Algiers — African Ministers of Finance, Planning And Economic Development meet in Algiers next week to discuss a Single Africa led initiative to mediate partnership between Africa and its partners that will define the way forward in Africa's development.
The ministers will meet for the Ninth Session of the Joint Conference of African Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Planning and Economic Development, organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and hosted by the Government of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. The conference takes place from 8 10 May at the Palais des Nations, Algiers, under the theme "Compact for African Recovery: Operationalizing the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Programme".
Discussions will focus on the Millennium Plan (MAP) -- an initiative proposed last year by Presidents Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. With the MAP emerging as the agreed African initiative for development, bringing together all partnership initiatives within a single framework, the Compact is designed to provide technical and analytical support to the MAP. The MAP and Compact both focus on selected key priority areas intended to enable Africa to achieve accelerated growth and development.
The Compact for African Recovery was developed by ECA following the last Conference of African Ministers of Finance in Addis Ababa in November 2000. At that meeting, ECA's Executive Secretary, K.Y. Amoako called for a new compact with Africa in which the developed countries would invest the necessary resources through aid, debt relief and market access to give African economies the jump-start they need. In turn, Africa should be able to put in place the necessary political reforms to ensure that their economies take off. In endorsing the proposal, the Ministers asked ECA to develop a concrete set of proposals, and it is these proposals that are on the table at this year's conference.
In recent years, conferences of Ministers of Finance and Planning, held jointly or in separate groups, have covered the key topics of trade and investment, financial sector reforms, debt management, and the challenge of financing development in Africa. They have gained consensus on key issues, and influenced G-8 meetings and other international forums. Last year's conference helped to prepare African countries for two upcoming global gatherings mandated by the UN General Assembly: The UN high-level event on financing for development and the third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.
The conference which will also review and advise on ECA's biennial work programme -- and is being preceded by a meeting of experts, which began today and runs until 7 May. In addition to the main MAP/Compact discussion, the meeting features panel discussions on substantive related issues, including post-conflict reconstruction, building and sustaining partnerships and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. At the end of their meeting, the experts -- drawn from governments, the United Nations system, and bilateral and multilateral institutions -- will present recommendations for consideration by the Ministers.
In his opening statement to the experts meeting, Mr. Amoako highlighted the need for a single African framework for development and partnership. "In my own consultations with leading figures in the Governments involved, I have stressed the need for consensus so that Africa can work with its international partners with one voice and under one agreed initiative. Our international partners have likewise indicated the desirability and practicality of this".
Mr. Amoako said the meeting provided the first opportunity for African policymakers to give their perspectives on all aspects of the proposed Compact, adding that the Compact document presented ideas that are consistent with the political vision of the MAP. He also detailed the extensive process of consultation that had preceded the development of the Compact document -- with the MAP initiators, partners outside of Africa, the UN family, a number of governments.
Drawing on the emerging consensus on the key priorities for Africa's development, and the lessons learned from past aid relations, the Compact proposes a major transformation in Africa's development relationship with its external partners. Government commitments to the macroeconomic fundamentals and to the principles of governance are the foundations of the transformation.
Among other proposals, the Compact calls for an enhanced partnership between Africa's best-performing countries and their international partners, while at the same time recognizing the need for special support to the diverse group of countries in the continent including those emerging from conflict.
At the end of the conference, Ministers will issue a statement articulating their vision for development based on African ownership, which will form the basis for partnership between Africa and its development partners.
The Compact and other key conference documents will shortly be available on the web at www.uneca.org/adf2000 and click on "What's New".
Media Contact in Algiers is Peter da Costa
Cellphone: +213-61-535-172 Fax: +213-21-394-408 E-mail: dacosta@igc.org
NB: La version francaise de ce document sera disponible sur le site web dans de brefs delais.
