Maputo, Mozambique, 24 April 2023 (ECA) - United Nations agencies should cooperate and coordinate their work to help member countries achieve sustainable development, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Acting Executive Secretary, Antonio Pedro, has urged.
Addressing a United Nations Country Team (UNCT) retreat in Mozambique, Mr. Pedro, lamented that African countries were not collaborating effectively to deploy their national competencies to attract investment and boost trade among themselves.
“It is not really because of lack of strategies, visions or plans that Africa is not moving, it is because we do not connect the dots,” Mr. Pedro said, urging the UN agencies to take time to understand complementarity between their specific areas of specialization and competence.
Underlining ECA’s commitment to deliver strategic actions in support of member states under the “One Framework, Two Agendas” reflecting the important 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063, Mr. Pedro called on UN agencies to pioneer a horizontal and vertical integration approach to address the intertwined economic, social, political, and environmental crises which prevented the achievement of the ‘Africa We Want’.
“The Cooperation Framework is central to UN agencies working together in a coordinated and coherent fashion to support member States’ development aspirations,” urged Mr. Pedro, stating that all agencies must use their comparative advantage to achieve this ambition.
Mr. Pedro, said the recent Conference of Ministers (CoM) held in Ethiopia, emphasized the need for forming peer learning groups to tap innovation and successful policy interventions on the continent.
“As ECA, we believe that the peer learning groups should capitalize on existing initiatives to accelerate the implementation of AfCTA, focusing on developing regional value chains,” he said, citing the initiative to develop the Battery Electric Vehicle chain in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The two countries produce over 70% of the world’s cobalt, and 10% of global copper respectively, putting them in a unique position of being regional and global manufacturers and suppliers of the battery precursors and benefitting from the ‘green mineral boom’.
The Battery Electric Vehicle value chain, estimated to reach US$8.8 trillion by 2025, will boost intra-Africa trade and better position countries like Mozambique to benefit from the regional value chain.
Mr. Pedro cited that the legal and regulatory frameworks on the continent were not conducive for trade and they should be consistently aligned to Africa’s development imperatives to make the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) work.
“Africa should collectively formulate economic pathways by harnessing national competencies in boosting trade and achieving sustainable development,” he said.
Mozambique green treasures
The Acting Executive Secretary highlighted that to tap into business value chains, African countries must tackle major market failures and the misalignment of educational systems, societal and market needs.
“Carbon markets can provide compensation to Africa for ecosystem services provided to the world and Mozambique is no exception,” Mr. Pedro said, citing that the country had the potential to mobilize huge revenue from natured based carbon credits from its battery grade graphite reserves and abundant Liquefied Natural Gas.
Mr. Pedro said Mozambique should also increase the value proposition for climate action by providing incentives for local communities to be agents of change. The development and use of carbon credit markets is a means to achieving this.
Underscoring ECA’s support for Mozambique’s transition towards a green, inclusive, and broad-based economic growth model, Mr. Pedro said ECA will ensure the country mobilizes additional development finance to achieve the SDGs.
Mozambique is in the top ten of countries in Africa with the highest level of poverty and has been highly vulnerable to climate change impacts.
Mozambique cannot dissociate economic growth and infrastructure development from climate change mitigation, Mr. Pedro noted, stressing that the ECA recognises the need to develop a climate resilient economy through its work on The Great Blue Wall Initiative. This initiative offers African countries the opportunity to achieve a nature-positive framework that enhances resilience, unlocks the potential of community-based conservation, and maximizes sustainable natural resources utilization.
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About the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) in 1958 as one of the UN’s five regional commissions, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA’s) mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its Member States , foster intraregional integration and promote international cooperation for Africa’s development. ECA is made up of 54 Member States and plays a dual role as a regional arm of the UN and as a key component of the African institutional landscape.
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Issued by:
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Economic Commission for Africa
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E-mail: eca-info@un.org
