AUDA-NEPAD - The African Mirror

Apr

10

2026

“She left behind a standard”: A tribute to Ambassador Konjit Sinegiorgis – diplomat, Pan-Africanist, and keeper of a fading flame

NEWS

THERE are deaths that grieve a family. And there are deaths that grieve a continent. The passing of Ambassador Konjit Sinegiorgis belongs to the second kind. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, spoke for the entire African Union family when she said simply: "I am deeply saddened by the loss of the long-serving Ambassador Konjit." In that sentence - understated, sorrowful, personal - lies the measure of a woman whose career defied easy summary. You do not mourn a diplomat this way unless she was something more than a diplomat. You do not use the word long-serving unless you mean to…

Mar

27

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

A force forged in the crucible of African development

AUDA-NEPAD, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN the corridors of the , system, where ambition is plentiful but transformative action rare, Daphine Hazvibvi Muzawazi has become something of an institution in herself. Over a decade of tireless service to the continent's most consequential development architecture, she has evolved from an ambitious young technocrat into one of the AU family's most formidable — and quietly indispensable — strategic minds. Born in Zimbabwe, schooled in agribusiness at Solusi University in Bulawayo and later at the University of Pretoria, where she earned her Master of Science in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Muzawazi entered the development arena with a…

Mar

09

2026

By The African Mirror

African Union agency and Wits University launch executive programme to overhaul public sector governance across Africa

AUDA-NEPAD, HEALTH

The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the University of the Witwatersrand's School of Governance (WSG) on Monday formally launched a strategic partnership to deliver a high-level Executive Management Programme aimed at strengthening public sector leadership across the African continent — an initiative that its architects say directly addresses a governance deficit threatening the realisation of Agenda 2063. The launch, held at the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome in Johannesburg, was attended by South Africa's Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Maropene Ramokgopa; AUDA-NEPAD Chief Executive Officer H.E. Nardos Bekele-Thomas; Wits School of Governance Head Professor…

Feb

14

2026

By NARDOS BEKELE-THOMAS

Africa’s health economy is open for business

AUDA-NEPAD, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AFRICA today represents one of the most compelling opportunity frontiers of the 21st century. With rapidly growing demand, expanding markets, and accelerating innovation, our continent is increasingly positioned to convert long-standing structural challenges into engines of growth. Nowhere is this opportunity more evident - and more urgent - than in Africa's health sector. For too long, Africa's health sector has been defined solely by its unmet needs. That narrative is incomplete and outdated. Today, our health economy is defined by scale, productivity potential, and its central role in industrialisation, job creation, human capital development, and long-term economic resilience. The question…

Feb

13

2026

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Africa’s health economy transforms into multi-billion dollar investment opportunity

NEWS, AUDA-NEPAD

AFRICA’S health sector is undergoing a fundamental transformation from fragmented spending to structured investment, according to the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), which today released its Programme for Investment and Financing in Africa's Health Sector (PIFAH) Project List – Africa's Health Market Atlas. The continent-wide portfolio reveals 253 investable health opportunities valued at $2.6 billion, spanning infrastructure, diagnostics, digital health platforms, local manufacturing, and research ecosystems across all African regions. "The message is clear: Africa's health economy is transforming," said Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of AUDA-NEPAD, in the Atlas foreword. "It is firmly anchored in African priorities, open to…

Feb

12

2026

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Africa launches major health financing initiative to address $2.4 trillion economic burden

AUDA-NEPAD, HEALTH

AFRICAN finance and health ministers are convening in the Ethiopian capital for a landmark summit aimed at transforming how the continent funds its health systems, as declining foreign aid and recent disease outbreaks expose critical gaps in Africa's public health infrastructure. The high-level event, co-hosted by the African Development Bank, Africa CDC, and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, will introduce a new "Finance-Health Approach" designed to institutionalise joint planning between finance and health ministries across the continent. The initiative comes as Africa grapples with what organisers describe as the steepest decline in Official Development Assistance in decades. In 2025, foreign…

Nov

15

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Africa launches bold initiative to transform youth population into economic powerhouse

AUDA-NEPAD, HEALTH

AFRICA stands at a critical crossroads. With the continent's population expected to surge from 50 years median age in 2000 to 64 years by 2020, and life expectancy climbing to 71.3 years, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) has launched an ambitious program to ensure this demographic shift becomes an economic windfall rather than a burden. The new "AUDA-NEPAD Initiative for Demographic Dividend and Sexual and Reproductive Health" represents a fundamental shift in how the continent approaches its youth bulge – viewing sexual and reproductive health not as a social issue, but as an economic imperative. "Africa's demographic dividend is…

Nov

14

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Africa spends $65 billion annually on imported medical products as continental push for health sovereignty intensifies

AUDA-NEPAD, HEALTH

AFRICA’S overwhelming dependency on imported pharmaceuticals poses a serious threat to the continent's health security and economic resilience, with 70 to 80 percent of medical products consumed on the continent coming from overseas despite annual spending exceeding $65 billion, the head of the African Union Development Agency has warned. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), delivered the stark assessment during opening remarks at the 7th Biennial Scientific Conference on Medical Products Regulation in Africa (SCoMRA VII) in Mombasa on Tuesday, calling for urgent action to strengthen local manufacturing capacity and regulatory harmonisation across the continent. "This…

Nov

14

2025

By JOVIAL RANTAO

Africa’s $65 billion pharmaceutical dependency: A crisis of sovereignty

AUDA-NEPAD, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

EVERY year, Africa spends more than $65 billion importing medical products it could manufacture itself. Let that sink in: a continent of 1.4 billion people, rich in resources and human capital, haemorrhaging billions to foreign pharmaceutical companies for medicines that never needed to cross an ocean. This isn't just poor economics. It's a surrender of sovereignty so complete, so devastating, that it should keep every African leader awake at night. When Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of the African Union Development Agency, addressed the 7th Biennial Scientific Conference on Medical Products Regulation in Mombasa this week, she delivered a message that transcended…

Nov

13

2025

By The African Mirror

7th Scientific Conference on Medical Products Regulation in Africa – Gallery

AUDA-NEPAD, MULTIMEDIA