Dakar, June 19 and 20 – The biannual meeting of the Technical Committee on Green Cities was held on June 19 at the GGGI Senegal Office in Dakar. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Amadou Diouldé Diallo from the General Directorate of Urban planning & Architecture and Mr. Mamadou Konate, Senior Officer Green Growth at the GGGI Senegal team. The meeting provided an opportunity to give an update on the progress and achievements made since the beginning of the year.

Mr. Ale Badara Sy, GGGI’s Green City Development Specialist, gave an update on the progress of the objectives set in 2018. All activities were undertaken with a very satisfactory rate of progress. However, the committee has suggested to reinforce synergies around the city of Saint Louis on sustainable cities initiatives led by the Agence de Développement Municipal (ADM) and the Green Cities Development Program.

One of the highlights of this meeting was the presentation and discussions on the National Forum on Green Cities, which provided investment opportunities for the Green Cities Strategies & Roadmap. The National Forum on Green Cities will be held in October 2018 and will bring together international experts in urban green growth and green technologies for cities. The institutional mechanism for the preparation of the Forum will draw on the existing Green City Technical Committee, which will be extended to other private and public structures. An important decision is to discuss organizing this Forum every two years to facilitate the capitalization and the exchange of experiences.

On June 20, the Mayor of Kolda signed the commitment charter for the development of this town in the green city. Kolda is one of the three pilot cities of the program, which started in 2017.