The third Meeting of the JPO Steering Committee, 5th of December 2017, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

On the 5^th of December 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the 3^rd Meeting of the Steering Committee gathered 23 participants from AUC DIE, EUDEL AUC, EC, AFCAC, ICAO, ACAC, ASECNA and regional economic communities among which ECCAS, EAC, IGAD, ECOWAS, COMESA.

This 3^rd Meeting was co-chaired by EU Delegation to the AU, Mr. Francisco Carreras Sequeros, Head of Cooperation and Mr Cheikh Ould Bedda, Director of Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union Commission.

This intensive one-day but fruitful working session enabled SC Members to address the various aspects of the work programme and to make the necessary recommendations to fast-track the implementation of the Action, this as per their main mandate to oversee and validate the overall strategic direction and policy of The Action “Support to the Joint Programme Office (JPO)”

The DIE called for the SC to give new impulse to the Action while accelerating the implementation of the Recommendations of the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure, Energy and Tourism (STC-TTIET) in Lomé, among which focusing efforts on the conduct of the continental CBA study and strategy, for which a Task Team is being setup by AFCAC.

While commending the significant progress achieved by the Action and the contribution delivered by the JPO towards implementation of its programme, the DIE called for the Meeting to focus on the implementation of the recommendation n°7 of the STC-TTIET Declaration of Lomé, which will be supported through the creation of an AUC Working Group under the Sub-Committee on Transport to oversee, among others the issue of the institutionalisation of the JPO.

The 3rd Meeting was also an opportunity for all RECs to exchange and share their experience regarding advancement of the Action at their respective Modules level while discussing initiatives such as ASECNA's Phase-B studies.

The Next Meeting of the SC is scheduled in May 2018 in Brussels.