Introduction

The African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources organized the Pan African Conference for the African Youth in Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture Incubators Network (AYL-FAIN) from 25 to 27 July 2018 at Safir Hotel in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt. Prior to the conference, an incubation management Training of Trainers programme was facilitated by the African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN) from 23^rd to 24^th July 2018 as part of the partnership arrangement between AU-IBAR and AAIN. The objectives of the conference were to adopt operating procedures including statutes of AYL-FAIN, develop regional business plans and elect regional, continental executives and to launch AYL-FAIN.

His Excellency Prof Dr. Ezz El Din Abostate, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation for Egypt opened the conference and also launched the following networks/associations:

• Association of Veterinary Education Establishments (2A2E-V)
• Association of African Veterinary Statutory Bodies (2AVSB)
• African youth in livestock, fisheries and aquaculture incubation network (AYL-FAIN)
• African women in animal resources farming and agribusiness network (AWARFA-N)

The Director of AU-IBAR, Prof Ahmed Elsawalhy also read a statement on behalf of the Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture, Her Excellency Josefa Sacko.

The Conference was attended by 70 youth from 44 African Union member states from Eastern, Central, Southern, Western and Northern Africa. The countries present at the conference were (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Cote d’ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). There were also representatives from The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Trust Africa, International Business Driving Licence (IBDL).

© 2018 AU-IBAR. Participants of the Pan- African Conference for the African Association of Veterinary Education Establishments, 25th to 27th July 2018, Cairo Egypt.The Pan-African Conference of the African Association of Veterinary Education Establishments (2A2E-V) was held on the 25^th to 27^th July 2018, at Safir Hotel, Cairo Egypt. It was held back to back with the Pan-Africa Conferences on veterinary statutory bodies and agribusiness networks of women and youth in the livestock sector.

The theme of the Conference was "unifying Africa to drive a more dynamic and inclusive animal resources sector for a prosperous future".

The Meeting of the Association of the Veterinary Education Establishments was attended by 77 representatives from 51 Veterinary Faculties, Colleges and Schools from 25 African Union Member States coming from all the 5 Regions of Africa. Representatives from Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Regional Office for Africa, COMESA and World Animal Protection also participated in the Conference.

 The Conference was preceded by a meeting of a Task force comprising of 30 representatives from the VEEs who prepared various documents for consideration by the General Assembly.

The Pan-African conference on veterinary education establishments, veterinary statutory bodies and agribusiness networks of women and youth in the livestock sector was officially opened by the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, H.E. Prof Dr. Ezz El Din Abostate. The Opening Ceremony was also graced by the Director of AU-IBAR, Prof Ahmed Elsawalhy who read a statement on behalf of the Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture, Her Excellency Josefa Sacko.

The Minister thereafter launched the following associations and Networks:

• Association of Veterinary Education Establishments (2A2E-V)
• Association of African Veterinary Statutory Bodies (2AVSB)
• African youth in livestock, fisheries and aquaculture incubation network (AYL-FAIN)
• African women in animal resources farming and agribusiness network (AWARFA-N)

© 2018 AU-IBAR. The First Meeting of the Task Force on African Ornamental Fisheries to Formulate Regulatory Framework for the Exploitation of Trade in Ornamental Fisheries in Africa; 18-20 July 2018 Kigali, Rwanda.Introduction

The First Meeting of the Taskforce on African Ornamental Fisheries to formulate regulatory framework for the exploitation and Trade in Ornamental Fisheries in Africa was organized by African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR). The meeting was held in collaboration with the government of the Republic of Rwanda and with support from the European Union (EU) within the provision of the Fisheries Governance Project (FISHGOV) being implemented by AU-IBAR and NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA).

The meeting was held from the 18^th to 20^th July, 2018 at the Hotel Hilltop & Country Club, Kigali, Rwanda.

The overall objective of the meeting was to formulate regulatory framework including the monitoring mechanism for the exploitation and trade of ornamental fisheries in Africa.

The specific objectives were to:

• Identify priority actions at national and sub-regional levels to improve the contribution of ornamental fisheries to the African Accelerated Agricultural Transformation goals.
• Identify and consolidate critical issues that would constitute the measures in regulatory framework and monitoring mechanism for exploitation and trade in ornamental fisheries.

© 2018 AU-IBAR. Partners Meeting for Finalization of the Formulation of Second Phase of Fisheries Governance Project (FishGov II) and Reviewer’s Meeting for Final Review of the African Fisheries Report; 18th to 21st June, 2018,Fish Eagle Hotel, Naivasha, Kenya.Introduction

Two write-shops to finalize the drafts of the FISHGOV II Project proposal and Africa Fisheries Report with partners was organized by the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the NEPAD Agency with support from the European Union from the 18^th to 21^st June, 2018 in Naivasha, Kenya.

The objectives of the write-shops were to:

• Review and finalize the proposal for second phase of the Fisheries Governance Project (FISHGOV II) in collaboration with the proposed partners of the project.
• Final Review and Compilation of the final draft of the First African Fisheries Report. The latter is a sequel to the outputs of the consultative Meeting on the formulation of Africa Fisheries Report which was held on the 5^th to 6^th September 2017 at the AU-IBAR offices in Nairobi, Kenya as well as the Expert Consultative Workshop on Preparation of African Fisheries Report from 22^nd to 26^th January, 2018 in Naivasha, Kenya

There were 10 participants who undertook to finalize the FISHGOV II Project proposal. The participants were from WorldFish, NEPAD and AU-IBAR. Three of the co-authors to the Africa Fisheries and Aquaculture Report participated in the second write-shop to the final draft of this report. The Cardno Technical Assistant on Fisheries Governance to the FISHGOV I project and AU-IBAR also participated in the write-shops and formulation process of the FishGov 2.