ECOWAS and AUDA-NEPAD Hold Strategic Talks Ahead of 2025 Spain-Africa Summit.
By Raymond Enoch
In a pivotal move to align Africa’s regional and continental development agendas, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, on Wednesday received in audience Mrs. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), to the ECOWAS Headquarters in Abuja for a high-level bilateral talks.
The meeting, held on June 25, 2025, is coming at a critical time as both institutions intensify preparations for the landmark 2025 Spain-Africa Summit. The summit is expected to serve as a cornerstone event for advancing Africa-Europe cooperation, particularly in economic transformation, trade, and health.
Mrs. Bekele-Thomas introduced Team Africa, AUDA-NEPAD’s strategic platform for implementing Agenda 2063—the African Union’s 50-year blueprint for transforming the continent. She highlighted the mixed outcomes of the First Ten-Year Implementation Plan (2014–2023), acknowledging progress in areas such as infrastructure and peacebuilding, but citing persisting gaps in institutional governance and economic diversification.
“The Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan (STYIP) is designed to be ambitious, result-driven, and inclusive,” Bekele-Thomas stated, adding that AUDA-NEPAD is committed to working closely with regional bodies like ECOWAS to ensure that African priorities shape the international agenda at the upcoming Spain-Africa Summit.
In his remarks, Dr. Touray reaffirmed ECOWAS’s unwavering support for AUDA-NEPAD’s agenda. “Our shared focus is on delivery, not just dialogue,” he said, underscoring ECOWAS’s priority on accelerating economic growth, breaking down trade barriers, and enhancing regional health systems through agencies such as the West African Health Organization (WAHO).
The leaders emphasized the necessity of stronger synergy between AUDA-NEPAD and ECOWAS, particularly in driving cross-border development initiatives and amplifying Africa’s voice on the global stage.
As the countdown begins to the 2025 Spain-Africa Summit, today’s meeting marked a significant step toward a unified continental strategy—one grounded in integration, innovation, and inclusive growth.
