Niamey, 24th November 2022: The African Union Members States, the Regional Economic Communities, the United Nations (FAO, UNIDO, ECA), and Development Partners converged to discuss the implementation and financing modalities for the establishment of the Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs). The event took place on the margins of the ongoing AU Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification, in Niamey, Niger, under the theme: “The Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) as a vehicle for attracting private investments in establishing transboundary mega agro-industrial hubs on the continent”, within the framework of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Programme (CAADP) and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063.
In her opening remarks, H.E. Amb. Josefa Sacko, the AUC Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (ARBE), stated that the creation of 5 large agro-industrial zones, one in each region of Africa, will serve as major agricultural development hubs for the continent. The CAAPs was adopted by the Ministers of Agriculture in October 2019 to boost the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Amb. Sacko further reiterated that, “there is no more time to waste for more speeches. It is rather time to stimulate private and public investment in the agro-industries; and unleash the existing strong potential of the African capital market, such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and private equity funds of African business personalities.”
Likewise, H.E. Amb. Albert M. Muchanga, the AUC Commissioner, Economic Development, Trade, Industry, and Mining (ETIM) emphasized that a five-year business plan for the Agricultural sector in Africa is imperative as he alluded to the sentiments of H.E. Amb. Josefa Sacko that food items should no longer be on the list of importations in Africa.
The strongest slant during the side event was, “no more talk! It is time for action! Africa can no longer rely on its neighbors to build its own granary!” positioned Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, the Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa. Therefore, the Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) Programme is a mega-initiative aimed at creating regional agro-industrial hubs implemented by the African Union.
The CAAPs was conceptualized to respond to the continent’s demand for increasing the supply of locally produced agricultural goods, reversing projections on African food imports, value-added processing of agricultural products to boost intra-African trade and investment, tapping on the African food import market approximated at $50 billion per year. The CAAPs also intend to provide over 8 million job opportunities within the crop and livestock value chains. Mr. Mohamed Ali, the Director of Trade in Goods and Competition representing the Secretary General of the AfCFTA confirmed that the CAAPs must become the horse on which the AfCFTA must run.
CAAPS, a 37-million-dollar investment, has already received USD 0.5million USD in seed capital from Afreximbank. On the implementation of the cross-border agro parks in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Hon. Chipoka Mulenga, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Zambia, was very optimistic that the common Agro-industrial parks would provide food sustainability for Zambia and the continent. In her affirmation, Hon. Dr. Sekai. I. Nzenza, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Zimbabwe, highlighted that collaboration between Zimbabwe and Zambia is an unforced natural phenomenon, flagging cultural and historical heritages shared by both nations. The new era for Zambia – Zimbabwe collaborations has been restated as the CAAPs. As the former breadbasket of Southern Africa, Zimbabwe is looking to include CAAPs in its strategy for agricultural recovery.
It was also discussed that small-holder farmers should be at the center of the CAAPs initiative as commodities’ quality, quantity, and consistency will inform final production. Hon. Mudrik Ramadhan Soroga, minister of Trade, Investment, and Industrialization in Zanzibar, affirmed that the young generation that is high-tech savvy would take the mantle and move the talk to the action! On the other hand, the private sector, represented by Madam Emma Kawawa, CEO of Tanzania Women CEOs roundtable, confirmed that SME banking would go a long way to support growers and other logistical enterprises. Following the reading of Declaration of theAfrican Union Stakeholders on Mobilizing Partnerships for Implementing the CAAPs, H.E. Francois Kanimba, the Commissioner for the Common Market, Economic, Monetary and Financial Affairs of Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), reinforced that partnerships and joint ventures will ensure the success of the CAAPs
NIAMEY, 24 November – “The creation of five large agro-industrial zones, one in each region of Africa, will serve as major agricultural hubs on the continent, and it is time to stimulate private and public investments in the agro-industries,” said African Union’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment, Josefa Sacko.
Speaking at a side event held on the margins of the AU Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification in Niamey, Niger, Sacko added that it was also the time to unleash the existing strong potential of the African capital market, such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and private equity funds of African business personalities. “Agro-industrial parks have proven to be an effective policy tool to facilitate investment and help governments achieve their development agendas,” said UNIDO’s Division of Agribusiness and Infrastructure Development Director, Dejene Tezera.
The event, themed “The Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) as a vehicle for attracting private investments in establishing transboundary mega agro-industrial hubs on the continent” was co-organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the AUC, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Food and Agriculture Organization, Member States and regional economic communities.
The CAAPs was set-up with the aim of establishing a number of cross-border agro-industrial parks within the regional economic communities. Conceptualized in 2019, the programme is one of the concrete initiatives of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) in support of the African Union Agenda 2063 and the CAADP Malabo commitments, in particular “tripling Intra-African trade for agricultural commodities and services.” The CAAPs also intend to provide over 8 million job opportunities within the crop and livestock value chains. The transboundary dimension of the CAAPs presents vast potential for developing cross-border market linkages to connect all agro-parks initiatives to respond to Africa’s food gap, presently filled by imports.
FARA’s Executive Director, Yemi Akinbamijo remarked that it was time for action and that “Africa can no longer rely on its neighbours to build its own granary”. Zambia’s Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Chipoka Mulenga and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, Sekai. I. Nzenza expressed their optimism for the Common Agro-Industrial Park initiative, the first joint-programme to be piloted under the CAAP. Both Ministers remarked that the initiative will strengthen intra-African trade, food security and food exports.
The event brought together 100 participants and stakeholders from various fields. Francois Kanimba, the Commissioner of the Economic Community of Central African States responsible for Common Market, Economic, Monetary and Financial Affairs stressed the critical role that CAAP will play in promoting agricultural value chains at the regional and continent levels. A publication, “Guidelines for Planning, Development and Management of Integrated Agro-Food Parks (IAFPs)” was also released. The guidelines provide recommendations on how IAFPs can be adapted to local conditions and dynamics. They were developed based on best practices compiled from UNIDO’s pilot projects benchmarked against prevailing international standards.
In accordance with the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution passed in 2016, UNIDO is tasked with leading the implementation of the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa in cooperation with the African Union and other partners.
For more information please visit: https://www.unido.org/AIW2022
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT)
Consulting Services:
Recruitment of a Junior Consultant to develop a virtual architectural design as input to the Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) Programme communication materials
Name of Project:
FARA/CAAPs
Activity Ref No:
CAAPs Activity 0.3.4
Procurement Ref:
FARA/CAAPs/CS/IC/2022/02
Date:
Tuesday, September 06, 2022
Submission deadline:
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
The Common African Agro-Parks Programme (CAAPs) was initiated in 2019 as one of the concrete initiatives of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Programme (CAADP) to be implemented within the framework of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 for achieving the CAADP Malabo commitments, especially the one on “tripling Intra-African trade for agricultural commodities and services.
CAAPs emerged from the major recommendations of the Inaugural CAADP-Biennial Review (BR) Report presented to the 2018 AU Assembly of Heads of States, where recommendations were formulated for the AU Commission to initiate continental actions that shall aim at: i)- boosting regional trade for agricultural commodities by increasing locally processing of key agricultural products and their respective value chains; ii)- promoting and facilitating increased consumption of locally and regionally produced agricultural commodities; iii) -achieving self-sufficiency and lowest possible importation of key agriculture commodities in Africa, and iv)-stimulating local and regional private sector investments in agriculture. The implementation of the CAAPs will help Africa to take over the African Food Import Market of about USD50 billion per annum that is currently outsourced to the rest of the world.
The CAAPs is coordinated by the AU Commission through the Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE); the Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining (ETIM) in partnership with the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); – African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim Bank); and the Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA).
These core institutions are steering the coordination of the CAAPs through two major organs: the CAAPs Steering Committee (CAAP-SC) and the Technical Coordination Team (the CAAPs-TCT), with the CAAPs-Secretariat hosted at FARA.
As part of the technical coordination of the CAAPs-Programme, the CAAPs-Secretariat intends to strengthen its mechanisms for communication and advocacy to support engagements at all levels. To this end, the FARA Secretariat wishes to engage the services of a junior consultant to:
develop virtual architectural impressions and 3D models of CAAPs infrastructure and associated flythroughs
deploy (a) above to support the development of a CAAPs communication video built on audiovisual comments and interviews from CAAPs Leaders and agro-industrial parks stakeholders.
The overall objective of the assignment is to prepare a virtual architectural design of the CAAPs infrastructure model and facilitate the application of this design/model to advance the communication and visibility of CAAPs.
The Executive Director of FARA invites interested Junior Consultants to express interest in carrying out this assignment.
Consultants interested in this call must provide an Expression of Interest no longer than 10 pages, outlining proposed methodologies, references related to the execution of similar contracts, experience in similar areas, or evidence of knowledge and a proposed timeline. Brochures, CVs, and other supplementary materials submitted shall not be accounted for as part of the 10-page limit.
This consultancy’s anticipated performance period is 25 man-days spread over three months. The work is expected to be carried out from the 3rd of October 2022 to the 30th of December 2022.
The individual consultant shall be selected based on procedures defined in the Procurement Guidelines of FARA.
Interested consultants may obtain further information from the CAAPs Programme Coordinator, Anselme Vodounhessi[[email protected]], and copy the Knowledge Management, Communication and Learning Cluster Leader, Mr. Benjamin Abugri[[email protected]], during the following hours: 9h00 to 15h00 GMT.
Please download the Terms of Reference below for further information on this opportunity.
Expressions of Interest should be submitted electronically to [[email protected]] and addressed to Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director of FARA, No 7 Flower Avenue, New Achimota, Mile 7, Accra, Ghana, no later than Tuesday, 20th September 2022, at 14h00 GMT. Tel: +233 302 772823/744888
FARA Affirmative Action Statement on Recruitment: there is no discrimination based on gender race, religion, ethnic orientation, disability, or health status.
Recruitment of a Junior Consultant to provide communication services and
develop a communication video for the Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs)
Name of Project:
FARA/CAAPs
Activity Ref No:
CAAPs Activity 0.3.4
Procurement Ref:
FARA/CAAPs/CS/IC/2022/01
Date:
Tuesday, September 06, 2022
Submission deadline:
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
The Common African Agro-Parks Programme (CAAPs) was initiated in 2019 as one of the concrete initiatives of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Programme (CAADP) to be implemented within the framework of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 for achieving the CAADP Malabo commitments, especially the one on “tripling Intra-African trade for agricultural commodities and services.
CAAPs emerged from the major recommendations of the Inaugural CAADP-Biennial Review (BR) Report presented to the 2018 AU Assembly of Heads of States, where recommendations were formulated for the AU Commission to initiate continental actions that shall aim at: i)- boosting regional trade for agricultural commodities by increasing locally processing of key agricultural products and their respective value chains; ii)- promoting and facilitating increased consumption of locally and regionally produced agricultural commodities; iii) -achieving self-sufficiency and lowest possible importation of key agriculture commodities in Africa; and iv)-stimulating local and regional private sector investments in agriculture. The implementation of the CAAPs will help Africa to take over the African Food Import Market of about USD50 billion per annum that is currently outsourced to the rest of the world.
The CAAPs is coordinated by the AU Commission, through the Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE); the Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining (ETIM) in partnership with the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); – African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim Bank); and the Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA).
These core institutions are steering the coordination of the CAAPs through two major organs: the CAAPs Steering Committee (CAAP-SC) and the Technical Coordination Team (the CAAPs-TCT), with the CAAPs-Secretariat hosted at FARA.
As part of the technical coordination of the CAAPs-Programme, the CAAPs-Secretariat intends to strengthen its mechanisms for communication and advocacy to support engagements at all levels. To this end, the FARA Secretariat wishes to engage the services of a junior consultant to:
develop communications and branding strategy for CAAPs, including the virtual architectural design of the CAAPs to project the vision of this initiative.
Support implementation of this strategy. This will include the development of a CAAPs communication video built on audiovisual comments and interviews from CAAPs Leaders and agro-industrial parks stakeholders, amongst others.
The overall objective of the assignment is to increase visibility and awareness about the CAAPs programme.
The Executive Director of FARA invites interested Junior Consultants to express interest in carrying out this assignment.
Consultants interested in this call must provide an Expression of Interest no longer than 10 pages, outlining proposed methodologies, references related to the execution of similar contracts, experience in similar areas, or evidence of knowledge and a proposed timeline. Brochures, CVs, and other supplementary materials submitted shall not be accounted for as part of the 10-page limit.
The anticipated period of performance for this consultancy is 50 man-days spread over six months. The work is expected to be carried out from the 3rd October 2022 to 31st March 2023.
The individual consultant shall be selected based on procedures defined in the Procurement Guidelines of FARA.
Interested consultants may obtain further information from the CAAPs Programme Coordinator, Anselme Vodounhessi[[email protected]], and copy the Knowledge Management, Communication and Learning Cluster Leader, Mr. Benjamin Abugri[[email protected]], during the following hours: 9h00 to 15h00 GMT.
Please download the Terms of Reference below for further information on this opportunity.
Expressions of Interest should be submitted electronically to [[email protected]] and addressed to Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director of FARA, No 7 Flower Avenue, New Achimota, Mile 7, Accra, Ghana, no later than Tuesday, 20th September 2022, at 14h00 GMT. Tel: +233 302 772823/744888
FARA Affirmative Action Statement on Recruitment: there is no discrimination based on gender race, religion, ethnic orientation, disability, or health status.
The Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs)-Technical Coordination Team (CAAPs-TCT) convened its 2022 Planning Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, from 25th– 29th April 2022. The workshop brought together CAAPs-TCT members from the African Union Commission, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Forum for Agricultural Research for Africa (FARA), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Pan-African Farmers Associations (PAFO), and Pan-African Agribusiness Apex Chamber (PAAAC). The aim of the workshop was to review progress made in implementing the STC and the CAAPs-Steering Committee decisions, refining the CAAPs Coordination Roadmap considering the emerging issues, and developing the 2022 Deliverables and resources mobilization plan.
Dr. Janet Edeme, the Chair of the CAAPs-TCT and the Head of Rural Development Division of the African Union Commission, opened the workshop and welcomed participants by providing a brief background of the Common African Agro-Parks Programme (CAAPs). She noted that “the CAAPs programme is one of the concrete initiatives of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Programme (CAADP) to be implemented within the framework of the AU Agenda 2063 for achieving the CAADP Malabo commitments and AfCFTA goals, especially the one on tripling Intra-African trade for agricultural commodities and services’’.
One of the key discussions at the workshop was, preparation for the upcoming 3rd CAAPs-Steering Committee meeting and Leadership Engagement Meeting between the AU Commission and UNIDO on CAAPs. In addition, the CAAPs-TCT technical Coordination roadmap and leadership engagement plan was revised at the workshop. There were also discussions on resource mobilization activities and the establishment of task force to develop criteria for member states to host a pilot CAAPs Demonstration Projects.
The key outcomes of the meeting will be presented to the 3rd CAAPs- Steering Committee meeting that will be Chaired by HE. Amb. Josefa Sacho Commissioner for the Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment of AUC. The CAAPs- Steering Committee members, further comprises the Commissioner of Economic Development, Trade, Industry, and Mining (ETIM), Secretary-General of AfCFTA, Executive Director of FARA, and the President of Afriexim Bank. The 3rd CAAPs- Steering Committee is planned to take place in mid-June in Cairo, Egypt.
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Janet Edeme, Head Rural Development Division, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, African Union Commission – Email: [email protected] Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Mukulia Kennedy Ayason, Policy Officer, Rural Development Division, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, African Union Commission – Email: [email protected] Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
For Media inquiries: –
Ms. Peace Lydia Mutuwa, Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, African Union Commission; Email [email protected] Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Mr. Molalet Tsedeke, Information and Communication Directorate; AU Commission Email: [email protected] Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
