The establishment of PPDU in Lomé, Togo (website: www.ppdu.org)
The ECOWAS infrastructure Projects Preparation and Development Unit (PPDU) is definitively established in Lomé, Togo in October 2014. This was the result of a long preparation since the creation of the Unit, in January 2005 by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers
Following the establishment of the Unit, the ECOWAS Commission committed itself to fund the PPDU with $US 8,684 million for the first five years as operation budget and $US 10 million for the Infrastructure Fund.
On August 19, 2011, the ECOWAS Council of Ministers adopted the Regulation C/REG.5/08/11 relating to the denomination and the establishment of the rules for the functions, organization and mode of operation of the PPDU. Thereafter, about ten (10) staff were recruited through an open and competitive selection process.
Previously, a Headquarters Agreement was signed on September 10, 2010 between ECOWAS Commission and the Togolese authorities on behalf of the PPDU.
Following the staff placement in July 2014, a mission led by His Excellency Dr. Toga McIntosh, Vice-President of the Commission, the Commissioner for Infrastructure and the Director of PPDU, was in Lomé in early September to discuss with Togolese authorities and EBID about the setting up and equipment of PPDU. EBID agreed to provide offices to PPDU as they did for the Community Computer Centre (CCC), the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), and the ECOWAS Brown Card.
The PPDU is an ECOWAS Specialized Agency which is in charge of the preparation and development of regional infrastructure projects (Transport, Energy, Water and ICT). It aims among others to make financial regional infrastructure projects through the elaboration of feasibility studies (economic, financial, social, environmental, impact, etc.). The viability of the studied projects will ease the investment and resource mobilization for their implementation.
Specifically, the PPDU shall perform the following functions:
Identify, select and prioritize regional integration infrastructure projects, in consultation with the ECOWAS Commission, member States and the private sector;
Mobilize the resources required for project preparation and infrastructure financing;
Strengthen capacities, assist/support national and intergovernmental structures in charge for the implementation of infrastructure programs and projects and
Promote public-private partnerships in infrastructure financing.
The PPDU is governed by a Steering Committee of nine (9) members, including the ECOWAS Commission (2), the Member States (2), EBID (1), the technical and financial partners (3) and the private sector (1) and a management team.
Several donors and technical partners expressed interest in the PPDU: AfDB, EU, JICA, UNECA, the Spanish Cooperation (AECID), DFID, GIZ, etc…
For the kick-off of its activities, the priority programs and projects that the PPDU is focusing on, are those relating to the ECOWAS regional infrastructure development program, subject of Regulation C/REG.12/ 06/13 dated 21 June 2013, and the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) created and coordinated by African Union, the AfDB and the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA).
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