With the support of IAEA, the African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology (AFRA) held the 34th Meeting of its Representatives on 28 September 2023, on the margins of the Agency’s 67th General Conference.
“We have to do much more to meet the growing needs of peoples in Africa and to meet growing expectations,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, during his opening remarks to the assembled AFRA and national representatives. “The IAEA is pure service. The IAEA is about the projects that your people need, it’s about the cancer centres, radiotherapy units and the agricultural technology we are sharing.”
The AFRA Agreement entered into force on 4 April 1990 and provides a framework for African Member States to intensify their collaboration through programmes and projects focused on the specific shared needs of its members. Its activities cover a wide range of peaceful applications of nuclear techniques that contribute to the achievement of national and regional development goals.
“My country, as many other African countries, is determined to integrate nuclear technology solutions to trigger socioeconomic transformation leading to the realization of our long-term vision to become a high-income country by 2050,” said outgoing AFRA Chairman Fidel Ndahayo, who also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Rwandan Atomic Energy Board.
“It is important that African countries strengthen their regional cooperation in transboundary power-sharing, training and education, as well as research and development, particularly where the collaborative use of research reactors are concerned.”
During the course of the annual meeting, an election was held, and Algeria was selected to assume the Chairpersonship of AFRA and will remain the incumbent until September 2024. Correspondingly, Ndahayo also promised to work hand-in-hand with Abdelhamid Mellah, the incoming AFRA Chair and the Commissioner of the Algerian Atomic Energy Commission, to effectively implement the AFRA Regional Cooperation Framework 2024—2028, following its endorsement.
