AUDA-NEPAD has launched Africa’s first continental programme dedicated to strengthening island economies through investment, climate resilience, connectivity and sustainable economic development.
The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) has launched the Programme for African Developing Island Economies, the first continental framework designed specifically to address the unique development challenges facing Africa’s seven island nations.
The programme was unveiled during the Ministerial Segment of the Specialized Technical Committee on Trade, Industry and Minerals (STC-TTIM) in Abidjan, bringing together leaders to strengthen cooperation among Cabo Verde, the Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles.
Collectively, these countries manage an exclusive economic zone covering more than five million square kilometres, yet none has direct maritime connectivity with another. All face similar challenges, including small domestic markets, climate vulnerability and limited opportunities to add value to ocean-based industries before exporting.
To address these challenges, the programme introduces a 2026–2031 roadmap built around six strategic priorities: the blue economy and ocean stewardship, climate resilience and adaptation, sustainable energy and water, connectivity and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) integration, youth employment and skills development, and digital transformation.
The framework also groups the seven countries according to their development needs, allowing support to be tailored to their different economic starting points.
“Africa’s island economies are not at the margin of our transformation; they are at its frontier,” said Mrs Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of AUDA-NEPAD.
“This Programme meets them where they are, with a framework they own, and with the accelerators that turn distance and small scale into advantage.”
Rather than focusing on a single sector, the programme combines industrialisation, improved maritime and air connectivity, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, automation and investment in the knowledge economy to help island nations build more resilient and diversified economies.
The framework was developed following consultations with senior government officials from the seven island states, who validated its design before ministers formally adopted a communiqué committing to its implementation and calling for international support.
The programme is being implemented in partnership with the Republic of Korea, the African Development Bank, the Regional Economic Communities, and the Indian Ocean Commission. It was launched alongside the Africa Green Transition PPP Fund, creating new opportunities for island economies to secure investment in bankable green development projects.
