About ADF

The African Development Forum (ADF) is an initiative led by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to set up an Africa-driven development agenda. It is designed as a process of initiating dialogue, building consensus, and mobilizing partnerships on emerging issues among Africa's stakeholders.

ADF presents a unique opportunity to connect African decision-makers with the best possible policy advice, informed by credible analytical work and the relevant experiences and views of 1,000 participants from Africa and the rest of the world. After only three highly rated Forums held, ADF has gained worldwide recognition as the premier arena for engaging in candid and productive discussions on African priorities among policymakers, experts and peers.

The quality and range of participants transforms the Forum into a small global village and is critical to its success. The three broad groups of stakeholders are government, private sector and civil society. Related to the selected theme, high-level representatives from sectoral Ministries, Legislatures and Judiciaries are invited, along with public sector managers. Regional banks, capital markets, chambers of commerce and local businesses represent the private sector. Civil society brings together well-known academics, researchers, advocates, community-based organizations and other non-governmental players.

The ADF is more than just a series of meetings; it is a valuable process of agreeing on an action plan whose work continues long after the Forum ends, in various settings at national and international levels. The outcomes of the process also feed directly into ECA's ongoing activities. The itinerary always includes pre-Forum and post-Forum activities, most notably national and sub-regional consultations.

The first ADF on The Challenge to Africa of Globalization and the Information Age, held in October 1999, spotlighted information and communications technology (ICT) as a crucial instrument for development and a means to leverage Africa's participation in the world economy. It resulted in important public and private sector actions that stimulated the acceleration of the information revolution on the continent.

ADF II on HIV/AIDS: the Greatest Leadership Challenge, held in December 2000, stressed how effective leadership at every level and in every sphere of African society is critical to winning the war against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The gathering attracted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, African Heads of State and Government, and other UN leaders. The Forum provided a critical venue for furthering discussions about international funding mechanisms, private-public partnerships, and other new initiatives on AIDS in Africa

Defining Priorities for Regional Integration was the theme of ADF III held in March 2002, to coincide with efforts to establish the African Union (AU). ECA provided OAU/AU with a unique opportunity to benefit from expert analysis, discuss regional economic integration publicly, get broader substantive inputs from participants, and, in the process, widen African ownership of the AU.