The African Union Commission (AUC) is set to convene the second Extraordinary Session which to consider pressing issues pertaining to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, CoP27, and pending decisions under the transport sector, said the Union.
The meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental, and Interregional Infrastructure, and Energy (STC-TTIIE) is scheduled to take place via video conference for three days starting Tuesday.
Transport and energy ministers from AU member states are expected to discuss the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine Crisis on Africa’s energy and infrastructure sectors whose knock-on effects transcend across many sectors, said the AU.
The meeting is especially expected to review a paper titled ‘Implications of the Russia-Ukraine Crisis on the African Energy and Infrastructure Sectors’ that aims at proposing imperative actions to mitigate the impacts and, support Member States to manage arising risks.
The other “critical topic” to be tabled before the extraordinary session is a paper on Common African Position on Energy Access and Transition.
The outcome will be presented for the CoP27 set to happen in Egypt in November this year, the Union said.
The paper highlights Africa’s short, medium and long-term priorities for energy transition while devising an apt approach to address the huge energy access gap in the continent compared to other regions despite the resource abundance.
Amani Abou-Zeid, head of the African Union Commission for Infrastructure and Energy, says Africa has great expectations from the COP27 which is happening on its soil for the fifth time.
The Common Position is thus meant to clearly put Africa’s expectations, pathways, and demands on the global climate agenda considering its strides to achieve the Universal Energy Access stipulated under goal 7 of the SDGs.
“The COP in Sharm El-Sheikh is very critical for the continent as we seek to speak in one voice regarding our priorities on energy access and transition, and push for the outcomes to recognize and embrace Africa’s unique realities,” added the Commissioner.
The 2nd STC-TTIIE is also expected to consider and adopt agenda items under the transport sector including the Dispute Settlement Mechanism for the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), policy guidelines for negotiation of air services agreements between African countries and other countries and regions as well as the final report of the study on the African Road Safety Observatory (ARSO).
MG/abj/APA