17/09/2026
𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐓𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄, 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐀 𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝟑𝟕𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐀 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒, 𝟏𝟕𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔, 𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐀, 𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐀
• Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Rafael Mariano Grossi
• Acting Director for Africa Division, TC Department, Mr. Gashaw Wolde,
• Heads of delegations and Excellencies
• AFRA national coordinators,
• Chairs of AFRA Committees
• Distinguished partner and donor countries
1. It is my great honour and privilege to welcome you to the 37th Meeting of AFRA Representatives.
2. This meeting, held annually in September on the margins of the IAEA General Conference, is the decision-making organ of AFRA in accordance with the AFRA Agreement. It is therefore important that this meeting is attended by senior government officials who are duly authorized to make commitments on behalf of their respective governments on matters pertaining to the Agreement.
3. The principal purpose of this meeting is to consider and approve proposed projects, review project implementation, consider the 2025 AFRA Annual Report, and deliberate on other matters relating to the promotion and coordination of cooperative projects under the AFRA Agreement. The meeting will also consider the recommendations of the 37th Technical Working Group Meeting, successfully hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco in June 2026, as well as to endorse the host country for next year’s Technical Working Group Meeting.
4. Allow me to express my sincere appreciation to the IAEA Secretariat for organising this important meeting and for its continued support and leadership in implementing AFRA’s regional activities. I also wish to recognise the valuable work of the Human Resource Development and Nuclear Knowledge Management Committee (HLSC) and the Programme Management and Partnership Committee (PMPC). I commend our AFRA National Coordinators for their continued efforts to coordinate and advance AFRA activities at the national level.
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,
5. This meeting marks the conclusion of Botswana’s one-year tenure as Chair of AFRA. During our tenure, Botswana to provided leadership in coordinating AFRA activities and in providing strategic direction for the implementation of the AFRA Programme for 2025/26, in close collaboration with the IAEA Secretariat.
6. The Chairmanship also enabled Botswana to represent and advance the collective interests of African Member States through high-level engagements with the IAEA, partner institutions and donor countries. These engagements, held in April 2026, contributed to strengthening international support, resource mobilisation and collaboration in nuclear science and technology. We remain grateful to our development partners and donor countries for their continued support.
7. Of note, at the kind invitation of the Government of India the AFRA leadership participated in the 48th National Representatives Meeting of the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Asia which took place in Mumbai in May 2026. As a result, I would like to thank RCA Government Parties for the AFRA-RCA collaboration which is concretized by the planning and organization of the first of its kind joint Regional Workshop for supporting young leaders and female professionals which will be hosted by Australia in October 2027.
8. Nuclear power is increasingly being considered as a viable option for sustainable energy access and economic development. Given the scale and specialized nature of nuclear workforce requirements, a coordinated regional and continental approach could therefore leverage existing institutional capacities and centres of excellence, promote mobility and knowledge-sharing. Under the AFRA framework, an expert group meeting was organized in August 2026 and recommended the establishment of the African Nuclear Energy Academy (ANEA), drawing on lessons learned from regional institutions and initiatives. ANEA will be an African continental initiative that build on existing African capacities and Centres of Excellences to ensure strong ownership of African Member States, sustainability, and long-term impact.
9. Furthermore, we witnessed the signing of the Framework for the Establishment of the Africa Research Reactor Network, ARRN on Monday. This achievement was conceived under RAF1012, with the Technical Cooperation Programme supporting eight African Member States operating research reactors, namely Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa to further strengthen collaboration and maximize the utilization of existing research reactor infrastructure and expertise in Africa. The network will serve as a regional platform to promote coordination, knowledge sharing, capacity building and joint activities among the African research reactor community. On behalf of AFRA, I wish to congratulate all the parties that have contributed to bringing this important initiative to reality.
10. As part of our efforts to advance the AFRA Programme, nine new projects have been developed for the 2028/29 Technical Cooperation Programme cycle. These projects focus on key areas including human health and nutrition, food and agriculture, radiation, waste and transport, the nuclear fuel cycle, and nuclear knowledge development and management. These areas demonstrate the important contribution that nuclear science and technology can make towards addressing Africa’s development priorities.
11. In July this year, AFRA also convened a webinar under the theme:
“Effective nuclear management in Africa depends not only on technical excellence, but also on strong communication, trust and collaboration among institutions, stakeholders and the public.” The webinar sought to enhance the visibility of AFRA and promote greater awareness of the peaceful and beneficial applications of nuclear science and technology.
12. At the national level, Botswana’s Chairmanship has enhanced our visibility and demonstrated the country’s growing contribution to regional leadership. It has also provided an opportunity to highlight the benefits of nuclear science and technology for sustainable national and regional development.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
13. As we look ahead, I wish to encourage the few countries that have not yet acceded to the revised AFRA Agreement to do so. Broad participation in the Agreement will strengthen our collective efforts and enable all Member States to benefit more fully from AFRA programmes and activities. I also wish to remind all AFRA Parties of the importance of contributing to the AFRA Fund in a timely and complete manner. Predictable and sustainable financing is essential for effective programme implementation and for maintaining the confidence of our partners and donors.
14. There is another important matter that I wish to emphasise. If we are to fully realise the benefits of nuclear science and technology, its development and application must be underpinned by strong, effective and independent regulatory frameworks. A robust and effectively independent regulatory body is essential to protecting workers, the public and the environment. At the same time, regulatory authorities must continuously strengthen their technical capacity to ensure that their expertise keeps pace with advances in nuclear science and technology.
15. More broadly, I believe that we must do more to position nuclear science and technology within Africa’s wider development agenda. We should deliberately use existing regional and continental policy platforms, as well as sectoral forums e.g in agriculture, health, mining, energy, water resources management and climate change, to demonstrate the practical benefits of nuclear applications. This will help broaden understanding, promote greater acceptance and demonstrate how nuclear science and technology can complement conventional approaches and contribute to closing existing development gaps. Our objective should be to ensure that nuclear science and technology is not viewed solely as a specialised technical field, but as an important instrument for addressing Africa’s development challenges.
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,
16. As I conclude, allow me once again to welcome you to this important meeting. I wish to extend our best wishes to the Kingdom of Morocco as it assumes the Chairmanship of AFRA. We are confident that Morocco will provide strong leadership and build upon the progress achieved during the past year.
Botswana remains committed to supporting the incoming Chairmanship and to contributing to the continued advancement of AFRA and the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology for the benefit of Africa.
I thank you for your kind attention.
