Addis Ababa — The sprawling headquarters for the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is bustling with activities as participants arrive for week-long discussions of Africa's development priorities.
With delegates and media and NGO representatives thronging the complex in the Ethiopian capital to get registered, warm-hearted Ethiopian hospitality glows amid the hurly-burly. Over 1,000 participants are expected at this year's meetings.
Headlining events is the conference of African ministers of finance, planning and economic development, which convenes next Monday (March 30). This week's programme includes meetings of technical experts appointed by the African Union to advise members on finance, monetary affairs, economic planning and integration, plus the launch of ECA's 2015 Economic Report on Africa, entitled "Industrializing through Trade". Also on the calendar is a 'Rebooting Open Data in Africa' workshop convened by the World Wide Web Foundation, and another looking at recovery in Most Ebola-Affected Countries.
The theme for the meetings is 'Implementing Agenda 2063 - Planning, Mobilizing and Financing for Development'. The Agenda 2063 strategy was developed to set goals for African development and was adopted at the 50th anniversary of the African Union last year to "optimize the use of Africa's resources" and to "ensure positive socioeconomic transformation within the next 50 years".
A high-level dialogue on Saturday focuses on 'Making Agenda 2063 work for African Women'. Next week's two-day session of the ministers is expected to take the discussions further.
The packed programme includes a luncheon inaugurating the annual Adebayo Adedeji Lecture Series, named for a former ECA executive secretary from Nigeria. The first lecture will be delivered by the outgoing president of the African Development Bank, Dr. Donald Kaberuka, a former finance minister from Rwanda who has led Africa's largest financial institution since 2005. AllAfrica co-founder and executive chair, Amadou Mahtar Ba, will moderate. Ba will also preside at a ministerial panel on Sunday examining financing for sustainable development and a plenary during the ministerial on Monday examining implementation strategies for Agenda 2063.
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At a media briefing on Tuesday, conference organisers said eight resolutions are expected to come out of the experts meeting for consideration by the ministers. Sandra Baffoe-Bonnie, secretary of the commission, said among the nearly two dozen side events which will be taking place at this year's conference will be a meeting of the African Forum, an informal gathering of former African heads of state.
Gender issues will play a prominent role in the discussion, the ECA chief for equality and women's development, Ngome Diop, told reporters. "You cannot define your macroeconomic framework without taking into account gender inequality," Diop said.
Another side event taking place on Sunday is the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Africa, a group of leading experts from business, academia, government, civil society and international organisations, chaired by the ECA Executive Secretary Carlos Lopes and Barclay Africa CEO Maria Ramos from South Africa.
