Addis Ababa — African ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development will meet in Kampala, Uganda, May 21-22, to discuss how best to maximize the contribution of trade to national economic growth and the obstacles to Africa's participation in global trade.
Speakers at the meeting's opening session will include President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Mr K.Y. Amoako, and South African Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel.
Discussion on the theme of the meeting, "Mainstreaming trade policy in national development strategies," will feature a high-level panel of experts chaired by the WTO Deputy Director-General, Dr Kipkorir Aly Azad Rana.
Other members of the panel include Ms. Rosa Whitaker, formerly Assistant United States Trade Representative charged with overseeing U.S. trade relations with Africa, Prof. Ademola Oyejide, of the University of Ibadan and Mr. Karl-Friedrich Falkenberg, the Director of Trade Service at the European Union Commission.
A common policy position in the form of a Ministerial Statement will be adopted at the end of the meeting, which will serve as a basis for action in the area of strategic cooperation between ministers of trade and other ministers in ensuring the mainstreaming of trade policy in a coherent agenda for accelerating development and poverty reduction in Africa.
The meeting is organized by the ECA for which the Conference of Ministers is the governing body. The ECA's proposed programme of work for 2006-7 will be presented to the ministers for endorsement. A Committee of Experts will convene ahead of the ministers' meeting, May 18-20.
More than 400 participants - including, ministers, central bank governors, leading academics and researchers, and international partners - are expected to attend.
As last year, the conference is being held back-to-back with the annual meetings of the African Development Bank (ADB). The two organizations will host a Joint Symposium on Monday May 24 on the theme of "The Missing Link in Growth and Sustainable Development: Closing the Gender Gap." The ADB annual meetings will follow on May 25-26.
African Finance, Planning and Economic Development Ministers are key policymakers for both the ADB and ECA. Holding the meetings in succession saves the participants time and travel as well as providing opportunities to discuss strategy for negotiations at international level.
