LUANDA, May 14 — The implementation of Africa’s Agenda 2063 development blueprint is estimated to cost 8.3 trillion U.S. dollars, with a projected funding gap of 3.3 trillion dollars, an African Union (AU) official said Wednesday. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, chief executive officer of the AU Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), made the remarks in the Angolan capital of Luanda following a meeting with Angolan President and current AU Chairperson Joao Lourenco and representatives of the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions. Bekele-Thomas said national development plans across the AU’s 55 members currently account for approximately 5 trillion dollars in available financing. “This means we are facing a shortfall of 3.3 trillion dollars to fully realize the Agenda 2063 implementation plan,” she said. The high-level meeting, convened at the initiative of the AU chairperson, brought together 20 leaders from African financial institutions to explore strategies for mobilizing resources to accelerate infrastructure development across the continent. Bekele-Thomas said the meeting aimed to define a financing strategy for the Africa development plan, which she described as both ambitious and high in value, noting that the first phase of the plan targets achieving a high level of economic development in every African country within the next decade.
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