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his hope for a seamless partnership building on the comparative advantagesof each partner while avoiding duplication and overlap.A critical dimension in his partnership vision includes trilateral collaborationwith the African Development Bank (AfDB) as the thirdcontinental organisation in a schema in which AU is responsible forthe political leadership, while ECA provides the technical needs.His broader vision of productive and necessary partnerships for Africaincludes active ECA partnerships with UN agencies. While thosepartnerships have existed for a long time, he believes that there isopportunity for deepening their scope and impact, and they are crucialto facilitating an exchange of views and strategic engagementwith all partners. Furthermore, he is convinced that they are helpfulin identifying potential areas of cooperation, as well as priorities andmodalities for joint delivery of services.One of the key concerns of ECA is assistance to fragile states. Mr.Janneh’s conviction is that while partnerships are highly desirablein the quest for good governance and peace and security in Africa,he cautions that in the provision of such assistance, one size doesnot fit all. “Although many of the characteristics of fragile states aresimilar,” he said in an address in 2007, “the causes may be contextspecific and thus approaches to addressing the challenges and opportunitiesmust be context specific as well.”The Commission’s commitment to partnerships is evident in the repositioningplan. In it, ECA describes building partnerships as an importantpart of its work as continental institutions and developmentpartners working for Africa or in pursuit of its interests have to collaborateto harness required resources, ensure coherence and avoidduplication in their activities.In the interventions included in this segment, the Executive Secretarycontinues to spread this important message.138 Part Three