86 cities already committed to the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) at its signing ceremony

Abidjan 27 November 2017

On 27 November 2017, 15 mayors of Sub-Saharan Africa signed the Political Commitment Document of the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa in Abidjan in the presence of Mr Sidiki DIAKITE, Ivorian Minister of the Interior and Security.

This ceremony took place at the 1st Summit of Local Governments of Africa and Europe, organised at the initiative of UCLG Africa, CEMR and PLATFORMA.
This summit is part of efforts by local elected representatives to support central governments in managing the challenges facing cities in Africa and Europe, with youth as their main focus.

“This 1st Summit of Local Governments of Africa and Europe, which is opening on the eve of the 5th Africa-Europe Cooperation Summit, aims to come up with initiatives designed to bring about decentralisation in African states.  Local elected representatives are not adversaries but partners of central governments, who are keen to be involved in the dialogue on Europe – Africa cooperation.” Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi Secretary General of UCLG Africa.

Mr Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi

In the course of various speeches and panel discussions, several networks of cities in Africa and Europe highlighted the issue of decentralisation and other challenges of local and territorial development such as immigration.

For Mr Koné Kafana, President of the Union of Cities and Towns of Côte d’Ivoire – UVICOCI “local authorities are actors with experience in the field who have the advantage of having greater contact with the people”.

According to Mr Cheikh Gueye, representative of the Mayor of Dakar, Mr Khalifa Sall President of the UCLGA “the recognition of the authority of local elected representatives by national governments is a real boost for a better coordination of actions”.

Invited to close the summit, Mr Sidiki DIAKITÉ Minister of the Interior of Côte d’Ivoire, was tasked with passing on the message of the local elected representatives to the President of the Republic Alassane Ouattara, so that it could be put on the agenda of the 5th Africa – Europe Summit.

The 15 signatory cities of the CoM SSA (Dakar, Tsévié, Community of communes of Zou, Urban Community of Nouakchott, Yaoundé III, Yaoundé IV, Kampala, Communities of communes of Southern Mauritania, Lubumbashi, Monrovia, Pikine, Praia, Tiassalé, Bouaké) were subsequently invited to sign the Political Commitment Document in the presence of the Minister of the Interior, a strong signal of the commitment of local elected representatives to national governments in the interests of the people.

The moments of the signing of the Political Commitment Document of the Covenant of Mayors.

During her speech, Ms AMOUGOU NOMA, mayor of the city of Yaoundé IV, speaking on behalf of the signatory cities, stressed the urgency of taking action in favour of the climate and called on cities still hesitant to do so: ‘Africa and its local authorities bear the brunt of the effects of climate change, effects that are increasingly disastrous. Joining this community is free and open to all local authorities in Sub-Saharan Africa … I am pleased to announce that, to date, 86 members have signed up to the CoM SSA initiative, including the cities of the Compact of Mayors initiative”.

As a reminder, the two initiatives, the Covenant of Mayors and Compact of Mayors, have merged to create the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the largest coalition of mayors fighting climate change.

Alongside the 86 cities already committed, several other have already contacted the Helpdesk of the Covenant of Mayors for Sub-Saharan Africa and have started the adhesion process, in which the resolution of the municipal council marks their decision to commit to the initiative.

For more information :

http://comssa.org/ or helpdesk@comssa.org