan agreed upon in Lomé, Togo, in March 2017- the outcomes of the July 2017 Summit on the implementation of the energy action plan and to deliberate on an M&E system to follow up on the 2017-2019 energy action plan. The outcomes of the STC subcommittee on energy and its recommendations were forwarded to the STC Ministerial meeting for consideration and endorsement.

Prof Elmissiry represented the NEPAD Agency in the STC sub-committee on energy and gave a speech on behalf the Agency’s CEO, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, during the STC Ministerial Meeting opening session.

NEPAD Agency responded to the roles assigned to it under the STC action plan agreed upon in Lomé in 2017 with an update on the progress made thus far. The main highlights of the NEPAD Agency’s achievements under Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa’s Priority Action Plan (PIDA PAP) in 2017 include the Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya interconnector, the Batoka Gorge, the Ethiopia –Sudan transmission line and Inga III.

Current status of remaining PIDA PAP energy projects was also given, as well as NEPAD Agency’s energy action plan for 2018/2019 and how it will directly contribute to the implementation of the STC action plan on energy.

In addition, the meeting was briefed on NEPAD Agency’s programme for implementation of Africa’s high priority renewable energy projects under the Renewable Energy for Rural Access Project and its achievements in The Gambia, Madagascar, Tanzania and Rwanda. The meeting was also briefed of NEPAD Agency’s achievements within M&E of PIDA projects and in particular the Virtual PIDA Information Centre (VPiC) and Infrastructure Management. In addition the Service Delivery Mechanism for the provision of technical assistance to develop projects was also expounded on, with recommendations made to support it.

Prof Elmissiry ended the presentation with the vision for the development of a master plan for the establishing of a continental transmission network that will link all the 55 African countries

The Ministerial Meeting, which was chaired by the Minister of Energy and Petroleum in Mauritania and also attended by a number of African Ministers, was pleased with the NEPAD Agency’s submission and endorsed recommendations for the development of a master plan for a continental transmission network ,under section 33 and 34 of The Report of Experts Meeting, 21-22 March 2018. It went further and called upon development partners to assist in the development of the master plan. It also called upon regional economic communities to fast track the connections of the remaining countries within their regions.