ADDIS ABABA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Africa Union (AU) and New Zealand have signed a partnership agreement on the "New Zealand-Africa Geothermal Facility."
The deal, reached between by the AU Commission and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), has a goal to expand access to affordable, reliable and clean energy in Eastern African countries, according to a statement released by the pan-African bloc on Thursday.
Amani Abou-Zeid, AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, and Bruce shepherd, New Zealand Ambassador to AU, signed the agreement on Wednesday at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The signing of the Partnership Agreement follows on from 2016 when New Zealand provided the AU access to its "Geothermal Drilling Code" for use by member states, according to the statement.
The facility will operate for an initial implementation timeframe of five years from 2017-2020 and will be hosted by the AU Department of Infrastructure & Energy.
