Executive Secretary of Economic Commission on Africa Addresses AU

Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission on Africa addressed the opening ceremony of the Executive Council of the African Union on June 28, 2007. He stated: “I am glad to be here with you in this beautiful city of Accra for the Eleventh Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union. I wish to express through you, Mr. Chairman, our profound gratitude to your dynamic President, the Government and people of Ghana for their traditional warm hospitality.

This is in the true spirit of Pan-Africanism for which Ghana is well known and it is quite fitting that the Grand Debate on the African Union Government is taking place here, particularly as we all celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ghana’s independence.

I also take this opportunity to express sincere appreciation to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, the Commissioners and entire staff’ of the Commission for their commitment to ensuring the success of this meeting and for their commendable efforts made in preparing for the forthcoming Summit.

We in ECA continue to benefit from the exemplary cooperation and collaboration from the AU Commission under the leadership of Professor Konare.

Mr. Chairman,
Africa is once again at the crossroads. The outcome of the Grand Debate will not only have ramifications for the institutional landscape of the continent but also implications for its future development. The debate is also most timely as it comes in a period of great international engagement about Africa and its development prospects. Instead of being marginalized, Africa is now firmly on the international agenda through its own initiatives like the New Partnership for Africa’s Development as well as other international initiatives like the Outcome of the 2005 World Summit in which global leaders pledged to support Africa in meeting its special needs.

We are also experiencing the best period of economic- growth in the continent for a generation and the overall economic performance of Africa continues to improve strongly with a 5.7% growth rate in 2906. The 2007 Economic Report for Africa which is published jointly by the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union Commission indicates that growth in the continent is expected to remain high over the next two years.

These factors are contributing to the positive spirit of ownership and self ¬belief which must perforce underpin the Grand Debate. It is quite gratifying therefore that the pan-African ideal that informed the successful drive for liberation and decolonization of Africa is now informing deliberations on the political and economic integration of the continent. Of course, the desired union is not only of concern to African states but also of interest to their people and it is appropriate that efforts have been made to ascertain the views and aspirations of the African people in the wider debate.

The Debate on an African Union Government is very important and opportune and will enable Africa’s leaders to share their vision for the future development of Africa. Your present debate on institutional arrangements, modalities and time frame for the union, underlines the essence of regional economic cooperation and integration for Africa’s future and its ability to deal with its development challenges. As the oldest of the pan-African institutions with a mandate is to support economic and social development of the continent, ECA which will be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary next year welcomes the Grand Debate and stands ready to upscale its efforts in support of Africa’s march to closer integration.

We have consistently maintained that regional integration is imperative for Africa to meet its development challenges and to overcome the limitations of Africa’s small, fragmented economies as well as giving it a greater say in the management of global economic processes. Indeed, closer integration reflects the aspirations of most Africans for the continent to become one strong, robust, diversified and resilient economy, supported by a first-class trans-boundary infrastructure and a highly skilled, flexible and fully employed workforce living in conditions of political stability. To achieve this desirable objective, Africa needs to act together to scale-up efforts to achieve the MDGs, address obstacles to improving trade and investment flows, tackle infrastructure related challenges, manage its natural resources and above all ensure conditions of peace and security for the African people.

Mr. Chairman,
Honourable Ministers,

The imperative of scaling up efforts and investments to achieve the MDGs was taken up by your colleagues, the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development at their meeting in Addis Ababa in April this year. On that occasion, the Finance Ministers deliberated on the theme - “Accelerating Africa’s Growth and Development to meet the Millennium Development Goals: Emerging Challenges and the Way Forward.” They agreed on the need for a massive scaling up of public and private sector investments if the continent is to achieve the MDGs aimed at eradicating poverty, promoting gender equality and meeting other educational, health and environmental targets. Using regional integration as a means of accelerating the achievement of the MDGs is one sure way of ensuring the buy-in of the African people into this noble ideal. I should also mention that in Addis Ababa, the ECA Conference of Ministers re¬affirmed the decision they took at their meeting in Yaounde, last November, to harmonize the ECA conference with that of the African Union Commission.

Africa also needs to act as one in the area of trade, especially in negotiations at the WTO and the Economic Partnership Agreements with European Union. The objective in both negotiations should be to seek development outcomes that favour Africa. . While there is visible evidence of increasingly strong collaboration between African countries and the regional groupings in these negotiations, there is still a need to do much more. At the end of the day, the clout and bargaining power that will enable favourable outcomes depend to a large extent on economic size as well as the offers being brought to the table. Increased intra-Africa trade is therefore necessary to enable the continent to take advantage of global trade opportunities. This would, in turn require overcoming the challenges that impede the flow of goods and services within the continent as well as the diversification of Africa’s production structures.

Trade facilitation is closely tied to the need for affordable, efficient, and sustainable physical infrastructure to support economic activities and the provision of basic social services. Of particular importance in this regard, is transport infrastructure such as roads, rail, air, and port services which need to be rehabilitated and expanded. Integration is also an important means of managing shared water resources which have a vital role to play in the transport of goods and people. Moreover, Africa needs to develop energy infrastructure such as electricity grids and oil and gas pipelines that will facilitate cross-border energy supplies thereby enhancing security and reliability of energy supply. Energy issues were addressed recently when African Finance and Energy Ministers came together with development partners here in Accra at the Financing for Development Conference to deliberate on the mobilisation of financial resources to help meet Africa’s energy needs.

Regional solutions are also important in the sustainable management of Africa’s vast natural resources in areas like governance, institutional capacity, ownership, and the environment. These issues were addressed at this year’s Big Table jointly organized by ECA and the African Development Bank in close collaboration with the African Union Commission. Several useful recommendations emanated from the frank and robust dialogue which is the hallmark of this forum including suggestions that the African Peer Review Mechanism should be expanded to include the governance of the natural resources sector and that natural resources management should be mainstreamed into poverty reduction strategies. A peer-learning group on natural resources is to be established to promote knowledge sharing in this area.

In the final analysis, the successful integration of Africa must be underpinned by conditions of peace and security and there are positive signs that the continent has taken important steps in this regard. In addition to the positive and determined effort to evolve a peace and security architecture for the continent there is evidence of the increasing use of African Union structures and mechanisms for resolving conflicts and managing peace. However, more remains to be done especially in places like Darfur and Somalia which require concerted action by the AU and its partners. There is need at the same time to help consolidate peace and security in countries emerging from conflict and taking a regional perspective can help mobilize international support for such efforts. The promotion of good governance lies in turn at the heart of ensuring peace and stability in Africa because it gives voice to marginalized communities and promotes fair access to resources and opportunities for development.

The United Nations is well positioned to continue its support for Africa’s regional integration agenda especially in the context of UN-AU Framework for the Ten-Year Capacity Building Programme for the African Union. This evolving Framework will be supported by the Regional Consultative Mechanism of United Nations agencies working in support of the African Union agenda and its NEPAD programme, which is convened by ECA and has now been expanded to include the AU. The Regional Consultative Mechanism which now consists of nine sectoral Clusters will enable coherence and close coordination in the delivery of UN support at the regional level.

Mr. Chairman,
The commitment to integration in Africa is quite clear and the case for it was established a long time ago. The evidence abounds in the establishment of the African Union and the adoption of NEPAD which has a continent-wide agenda. It also abounds in the various sectoral initiatives as well as the long-standing existence of Regional Economic Communities. Nevertheless, it is now time to move from ideas to action and from institutional architecture to actual mechanisms and specific programmes for tackling trans boundary challenges.

In this regard, I would urge that adequate attention be given to how to accelerate integration through actual projects and the removal of obstacles to coherent integration. Africa must make the best use of existing Regional Economic Communities which are the building blocks of continental integration. Accordingly, they need to be strengthened and supported to achieve their mandate. Similarly, it would be desirable to pay attention to how to bequeath the continent with a dynamic and forward looking capacity to develop appropriate strategies for dealing with current and emerging challenges. Taking a regional perspective is paramount for tackling such challenges in this era of globalization.

I know that this generation of Africans is capable of rising to meet the challenge of actualizing the ideal of pan-African integration. On its part, ECA will use the opportunity of its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2008 to determine how best we can continue to centre stage Africa’s development agenda.

I wish you successful deliberations.

Thank you for your kind attention.”

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