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ATPC Governing Board concludes second annual meeting

Addis Ababa, 19 June. The advisory board of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) has approved the draft 2006/2007 work programme of ATPC following their second annual meeting on 19 June in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The board commended the work programme as thoughtful and targeted at the needs of African countries. It further commended ATPC for the hard work in fulfilling its 2005/2006 work programme, which helped advance Africa's interests at international trade negotiations.

Speaking during the board meeting, the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Ethiopia, H.E. Olusegun Akinsanya, commended the leadership role played by ATPC in articulating trade-related issues and concerns of African countries. He called on the Centre to continue providing the crucial support to African trade negotiators and officials, and proposed more work in the area of trade facilitation in order to increase inter-African trade.

Also speaking at the board meeting, the director of the trade and regional integration division of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Mr. Hakim Ben Hammouda, commended the strong collaboration that exists between ECA, ATPC, the African Union (AU), the African Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations development Programme (UNDP) and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC). "Under the political leadership of the AU and the technical support of ATPC and other partners, African countries are now better prepared for international trade negotiations," he said. He also commended the Canada Fund for Africa for its strong and continuing support to ATPC, and invited other donors to follow suit.

The board also called on ATPC to explore ways of expanding the scope and nature of its operations to cover more activities; and to undertake proactive and agenda-setting research. It called for an increase in donor funding to enable the Centre to scale-up its operations.

United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, chairs the ATPC Board. Membership of the board includes representation from the AU, ADB, Canada Fund for Africa, UNDP, the secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The approved work programme is attached.

The board meeting was preceded by a meeting of the ATPC technical committee, which deliberated on theoretical and technical issues relating to the Centre. The Technical Committee currently has 10 members drawn from academia, representatives of African countries, civil society groups, and the Canada Fund for Africa.