The city of Libreville hosted from 25 to 26 October 2021, the regional caucus of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) for the Central Africa region. Each country was invited to be represented by the President and the Permanent Secretary of the national association of local authorities, the President of the national chapter of the Network of Locally Elected Women of Africa (REFELA), and a Representative of the Network of Young Local Elected Officials of Africa (YELO). Five of the seven countries in the region took part in the face-to-face work (Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe), and 2 countries participated through videoconference (Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad).

The Libreville meeting was the first in a series of regional caucuses organized in preparation for the 9th Africities Summit scheduled for 17 – 21 May 2022 in Kisumu, Kenya, during which the elective general assembly will take place on 20 May 2022, for the election the full and alternate members of the governance bodies of UCLG Africa.

The official opening of the work of the caucus was made by Mr. Séraphin Ibouanga, Representative of the Minister of State, Minister of the Interior, in the presence of: Mr. Mathias Otounga Ossibadjouo, Minister of Local Governance, Development and Regional Planning, Mrs. Christine Mba Ndutume, Mayor of Libreville and President of UCLG Africa, Mrs. Marie Françoise Dikoumba, Governor of the Province of L’Estuaire, and Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa.

During the address of the Minister of State, Minister of the Interior, Gabon undertook to establish the UCLG Africa regional office for Central Africa (CARO) in Libreville and to sign the corresponding headquarters agreement as soon as possible. The Minister of State renewed the commitment to ratify the African Charter on the Values ​​and Principles of Decentralization, Local Governance, and Local Development, adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union during their conference held in June 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, and to file these instruments with the African Union Commission.

The first day of the proceedings was devoted to updating and informing members on the main agendas of UCLG Africa, and the second day served as a framework for the preparation of the elective general assembly of UCLG Africa scheduled for 20 May 2022, as part of the Africities summit.

The participants thus learned about the new UCLG Africa action strategy (GADDEPA 2.0) and the seven priority intervention areas selected by the members of UCLG Africa for the 2021-2030 decade, namely: Local economy and finance; climate, biodiversity and food systems; gender and youth; access to basic services and SDGs; migration; culture; peace and security.

The participants were also informed of the initiatives being implemented by UCLG Africa concerning the development of a Trombino – UCLG Africa platform in order to ensure a better presence of the territorial communities of the continent on the Internet; the Africa Territorial Agency (ATA), a financial vehicle providing access for African local authorities to the financial market; the partnership with 01 Talent, which consists of preparing local governments to embark on their digital transformation through an ambitious training program for young people in the computer coding profession; the partnership with the Green Climate Fund in order to have the status of a regional entity accredited to the Green Climate Fund in order to facilitate local authorities’ access to climate finance; and the organization of the celebration of African Capitals of Culture.

The participants received a communication on the problem of so-called invisible children, because they have no identity. This problem is of particular concern because of the serious consequences it has on civil status, the right to identity and citizenship, and on the planning of development actions. A partnership has been established between UCLG Africa and the Urgence Identité Foundation to deal with this problem at the level of cities and territories in Africa.

The other highlight of the caucus was the discussion of the presence of subnational and local governments from Central Africa at the Africities Summit.

This discussion was introduced by a statement from the Kenyan delegation on the state of preparations for the Summit. There followed the clarification of the choice of the theme of the Summit, namely, “The role of Africa’s Intermediary Cities in the implementation of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063”; and learning about the structure of the Summit, with a series of sessions on one side and the Africities Exhibition on the other.

A distinction is made between thematic sessions organized during the first 3 days of the Summit, and political sessions organized during the last 2 days of the Summit; the sessions also include a series of special events in the form of “Days”. The thematic sessions set out the theme of the Summit and the strategies to be implemented and the coalitions to be built so that intermediary cities are able to play the role expected of them. These sessions make recommendations to ministers, mayors, leaders, and elected officials of subnational and local governments, as well as development partners. The political sessions include the meeting of ministers, the meeting of mayors and leaders of subnational and local governments, and the meeting of development partners, as well as the tripartite political dialogue meeting between ministers, mayors and leaders of subnational and local governments, and development partners.

To this end, participants were invited to reflect on the 5 questions that mayors and leaders of local authorities wish to ask ministers on the one hand, and development partners on the other.

7 dedicated “Days” are planned, namely: 1. Climate Day; 2. Culture Day; 3. Digital Day; 4. Women’s Day; 5. Youth Day; 6. Migration and Diaspora Day; 7. Urban Planning Day. The Africities Exhibition offers companies, institutions, and organizations the opportunity to present their products and solutions through the rental of stands, the facilitation of workshops, as well as B-to-B meetings both on site and virtually. Participants in the Libreville caucus were invited to encourage attendance at the Africities Exhibition through “Country” pavilions.  In view of the preparation of the B-to-B meetings, the participants in the caucus were asked to identify and send to the UCLG Africa secretariat before the end of December 2021, the 3 most urgent problems for which they wish to find a solution at the Kisumu Africities Summit.

The second day was devoted to the preparation of the elective general assembly of UCLG Africa scheduled for 20 May 2022 in Kisumu. This assembly will notably elect the members to the governing bodies of UCLG Africa, namely, the 45 members of the Pan-African Council, the 15 members of the Executive Committee or Bureau, the 5 members of the Presidency, and the 5 members of the Financial Management Commission. The REFELA and YELO assemblies will also be held, which will likewise nominate members to their respective governance bodies.  The deliberations continued with the designation of candidates from Central Africa to the various bodies of the three entities concerned, namely, the 9  members of the Central African region out of the 45 members of the Pan-African Council, the 3 members of the region from Central Africa out of the 15 members of the Executive Committee, 1 Vice President for Central Africa out of the 5 members of the Presidency, and 1 representative from the Central Africa region out of the 5 members of the Financial Management Commission (only for UCLG Africa). The results of this work are presented  here ( Word version, PDF version) and below :

	GOVERNING BODIES OF UCLG Africa
Country	PANAFRICAN COUNCIL		EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE	VICE PRESIDENCY OF UCLG Africa
	Full member	Alternate
CAMEROON	United Councils and Cities of Cameroun (UCCC)	City of Kumba	City of Bangui (Central African Republic)	Commune of Libreville (Gabon)
CAMEROON	Commune of Nitoukou	TBC (Region)
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC	City of Bangui	Commune of Damara
CHAD	City of N’Djamena	Commune of the 6th District of N’Djamena	Commune of Libreville (Gabon)
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE	Association of Mayors of Congo (AMC)	City of Pointe Noire
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – DRC	City of Kinshasa	Commune of Boma
EQUATORIAL GUINEA	City of Malabo	TBC (Region)	Association of Mayors of Congo (AMC)
GABON	Commune of Libreville	Commune of Fougamou
SAO-TOME-AND-PRINCIPE	Association of Urban Authorities of São-Tomé-and-Príncipe  (AARASTP)	Commune of Trinidade

 

GOVERNING BODIES OF REFELA
Country	REFELA PANAFRICAN COUNCIL		EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE REFELA NETWORK	VICE PRESIDENCY – REFELA
	Full member	Alternate
CAMEROON	Commune of Afanloum	Commune of Pete Bandjoun	Commune of Madingou (Congo-Brazzaville)	Commune of Afanloum (Cameroon)
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC	City of Bangui	Commune of Begoa
CHAD	Commune of the 8th District of  N’Djamena	Commune of Moundou
CONGO – Brazzaville	Commune of Madingou	Commune of Kinkele	Commune of Afanloum (Cameroon)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – DRC	Commune of Selembao	Commune of Nsele
EQUATORIAL GUINEA	City of Malabo	TBC
GABON	Commune of Ndende	Commune of Franceville	City of Bangui (Central African Republic)
GABON	Commune of Lastourville	Commune of Ntum
SÃO-TOMÉ-AND-PRÍNCIPE	Commune of Guadalupe	Commune of Angolares

 

 

GOVERNING BODIES OF THE YELO NETWORK
Country	PANAFRICAN COUNCIL – YELO		EXECUTIVE BOARD – YELO	VICE PRESIDENCY – YELO
	Full member	Alternate
CAMEROON	Commune of Mozogo	Commune of Dschang	Commune of Mozogo (Cameroon)	Commune of Mozogo (Cameroon)
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC	Commune of Begoa	Commune of the 8th District of Bangui
CHAD	Absent	Absent
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE	Commune of Ouesso	City of  Pointe Noire	Commune of Ouesso (CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO -DRC	Absent	Absent
EQUATORIAL GUINEA	Absent	Absent
GABON	Commune of Port Gentil	Commune of Libreville
GABON	Commune of Owendo	Commune of Cocobeach	Commune of Owendo (Gabon)
SÃO-TOMÉ-AND-PRÍNCIPE	No young elected officials	No young elected officials
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
CAMEROON	United Councils and Cities of Cameroon (UCCC)
ELECTORAL COMMISSION
GABON	City of KANGO

Contact for the Press :

Gaëlle Yomi: Phone: +212 6 10 56 71 45

e-mail: gyomi@uclga.org / www.uclga.org

From 25 to 26 October 2021, the Pan-African Organization United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) is holding its regional caucus for the Central Africa region at the Radisson Blu hotel in Libreville (Gabon).

The Gabonese capital is home to the first of a series of regional caucuses organized in preparation for the 9th Africities Summit from 17 to 21 May 2022 in Kisumu, Kenya, within the framework of which the elective general assembly of UCLG Africa will take place on 20 May 2022. Other regional caucuses are planned in Luxor, Egypt, on 01 and 02 November 2021, for North Africa; in Nairobi, Kenya, on 30 November and 01 December 2021 for East Africa; in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 13 and 14 December 2021 for West Africa; and in Pretoria, South Africa (dates to be defined) for Southern Africa.

The Libreville meeting will allow the local authorities of the Central Africa region to nominate their candidates to the various political bodies of UCLG Africa. Each region must nominate: 9 candidates among the 45 members of the Pan-African Council elected by the general assembly ; 3 candidates among the 15 members of the Executive Committee, 1 candidate among the 5 members of the Financial Management Commission, and 1 Vice President among the 5 members of the Presidency, all elected by the Pan-African Council, and possibly 1 candidate for the position of President of UCLG Africa elected by the Pan-African Council from among the members of the Presidency.

The caucus also involves the Network of Locally Elected Women of Africa (REFELA) and the Network of Locally Elected Youth of Africa (YELO) whose general assemblies will also take place during the Africities Summit in Kisumu, Kenya.

The official opening of the meeting will be chaired by His Excellency the Minister of State, Minister of the Interior of Gabon, in the presence of:

· Mr. Mathias Otounga Ossibadjouo , Minister of Local Governance, Development, and Territorial Planning of Gabon,

· Ms. Rosario BENTO PAIS , Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Gabon, São Tome and Príncipe and of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)

· Mrs. Christine Mba Ndutume, Vice-President of the Region, President of UCLG Africa

· Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi , Secretary General of UCLG Africa.

The meeting will be held in the presence of the presidents of national associations of local authorities, of leaders of the Network of Local Elected Women of Africa (REFELA), of young local elected officials, of and permanent secretaries of national associations of local authorities.

Press contact:

Gaëlle Yomi: Tel: +212 06 10 56 71 45 email: gyomi@uclga.org www.uclga.org

On 17 and 18 June 2021, the city of Cairo (Egypt) hosted the 25th ordinary session of the Executive Committee of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa).

The opening ceremony took place on 17 June 2021, under the effective chairmanship of His Excellency Mahmoud Shaarawy, Minister of Local Development of Egypt. The ceremony was punctuated by the speeches of Dr. Mohamed Boudra, Vice-President of UCLG Africa for the North Africa region and President of UCLG World, General Khaled Abdel Al Aal, Governor of Cairo, the Honorable Peter Anyang Nyong’o, Governor of Kisumu (Kenya) and Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa. Also present were high officials of the Egyptian authority and the members of the Executive Committee.

In his opening speech, the Minister of Local Development, His Excellency Mahmoud Shaarawy, underlined the growing interest of his country “for the continent since 2014, within the framework of the implementation of the directives of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Based on the vision of the Egyptian state and its political leadership regarding the need to share our experience in the field of infrastructure development, I would like to highlight a set of inspiring facts in this regard and the achievements that have been made over the past seven years, including an unprecedented level of urbanization and urban development, where 20 new cities have been built, which is equivalent to about 90% of the number of cities built in the past 50 years. The national government is working to eradicate slums and provide safe alternative housing for 23 million citizens. Egypt is witnessing an improvement in the quality of local, regional, and international roads. Egypt’s pioneering experience in the development of infrastructure projects is an example that we are happy to share with our African brothers”.

Dr. Mohamed Boudra said he was “satisfied with the efforts made by UCLG Africa to improve the situation of cities and local authorities in African countries, efforts that reflect a responsible commitment to meet the challenges of sustainable local development and to demand a better reality for the cities of the continent. The Cairo meeting is a positive step to enrich the public debate concerning the areas of sustainable development and local democracy on the continent, as well as to support all causes relating to economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights.”.

For his part, General Khaled Abdel Aal, Governor of Cairo, stressed that the selection of the Egyptian capital by UCLG Africa to host the headquarters of its regional office for North Africa is a mark of recognition of the important role that plays Egypt in solving the continent’s problems. The UCLG Africa Office for North Africa (NARO) is called to become “a beacon in terms of knowledge and a mechanism to support and strengthen our common African work, as well as a center to address the challenges facing our African cities”.

The Governor of Kisumu, in his speech, assured that his city is ready to host the 9th edition of the Africities Summit scheduled for April 26 to 30, 2022. “This session of the Executive Committee comes at a time when our continent is fighting against the pandemic of Covid-19. The coronavirus has had a huge impact on our local communities in Kenya. However, I am happy to report that preparations for the next Africities Summit to be held in Kisumu are progressing well. The Government of Kenya has mobilized considerable resources to ensure that we organize a memorable event. Since then, the infrastructure has been improved and the construction of the roads to reach the event venue has started and we hope to complete them by the end of this year 2021. The construction of the Africities Convention Center will start in the coming days for delivery within 6 months”, reassured the Honorable Anyang’ Nyong’o

The Secretary General of UCLG Africa, for his part, stressed that “Egypt has always been a place of new beginnings for our organization. I would like to remind you that it is in this city of Cairo that we organized for the first time a meeting of the Pan-African Council of Local Authorities: it was in 2010, as part of Africa’s participation in the second congress of the world organization of local governments (UCLG) held in Mexico in October 2010. It is also here in Egypt that we formulated the common position of Africa which was to lead to the election of Mr. Kadir Topas mayor of Istanbul, as the second president of the world organization UCLG. It is also here that in June 2019 we held a meeting which decided on Africa’s candidacy for the presidency of the world organization UCLG and this candidacy that was chosen here in Cairo, under the auspices of the Egyptian government and the Egyptian people, appointed Dr. Mohamed Boudra as the candidate of Africa for the position of world President of UCLG, during the general assembly held in November 2019 in Durban, South Africa. The Egyptian Minister of Local Development accompanied us in this election; we won this election, and Dr. Boudra became the president of UCLG at the global level. This testifies to the central place of Egypt in our organization. Egypt has also offered to host the regional office for North Africa. For us, Egypt is the starting point for the renewal of our movement. What we ask Egypt to do is to continue to be the defender of local and regional governments because we are convinced that the unity and development of Africa will be achieved from the local level. Development is either local or it does not exist at all”, pleaded Mr. Mbassi.

Signing of the NARO headquarters agreement

After the opening ceremony, a delegation of the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa was received in audience by the Egyptian Prime Minister S.EM. Mostafa Madbouly, following which the Agreement was signed between the government of Egypt and UCLG Africa for the hosting of the Headquarters of the UCLG Africa Regional Office for North Africa (NARO), in Cairo. The delegation received by the Prime Minister included: the Honorable Eugene Wamalwa, Minister of Devolution of Kenya, Dr. Mohamed Boudra, President of UCLG world, Mr. Armand Roland Pierre Béouindé, Vice-president of UCLG World for Africa, Mr. Innocent Uwimana, Vice-President of UCLG Africa for the East Africa Region, Mrs. Macoura Dao, President of the Network of Locally Elected Women of Africa (REFELA), Mr. Augustin Tamba, President of the United Councils and Cities of Cameroon (UCCC), Mr. Dieudonné Bantsimba, President of the Association of Mayors of Congo (AMC), the Honorable Anyang ‘Nyong’o, Governor of Kisumu, Mr. Waleed Ali Bouheesah, Vice-President of the National Union of Municipal Councils of Libya, Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa, and Mr. Mohamed Cherkaoui, Chief of Protocol of UCLG Africa.

The Prime Minister underlined that “the choice of Cairo to host the 25th session of the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa is a source of pride” for his country. Mr. Madbouly expressed the total support of Egypt to Kenya for the organization of the next edition of the Africities Summit in Kisumu, and confirmed the interest of Egypt to host the next Africities Summit in 2024.

Following the meeting with the Prime Minister, the delegation joined the other participants to visit the NARO headquarters in Heliopolis. On this occasion, the participants were informed of the appointment of Ambassador Mohamed Hegazy, as Director of the UCLG Africa regional office for the North Africa region (NARO).

Proceedings of the 25th session of the Executive Committee

The second day, June 18, was marked by the proceedings of the 25th session of the Executive Committee devoted mainly to the approval of the accounts for the financial year 2020; the launch of the preparation process for the elective general assembly of UCLG Africa which will take place on April 29, 2022; the review of the state of preparations for the 9th edition of the Africities Summit scheduled for Kisumu, Kenya from April 26 to 30, 2022; and the evaluation of the participation of associations of local governments in Africa in the programming of the new cooperation cycle of the European Union with partner countries (2021-2027).
The proceedings were led by Dr. Mohamed Boudra, Vice-President of UCLG Africa for the North Africa region, in the presence of 12 of the 16 members of the Executive Committee (i.e. 09 in person and 3 online). The city of Libreville and the Association of Local Authorities of Zambia were excused.

The Executive Committee adopted the report of the Financial Management Commission which met on the morning of June 17, 2021 and gave discharge to the Secretary General for the management of UCLG Africa for the financial year 2020.

The Executive Committee has been informed of the eligibility conditions to take part in the next elective general assembly scheduled for April 29, 2022 in Kisumu, as part of the 9th edition of the Africities Summit. In the direction of this General Assembly, the Secretary General of UCLG Africa and the Vice-Presidents of UCLG Africa of the five regions are mandated by the Executive Committee to organize the regional caucuses by December 2021. During these caucuses, each region will designate its candidates for the various positions for the renewal of the bodies of the organization: Pan-African Council, Financial Management Commission, Executive Committee, Presidency of UCLG Africa, and designation of the representative of the region to the electoral commission set up to supervise the conduct of the electoral operations.

The Executive Committee received from the Kenyan delegation led by the Minister of Devolution of Kenya, His Excellency Mr. Eugene Wamalwa, and the Honorable Peter Anyang Nyong’o, Governor of Kisumu County. A communication was made on the state of play of preparations for the 9th edition of the Africities Summit scheduled for April 26-30, 2022 in Kisumu, Kenya. The official launch of the Summit website corresponding to the registration website for the Summit is scheduled for late June-early July 2021 at the latest.

The Executive Committee welcomed the progress observed in the preparation of the Africities Summit in Kisumu, and renewed its recommendation to the Kenyan delegation to travel to Morocco to benefit from the experience in organizing the last Africities Summit. in Marrakech in November 2018. The Kenyan delegation has resolved to go on mission to Morocco from July 10, 2021 if travel is authorized.

Regarding the support provided by UCLG Africa to members for their participation in the programming process of the new cooperation cycle of the European Union with partner countries (2021-2027), the Executive Committee was informed that 48 national associations have been supported in producing the roadmap for local authorities and negotiating their inclusion in the new European cooperation program. The Delegations of the E.U. must submit the cooperation programs of each country to the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels no later than June 30, 2021. This is why the Executive Committee calls on each national association of local and regional authorities to get in touch immediately with the Delegation of the E.U. in their respective countries and with the national administration of their country in charge of European cooperation to ensure that the roadmap of local and regional governments is taken into account in the new 2021-2027 program of the European cooperation.

Concerning the miscellaneous items of the agenda, the members of the Executive Committee were informed of the progress of the celebration of RABAT, African Capital of Culture, the official launch of which should take place on January 24, 2022, date of the celebration of the World Day of African and Afro-descendant Culture.

The Executive Committee validated the proposal to sign 5 partnerships between:

UCLG Africa and CitiIQ. CitiIQ provides the platform where meaningful, human-scale data integration is made available. CitiIQ is a comprehensive system that objectively measures the overall health and well-being of a city. Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, CitiIQ offers a convenient way for a city to mark progress towards achieving the SDGs.

UCLG Africa and the 01 Talent initiative for training young people in coding. Cities and local authorities have a key role to play in the digital transformation to promote sustainable and inclusive growth in productivity and prosperity for the benefit of all Africans. The joint initiative proposed by UCLG Africa and 01Talent Africa is part of the agenda for the digitization of administrations and businesses for which the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the need. The UCLG Africa – 01 Talent partnership aims to train and deploy more than 500,000 coders over the next 10 years in Africa and to support African local governments and businesses in the process of digitizing their operations and interventions. The goal is to ensure the development of an African technological ecosystem to meet the challenges of the continent’s digital transformation by creating a fluid network of talents who can be mobilized and ready for action.

UCLG Africa and Ideo for the development of an online training platform called “UCLG Africa e-Academy”. A presentation of “UCLG Africa e-Academy” was made to the members of the Executive Committee who welcomed this digitalization initiative of UCLG Africa’s African Local Government Academy (ALGA).

UCLG Africa and Africa Verify. This is an initiative aimed at ensuring that the operations and interventions of UCLG Africa comply with the standards of transparency and integrity necessary for the recognition of the fiduciary capacity of UCLG Africa in order to enable it to manage in all security funds on behalf of third parties (development partners, financial institutions, foundations, bi- or multilateral cooperation agencies, etc.).

UCLG Africa and Trombino for the development of portfolios for associations of local authorities and the development of key information materials on national associations of local governments in Africa.

In her talk by videoconference, the Honorable Thembisile Nkadimeng, Mayor of Polokwane and President of South African Local Government Association (SALGA), requested that a minute of silence be observed in memory of His Excellency Mr. Kenneth Kaunda, former President of the Republic of Zambia, whose work in favor of the freedom fighters in South Africa, Angola, Namibia, and Mozambique was so decisive for the successful outcome of the liberation struggle of the peoples of these countries.

In his closing remarks for the 25th session of the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa, Dr. Boudra asked the members of UCLG Africa to show their solidarity with their colleagues from the Association of Municipalities of Burkina Faso (AMBF) and to its President, Mr. Armand Roland Pierre Béouindé, Mayor of Ouagadougou, as well as to the brotherly people of Burkina Faso, following the Solhan massacre, where 132 people were killed by terrorists on the night of June 4 to June 5, 2021. Dr Boudra asked the President of the Association of Municipalities of Burkina Faso (AMBF) to be the spokesperson for the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa to present to the families affected the sincere condolences of the community of local governments of Africa, and to express the fraternal solidarity of the cities and local governments of Africa towards their colleagues in Burkina Faso.

For further information, please contact:

Gaëlle Yomi : Phone : + 212 610 56 71 45
E-mail : gyomi@uclga.org