Johannesburg — Africa is on the brink of a new period of prosperity and growth, according to Deputy South African Finance Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa.
Mr. Mpahlwa was addressing policymakers from African countries at the opening of a two-and-a-half day Committee of Experts meeting which kicked off in Johannesburg today in preparation for a Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development which starts Saturday.
"We do not realize how close we are to launching ourselves into a new period of economic growth and prosperity," said Mr. Mpahlwa.
Despite the economic difficulties throughout the world, stressed the Minister, Africa as a continent had experienced growth rates marginally higher than the average for all developing countries -- 3.1 percent in 2002. Furthermore, and an estimated growth rate of 4.2 percent was projected for 2003, more than twice the growth achieved from 1984 to 1993.
Citing the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) as the multi-tiered process that could fulfil Africa's promise of a brighter future, Mr. Mpahlwa however warned his fellow African policymakers that "we must realize that the economic prosperity and welfare of our people depend on our breathing life into the notions of 'partnership' and 'ownership'."
Some 60 African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development will meet from 19 - 21 October in what will be the largest gathering of Ministers and experts dealing with economic policy in Africa on NEPAD since its endorsement by African leaders at the inaugural summit of the African Union in Durban in July 2002.
In addition to the Ministers, more than 500 participants -- including central bank governors, leading academics and researchers, civil society and private sector representatives, and the international community -- are due to attend.
The theme of the Conference is "Accelerating Africa's Performance and Progress: The challenge of NEPAD".
In his address, K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which is organizing the Conference, told the meeting that the climate for development cooperation had improved markedly in the past year. "The international focus is now clearly on Africa. And there finally seems to be some advance on crucial issues that affect us deeply."
Mr. Amoako identified NEPAD as an important framework for Africa's development that reinforces progress and makes the consequences of domestic choices more important. "It is not a 'one size fits all'", he said, implying that each African country would need to adapt the broad principles of the NEPAD framework to its own reality.
With this in mind, Mr. Amoako asked the experts to focus on " how to hasten the peer review process, how to get it supported internally and externally, and how to operate the process to foster needed changes in national performance."
The Conference agenda is organized to allow discussions on three broad clusters of issues:
- Actions required on the part of African countries to translate the principles and objectives of NEPAD to country level actions and thereby operationalize the Partnership;
- Actions on the part of Africa's partners to support the principles and objectives of NEPAD, and
- The challenge of monitoring and tracking of progress by African countries and their partners to ensure the achievement of the shared development objectives under NEPAD.
The Conference will discuss the operational challenges in each of these areas and propose what might be done differently. The agenda is designed around panel discussions, aimed at ensuring the maximum of interactivity.
Previously known as the New African Initiative, NEPAD is a consolidation of two proposals -- the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Programme (MAP), which had its driving force in Presidents Mbeki of South Africa, Bouteflika of Algeria, Obasanjo of Nigeria and Mubarak of Egypt, and the OMEGA plan of Senegal's President Wade. It also draws on the Compact for Africa's Recovery, prepared by ECA following a request from the African Ministers of Finance in Addis Ababa in November 2000.
