Keynote address
by CoDA Chairperson HIGH LEVEL POLICY FORUM LAND BASED FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS IN AFRICA: Nairobi, 4 – 5 October 2011
Excellencies, Good morning. I am most pleased to here in Nairobi to participate in this opportune High Level Policy Forum on an issue which is of great concern to many, many Africans these days, be they in government, civil society, academia or the private sector. On behalf of the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA), of which I am the Chairman, and also our partners in the AU-ECA-AfDB Land Policy Initiative, I would like to thank you all for making the time to join us in the Kenyan capital to deliberate on several critical areas related to our overall theme and to share your insights and rich experience with us. Special thanks must also be extended to the Government and People of Kenya for the warm hospitality extended to us. This Forum is situated within a process of trying to find effective solutions to the vexed issue of how to upscale investment in the agricultural sector on our continent. In that regard, we are here today, not simply to cry wolf and raise issues of concern surrounding the so called land grabs which have been reported in many countries in recent years. No, we are here also to try and look ahead constructively and to come up with ideas, and hopefully an agreement, on the best policies for managing investments in land and agriculture. As the proverb says, and I quote: Excellencies, I sincerely hope that our dialogue here in Nairobi will contribute to the conceptualization and implementation of policies that will help to “light up” the agricultural sector on our beloved continent. Given the importance that agriculture and the land resources play in the lives of so many Africans, failure to significantly transform the continent’s agricultural sector, through greater investments as well as the application of the myriad science and technology tools available now in the twenty-first century would be inexcusable. It simply must be done, and soon. I know we can do it. Looking around this gathering and seeing so many participants who are political and traditional leaders, influential policy makers or respected experts in their respective fields, all with valuable ideas and interesting perspectives, I know that we can, indeed we will, make a contribution over the next two days to advancing this agenda. Let me also, at this time, underline how pleased CoDA is to be continuing its partnership with the LPI on this theme of land investments in Africa’s agricultural sector. As you may know, CoDA is an independent, international, African-owned forum that identifies and discusses issues of importance to Africa’s development within a global context. It is also a think tank that advocates for the continent, brings together a range of stakeholders to promote dialogue and provides a platform for African voices to be heard. CoDA’s core mission, as the successor forum to the Global Coalition for Africa (GCA) and Big Table forums, is to promote dialogue, new thinking, and renewed policy action on critical issues relevant to Africa’s development. In that context, the recent significant increase in land investments in many countries, which were termed “land grabs” by some critics and pinpointed as issues of great concern by many citizens in several countries, was selected by my colleagues on the CoDA Board and I, as a priority areas for in-depth discussion and advocacy since the inception of CoDA. We therefore were happy to partner with the LPI in co-convening a small policy forum in Lisbon on the sidelines of the AfDB 2011 Annual Meetings where we brainstormed on the issues as a step towards the convening of this high level forum. Although, this is an area of concern which sparked our current interest in discussing agricultural investments in Africa is relatively new, CoDA is also committed to breathing new life into thinking on other issues of long term interest. What makes CoDA special and different from other Africa-focused think tank initiatives, is the fact that it is African owned, African led and largely African financed. It is also innovative, as it has at its very heart the forging of a close partnership between a wide cross section of African stakeholders and international “friends of Africa”. Our operational modality is simple. CoDA aims to provide a space for African civil societies, private sector representatives, policy makers, and media workers to hold interactive discussions on some of the more controversial and intransigent issues confronting the continent. We see a value in creating spaces where different sections of society from the various regions of the continent can come together to discuss issues which are at times highly charged, controversial and where the usual policy processes may not yet have placed sharp enough focus. Once agreement is reached on the best way forward through interactive and engaging dialogues, CoDA then seeks to advocate and lobby for necessary policy action by bringing viable inventive ideas, perspectives and concrete recommendations to the attention of African leaders and policy makers, who have the power to push for the necessary change. That is exactly what we, in collaboration with the Land Policy Initiative, plan to do with the outcomes and recommendations emanating from this High Level Forum.
Excellencies, Although CoDA does not have any power to compel policy change, we do believe that our new initiative can gain respect through its independence to tackle controversial topics and its willingness to speak openly with courage. Since our launch in Addis Ababa in 2009, we have convened a multistakeholder dialogue forum in Tunis on “Africa’s Response to the Global Financial Crisis”, organized a Seminar, in Abuja, in collaboration with ECOWAS, on Transnational Trafficking and Political Instability in Africa, and engaged with the African Development Forum and the new African Climate Policy Centre in Addis Ababa on the discussion of Climate Change issues prior to the Cancun summit. As CoDA Chairperson, I look forward to continuing our engagement in this key area and participating in the first Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-I) Conference in Addis Ababa in two weeks time. Additionally, CoDA has been investigating what is needed to significantly advance the regional integration agenda in Africa. In this context, we convened a policy forum on “Financing Regional Integration in Africa” last year on Africa Day, the 25th May, as a side event of the 2010 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group in Abidjan. In follow-up to that forum, the CoDA Board, in consultation with the AUC, AfDB, ECA and various experts and interested individuals have discussed modalities through which CoDA could help to move the agenda forward through among other things, investigating how the financing of regional integration could, and should, be up-scaled, in particular, through the use of innovative and wide-ranging modalities. Our interest in all of the issues, I have highlighted will continue for the foreseeable future and we plan to deepen and push the agenda in all of them with different partners. In that context, I look forward to fruitful deliberations over the next two days here in Nairobi. I am sure with sharp focus on finding practical solutions as well as a constructive approach to the matters at hand; we can collectively make a useful contribution to the realization of effective and appropriate policy action on this issue. I look forward to engaging with you. Thank you for your attention.
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