AUDA-NEPAD, the African Union’s development agency, has been tasked with preparing a pipeline of investment-ready projects, setting a timetable and tracking how many reach financial close—the stage when financing agreements are completed.

A continental facility supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and African value chains is also planned for launch by the African Union’s mid-year summit in 2027. It is expected to report the number of businesses supported and jobs created, including opportunities for young people and women.

Within 18 months, leaders aim to have at least one African-led financing mechanism operating to reduce investment risks and combine public and private funding.

The meetings also produced cooperation agreements. Egypt and South Africa agreed on an automotive components manufacturing initiative and launched a bilateral business council. Egypt signed agreements with Equatorial Guinea covering agriculture, culture, tourism and aquaculture, alongside pharmaceutical and medical products cooperation with Chad.

The wider African Union meeting, which concluded on October 4, called for faster implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area and stronger connections between supply chains, logistics corridors, transport and energy networks.

The deadlines establish concrete milestones against which progress can be assessed: financing secured, projects delivered, businesses supported and jobs created.

Timothee Nicoyangereye and his team in Bujumbura are producing locally made electric stoves designed as an alternative to wood and charcoal, the main cooking fuels used by most households in Burundi.

The appliances feature adjustable electronic controls that allow users to regulate cooking and programme the stove to switch off automatically.

For households already using the cooker, the potential savings are a major attraction.

"The biggest advantage I see is that that bag [of charcoal] lasts for a month, it doesn't get used up easily. This means that you can cook even beyond that, and even if you cook a lot, you might find it takes around thirty, thirty-five [thousand francs] in a month, and it is clean," one user said.

Nicoyangereye, an entrepreneur from Gitega, developed the smart electric cooker as a cheaper and cleaner alternative to traditional cooking fuels.

He believes wider adoption could also help reduce the number of trees cut down for charcoal production.

"I would say that we need many of these so that people can ease the burden of charcoal, and that way environmental consequences are addressed; trees won't be cut down again to make charcoal, because this improved stove itself costs very little money," Nicoyangereye said.

More than 90 percent of Burundi's population relies on firewood or charcoal for cooking, increasing pressure on forests while leaving households exposed to rising fuel costs.

Nicoyangereye's cooker is among several locally developed alternatives seeking to reduce the country's dependence on wood-based cooking fuels.