UIC Africa: New SIAFI session building on the Vision 2025 for Africa

The Information Seminar on Regional Railway Activities (SIAFI) in Africa 19-21 February 2008, organised by UIC as part of its regional activities and the development of the global dimension, in cooperation with the UAR. The Information Session was attended by some one hundred participants representing railway companies, international institutions, Regional Economic Communities and funding bodies. During the opening sessions participants were addressed by Mr Naffati Elghul, Secretary General of the Union of African Railways (UAR), Mr David Kajange, Head of the Transport and Tourism Division of the African Union, Mr André Michel, General Secretary of UIC and Coordinator for UIC Africa and the representative of His Excellence Mr. Emile Ouosso, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in the Republic of Congo.

The SIAFI Africa session was followed on 22 February by the meeting of Human Resources Directors in Africa. This series of meetings provides the opportunity to reinforce the cooperation already established between UIC and UAR and consolidate UIC’s activities in Africa in the field of infrastructure, training and human resources, integrating security and matters relating to health risks in a transverse approach. This cooperation will take shape in the form of a development plan for Africa based on UIC’s Vision 2025 for Africa and the African Union’s Integrated Transport plan.

Given the high growth potential of African countries and the positive signs emanating from some African railways, the Vision 2025 document constitutes an indispensable basis for the implementation of a development plan for the rail transport mode in Africa.

UIC and UAR will present the results of activities carried out to date and propose the Vision 2025 to the first plenary conference of Transport Ministers of the African Union which will take place on 17 and 18 April 2008 in Algiers.

The different participants in the round table discussions organised during the Information Session underscored the importance of the role to be played by the railways in the development of Africa up to 2025 in the light of economic and demographic indicators pointing towards strong growth for the continent.

The UIC Vision 2025 document will be available in the next few weeks on request from the Coordinator for regional activities in Africa: michel@uic.asso.fr