Conference of African Ministers of Finance: Statement by Mrs. E. Tankeu, AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry

Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development

Statement by Mrs. E. Tankeu, AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry

Kampala, Uganda
21 May 2004

Your Excellency Mr. Yoweri Musevini, President of the Republic of Uganda,
Honourable Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Chairperson and Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Ghana
Honourable Ministers,
Dr. K.Y. Amoako, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to address, on behalf of the Commission of the African Union, this Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. I wish to thank the organizers of the Conference, the Economic Commission of Africa, for the invitation extended to the Commission of the African Union to attend this conference. Permit me also to express my sincere appreciation to the Government and people of Uganda for the warm hospitality extended to me and my delegation since our arrival in this beautiful country.

Your Excellency, Honorable Ministers,

The theme of this year's Conference, "Integrating Trade Policies in National Development Strategies", could not have been more appropriate and timely. As we are all aware, the greatest challenge facing Africa at the dawn of this millennium is to achieve rapid and sustainable development, eradicate poverty amongst our peoples, and integrate our continent into the global community as an effective and respectable partner. Towards meeting this challenge, our leaders at the level of Heads of State and Government have recently taken a number of important initiatives, including the establishment of the African Union and the adoption of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) as the strategic programme of the Union. They have also committed themselves to upholding some basic principles such as good governance, peace and security, democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights, which should contribute greatly to the achievement of rapid growth and development and the eradication of poverty.

Your Excellency, Honorable Ministers, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

Claiming the 21st Century for Africa, which is our collective resolve, requires that we take due account of recent developments on the global scene, especially the process of globalization. This process, whose major characteristic has been the increasing flows of trade and investment between countries, presents opportunities as well as risks. Unfortunately, Africa has been on the losing side of the globalization process, with its share of world trade and investment on the decline. For many of our countries, trade has not served as the key instrument of economic growth and rising prosperity that it has been for other developing regions of the world. The challenge facing us, therefore, is to seize the opportunities and minimize the risks of globalization and move our countries from the losing to the wining side of globalization. The importance of mainstreaming trade policies into national development strategies, the theme of this Conference, for meeting this challenge cannot be overemphasized.

Your Excellency, Honorable Ministers,

Improving the competitiveness of our economies and increasing the share of our countries in global trade require that we pursue sound macroeconomic policies (tariff, exchange rate, monetary and fiscal policies etc.), that we invest in the development of human capital and physical infrastructure, that we build institutions that will enhance the production, supply and trade capacities of our countries. As Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the responsibility for achieving these goals lies mainly with you.

Sound trade and economic policies at the national level are necessary for seizing the opportunities of globalization and achieving rapid and sustainable economic growth and development. However, the importance of the regional and continental dimensions of these policies cannot be overstressed. The global economic and trading system, into which we are striving to be integrated, is characterized by significant imbalances against developing countries. It is a system that up till now permits the distortion of global agricultural trade and the destruction of the livelihood of millions of farmers in poor countries through subsidies provided by developed countries to their farmers. At US$311 billion in 2001, agricultural subsidies by the OECD countries were six times the level of their development assistance to poor countries. While many of our citizens live in abject poverty on less than one US dollar per day, the subsidy provided for a cow is more than US$5 per day in some of the developed countries. The international economic and trading system has not been able to provide adequate answers to some of our pressing development problems such as market access, declining commodity prices, and external debt burden.

Your Excellency,

It goes without saying that given smallness and weakness of our individual economies, a collective response, anchored on the unity and solidarity of our countries, is necessary to achieve a redress of the imbalances in the international trading system. This response must find expression not only in the acceleration of our regional integration process but also in having common positions in the international arena on issues of importance to our continent. In this regard, Your Excellency, the ongoing negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) within the WTO and the EPA negotiations present a major challenge.

At the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, the DDA was adopted not just to advance trade liberalization but also to mainstream development into the multilateral trading system. The adoption of the DDA raised expectations in Africa and other developing regions of the world that the imbalances in the multilateral trading system would be eliminated and in the process trade would be allowed to become an effective instrument for the achievement of rapid and sustainable development, and for the eradication of poverty in our countries.

The collapse of the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico in September 2003, indicates how far we still are from achieving a fair, transparent, and balanced rules-based international trading system. The issues of concern and interest to Africa such as agricultural reform and the elimination of farm subsidies, the cotton initiative, market access for agricultural and industrial products, special and differential treatment and implementation issues, have not been adequately addressed. Maintaining and strengthening an 'African Common Position' is critical to making progress on these issues.

Your Excellency,

The challenge facing Africa in the negotiations with the EU on EPAs is no less daunting. It is to ensure that EPAs are development-oriented, that they enhance our regional integration initiatives and are consistent with the objectives of a strong and united Africa as articulated in the Constitutive Act of the African Union. Collective efforts aimed at strengthening our negotiating capacity and speaking with one voice on critical issues of common interest in the negotiations with the EU is crucial if EPAs are to be effective instruments for the promotion of rapid and sustainable development in Africa.

With the support and cooperation of our partners, especially, the Economic Commission for Africa, we have succeeded to a large extent in strengthening the negotiating capacity of African countries in the WTO and EPA negotiations. We have also been able to develop well-articulated 'African Common Positions' for both negotiations. Following the directive of the Maputo Summit of Heads of State and Government of the AU, the Commission is currently working on the establishment of mechanisms for the effective coordination of the efforts of our countries and regions in these two important sets of international trade negotiations.

Your Excellency, Honorable Ministers,

In a few days time, your colleagues the African Ministers of Trade will be meeting in Kigali, Rwanda to reflect on some of the issues I have raised in this brief statement. I have no doubt about the useful complementarity of your deliberations and those of your colleagues, the Trade Ministers. Together you should be able to provide the leadership and guidance which Africa needs to harness the benefits of globalization and make trade an effective instrument for the attainment of rapid and sustainable development and eradication of poverty. It is in this regard that the Commission of the African Union will eagerly await the outcome of your deliberations and the Declaration you propose to issue.

Before I conclude, I wish to convey fraternal greetings of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, His Excellency, Alpha Omar Konare, who could not be with you to prior commitments.

With these few remarks, I wish you fruitful deliberations.

Thank you for your attention.