Activities of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

“Big Table” on African Economies

ECA convened in Washington, D.C., a major conference on Africa's economic future, bringing together several African finance ministers, development ministers from throughout the developed world, and the heads of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The Fourth “Big Table” meeting focused on what more can be done to protect African economies from the adverse effects of external shocks, such as commodity price fluctuations or weather, and on how the approaches of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund can more effectively be aligned with African governments' strategies to reduce poverty. The one-day meeting also addressed the scale of resources required for Africa to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

The “Big Table” meeting series was launched by ECA and its international partners as a forum for frank and open exchange about the major obstacles to Africa's sustainable economic development. Past sessions have addressed strengthening Africa's voice in ongoing international efforts to confront the development challenge, Africa's responsibility in achieving its development goals, and mutual accountability between African governments and donor nations.

A New Commission for Africa is launched

British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched a new Commission for Africa in 2004, pledging that Africa will be a priority during the UK's presidencies of the G8 and the EU in 2005. He told a press conference that Africa was the only continent to have grown poorer in the past 25 years, that its share of world trade had halved in a generation, and that it received less than 1% of direct foreign investment. Although it would be difficult to reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, he believed it was essential to try.

The Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. K. Y. Amoako has accepted an invitation to serve on the Commission, saying that “the international community and Africa have agreed on the central importance of a partnership to achieve NEPAD’s goals, but we must now focus on imple-mentation and action, and added that “we must now agree on what we can really deliver for Africa's people.”

North Africa Beijing +10 Meeting

Within the framework of Africa's contribution in the Global Decade Review of the Beijing Platform for Action on Women (Beijing + 10), ECA has launched a series of subregional meetings at experts level to review progress achieved in the five subregions, and to seek consensus as to what the gender-related priority areas in the subregions are for the next ten years. In this regard, the North Africa subregional evaluation meeting convened in Tangiers, Morocco from 14-16 April 2004, and brought together more than 30 participants who examined, during three full days, results achieved, major challenges pending, and emerging issues facing women in the subregion.

The importance of this meeting and the ones convened in the other subregions lies in the fact that for the first time, and in conformity with the Decade Review purpose to put emphasis on the accountability of all sectoral departments to mainstream gender in their policies and resource allocation, six ministries have thus been strategically selected for focus in gender mainstreaming. The outcome of the subregional review meeting  will be incorporated into the Regional Evaluation Report which will be considered at the African Regional Conference on Women, in November 2004.

Agricultural Workshop in Tunis

Since the Doha round of WTO talks was launched, agriculture has become a key part of the negotiations for developing countries as the sector accounts, on average, for 30 percent of GDP and 70 percent employment. ECA training workshops are part of the Commission's continuing efforts to support African countries in trade-related activities. The most recent example is the four-day workshop for African countries on Agriculture held in Tunis, Tunisia from 26 - 29 April. The workshop concentrated on the three pillars of agricultural negotiations, namely market access, export subsidies and domestic support. The seminar deepened member States' understanding of some of the concepts and challenges the continent faces and established priorities and coherent strategies in order to advance their cause in the next talks.

AIDS Threatens Africa's Development

The Chairman of the Commission for HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa (CHGA), ECA's Executive Secretary K.Y. Amoako, opened the Second Meeting of the Commission in Maputo, Mozambique with a warning that HIV/AIDS “poses the greatest threat to sustained economic development in Africa.” 

The aim of CHGA is to provide governments with sound data, cogent analysis and first-rate advice on formulating policy and implementing it, especially in three of the sectors likely to be worst affected: education, public services and the security forces. CHGA will describe plans for country studies in Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo. Research will also focus on the impact of HIV/AIDS on macroeconomic and political governance structures, and identify best practices and transferable knowledge relevant for other countries on the continent with the goal of helping African leaders fight back the pandemic.

Workshop to Boost Capital Markets

The North African Capital Markets Development Workshop, organized jointly by ECA, JP Morgan (the Investment Bank) and the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges, was held in Cairo, on 1-3 April 2004. The workshop focused on identifying an action plan for the development of North African capital markets. A key element of the action plan is to find innovative ways to increase the liquidity of North African capital markets, and the need for the development of bond markets to tap domestic savings. There was consensus on the need for increased coordination and harmonisation of the efforts to develop capital markets in Africa. In that respect, a steering committee of major stakeholders was established to coordinate technical capacity-building efforts in the region. Members of the committee include the US Securities Exchange Commission, the IMF and ECA.

This is the second in a series of regional workshops organized by the ECA as part of its efforts to assist in the development of capital markets in Africa. The first sub-regional workshop was held in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 2003. It was jointly organized with Rand Merchant Bank, the largest investment bank in Southern Africa.

UK Department for Development in Partnership with ECA

The UK Secretary of State for International Development met with ECA on 6 February, with the aim of strengthening ECA/UK Government cooperation and collaboration in budgetary systems, strategic planning and knowledge management, including technical level engagement and collaboration around key thematic areas and initiatives. These include: trade policy and negotiation capacity; the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance; collaboration with the OECD/DAC on mutual accountability; the NEPAD agenda; and the Strategic Partnership with Africa.

ECA selected meetings

2004

26-30 July

Regional Consultative Meeting

of selected national NGOs on

Beijing + 10

11-13 August

Expert group meeting to review the outcome of gender-aware model

tested at country level

September

  6-8

The globalization of labour markets, Tunis, Tunisia

  21-23

Expert group meeting in monitoring and assessing progress on sustainable development

  21-24

Group Training/workshop for African Policy Makers in the area

of Macroeconomics and Financing, Nairobi, Kenya

4-6 October

Regional Forum on Capital Markets Development

ECA selected publications

African Water Development Report - Interim Version (Sales No: E.04.II.K.6; ISBN: 92-1-125093-5)

African Media and ICT4D: Documentary Evidence, December 2003 (ISBN: 92-1-125088-9)

Land tenure systems and Sustainable development in Southern Africa, December 2003 (ECA/SA/EGM.land 2003/2)

Poverty Mapping for selected African countries, April 2003 (ESPD-NRP-2003-05)

Policies and Plans on Information Society: Status and Impact (October 2003)

Defining Priorities for Regional Integration": Report of the Third African Development Forum (ADF III) (March 2002)