Digitalisation, green energy and mobility were at the centre of a plenary session of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA) taking place on Friday at the Italian foreign ministry in Rome, the ministry said.
Italy's deputy foreign minister Mario Giro and the African Development Bank's vice-president Pierre Guislain were due to open plenary entitled 'Toward the promotion of smart and integrated infrastructure for Africa: an agenda for digitalisation, decarbonisation and mobility', the ministry stated.
International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol, the African Union energy commissioner Amani Abou-Zeid, Tunisia's development and investment minister Zied Ladhari, and Kenya's transport and infrastructure cabinet secretary James Macharia are slated to address the meeting.
The representatives from Tunisia and Kenya attending the plenary will report on the infrastructure problems of North and Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the ministry.
The session will be followed by high-level discussion panels open to all member country representatives, international institutions, trade associations and financial institutions, foundations and Italian and foreign companies, said the ministry.
The panels will include the presentation of projects by Tunisia and Kenya and will explore the challenges and opportunities arising from decarbonisation and green energy, urban and regional mobility and digitalisation, the ministry added.
The programme will include the presentation of a survey commissioned by the Italian chairmanship of the ICA, jointly conducted by the Polytechnic of Milan and Turin, which puts forth recommendations to achieve the goals set down by the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
The ICA, co-chaired by Italy and the African Development Bank, is a forum that brings together G7 and G20 countries and international financial institutions. Italy is current president of the G7.
