LUANDA,Angola,
27 April 2015 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/-The shortlisted entries for
the inaugural African Mayor Awards have been announced. The awards
acknowledge the leadership and contribution made by Mayors of large,
medium and small cities across Africa and celebrate achievements and
excellence in urban development in Africa.
In the 'Large
Metropolis' category, with 1,000,000 residents or more, Accra, Ghana;
Cape Town, South Africa and Dakar, Senegal were shortlisted. In the
intermediate, or Medium-Sized Cities category, localities with less than
1,000,000 and more than 200,000 residents, Kinondoni,
Tanzania; Asunafo, Ghana and Bissau, Guinea-Bissau were selected. In the
Small Cities category, for cities with up to 200,000 residents, Arua,
Uganda; Bangangte, Cameroon and Praia, Cape Verde made the shortlist.
The
finalists were selected unanimously by the competition's judging panel,
which includes Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, General-Secretary of United
Cities and Local Governments-Africa (UCLG-A),Tokunbo Omisore, Chairman
of the African Union of Architects, Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, Assistant
Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director for UN-Habitat, Vitor
Leonel Miguel, Chairman of the Angolan Architects Union and Gaetan Siew,
Chair, Construction Industry Sector of Mauritius.
The Awards
ceremony, which showcases excellence in urban development, will be
hosted in Luanda by HE President José Eduardo Dos Santos on 30th April.
The African Mayor Awards are held in conjunction with the 2nd Africa
Urban Infrastructure Investment Forum (AUIIF) which, this year,
discusses post-conflict reconstruction and turning African cities into
economic power houses. H.E. Pedro Pires, former President of Cape Verde
and Mo Ibrahim laureate will deliver the Keynote Address at the Forum.
Under HE Pires' leadership, the capital city of the island state saw
remarkable growth and expansion, with investment in urban
infrastructure, supported by appropriate housing designed to manage the
transition from rural to city life.
Examples of such innovation
and transformational development will be among the themes of the second
AUIIF, which seeks to propose the concrete steps to be taken in order to
maximise the effectiveness of urban infrastructure development, from
finance through design to implementation. The outcome of the Forum will
be incorporated in the programme of the 7th Edition of the Africities
Summit from 1 to 5 December 2015, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Mr
Omar Ben Yedder, the summit organiser and publisher of African Business
magazine said that he was impressed with the calibre of conference
speakers at this year's meeting. He said: "Urbanisation is the
development challenge of the next 20 years. Functioning cities create
wealth. Unless we plan and think properly about what the future will
look like and where our cities fit into this future, we will face
immense problems and any retroactive action will prove costly and
ineffective. The cities shortlisted today are being led by people who
understand this and who are making great strides in creating livable
cities that are creating wealth.
He added: "We are also delighted
to have so many dignitaries with us this year which shows that policy
makers are taking this issue very seriously, starting with our hosts the
government of Angola."
The Africa Urban Infrastructure
Investment Forum stresses the importance of tapping into both African
and international capital to finance infrastructure development, as well
as seeking to identify viable and innovative financing models to make
infrastructure projects more attractive to investors.
Distributed by African Media Agency on behalf of Africa Urban Infrastructure Investment Forum (AUIIF)
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