On the initiative of United Cities and Local governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) (www.AfriqueLocale.org) the Constituent General Assembly of the Network of Chief Technical Officers of Cities and Territories of Africa (Africa TechNet) was held from 03 to 05 July 2017 at Ivotel Hotel, of Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire).

90 City Chief Technical Officers (CTOs) from 41 African countries took part in the meeting that witnessed the election of the members of the governing team of the ‘Africa TechNet’ Network, for a three year term of office. Ms. Eng Christine Adongo Ogut “Chief Officer Environment, Energy and Water” of Nairobi City County Government (Kenya) was elected President of Africa TechNet. The Presidency of the body was completed by four Vice-Presidents representing the other African Regions: West Africa (Ms. Adam Habsou Anza, Chief Engineer of the City of Niamey, Niger); Northern Africa (Mr. Nour-Eddine Abdelkhalek, Chief Engineer of the City of Casablanca, Morocco); Central Africa (Mr. Kimina Itum Boneyk, Chief Engineer of the City of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of  Congo), Southern Africa (Mr. Maliwa Brifrey Muchuu, “Director of Engineering Services” of Lusaka City Council, Zambia).

The main goals of this Network are to:

• Organize the common voice and representation of the Chief Technical Officers of municipal and territorial governments at the national, regional and continental levels;
• Disseminate the good practices in the management of cities and territorial governments;
• Build up the professional capacities and the performance of the members of the network and their capacities to improve the delivery of services to the people.  

In this respect, the participants were given two days of training on the topic “Territorial Development and climate change: realities, constraints and opportunities,” conducted by the association ENERGIES 2050, a partner of UCLG Africa in the setting up of a ‘Task Force’ to prepare the access of African cities to climate finance and notably Green Climate Fund, which shall enter into operation in 2020.

The members of the Africa TechNet Network undertook to contribute to the work of the Observatory on the access of the people to basic services in cities and sub-national governments in Africa. The first results will be presented at the Africities 8 Summit scheduled to take place from 04 to 08 December 2018 in Brazzaville, Congo.

The Abidjan meeting was organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior and Security of the Republic of Ivory Coast, the Union of Towns and Municipalities of Ivory Coast (UVICOCI), the Assembly of the Regions and Districts of Ivory Coast (ARDCI) and the association ENERGIES 2050.