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ATPC Holds Partnership Roundtable

The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) held a Partners Roundtable to raise the profile of the ATPC and its activities with a view to raising funds for the second cycle of the project from 2007-2011. The Roundtable was chaired by the ECA Executive Secretary Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, and attended by the following ambassadors accredited to Ethiopia: H.E. the ambassador of Canada Mr. Yves Boulanger, H.E. the ambassador of Italy Mr. Raffaele de Lutio, H.E. the ambassador of the Netherlands Mr. Alphons Hennekens, and H.E. the ambassador of Nigeria Mr. Olusegun Akinsanya.

In his opening remarks to the meeting, Mr. Janneh said the formation of active partnerships with the African Union, the African Development Bank, UNDP and other UN agencies as well as bilateral partners is central to the ECA vision for sharpening the focus of its activities and improving service delivery to Member States. He stated that "such relationship should facilitate an exchange of views and a strategic engagement with our partners across the board" and thanked Ambassador Boulanger and his staff at the Canadian Embassy in Addis Ababa, as well as the Canadian International Development Agency "for their valuable contribution and unstinting support."

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Boulanger expressed his delight at co-hosting the event with ECA and said Canada was pleased to accompany Africa on its development journey. He said the Canada Fund for Africa, worth 500 million Canadian dollars, was his countries concrete contribution to the NEPAD initiative, and that trade related assistance formed a substantial component of the Canada Fund. He commended ATPC for its high-quality research and advisory services, and invited other donors "to do what they can to support ATPC and trade initiatives in Africa."

ATPC made presentations on the issues and challenges facing trade capacity building in Africa, and on the work of the Centre in addressing these challenges. The presentations formed the basis of wide-ranging discussions on how ATPC and its partners can better respond to Africa's needs in the area of trade. Recommendations to ATPC includes that it should provide more technical assistance to Africa's regional economic communities and build strong synergies with partners working on trade related initiatives. The Roundtable also urged African countries to finance some ATPC activities to show its support for the Centre.

The Roundtable was also attended by His Excellency Mr. Ablasse Ouedraogo, senior advisor the president of the African Development Bank; Mr. Hassan Sunmonu, secretary general of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity; and representatives from the embassies of Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States; Canadian International Development Agency, Delegation of the European Commission to Ethiopia, and the United Nations Development Programme.