| Thirty-eighth session of the Commission/Conference
of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
Opening Statement
By
K.Y. Amoako,
Executive Secretary
Abuja, Nigeria
14 May 2005
Mr.
Chairman,
The Right Honourable, Ken Nnamani, President of the Senate of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
Honourable Ministers and Governors,
Mr. Maxwell Mkwezalamba, Commissioner for Economic Affairs of the African
Union,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
for those kind words. Let me also take this opportunity to thank Uganda
for chairing the Commission so well over the last year.
I also want to extend
deep appreciation to Senator Ken Nnamani, for honouring us with his presence
at this opening ceremony.
Excellency,
Your presence is a
patent sign of the high-level dedication in Nigeria to the theme of this
Conference.
Indeed, under the
leadership of His Excellency, President Obasanjo, Nigeria has played a
much appreciated and vital role in the shaping of a new development agenda
in Africa, especially through its involvement in the creation of the African
Union and NEPAD.
Through you, let me
also seize this opportunity, on behalf of the Economic Commission for
Africa, to thank the Government and people of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, for hosting our conference participants so warmly in this impressive
capital city.
I also want to acknowledge
the presence of the AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, whose active
involvement in this Conference, is a symbol of the collaboration between
ECA and the AU.
As you know, ECA places
great importance on the need to further deepen the existing relationship
between Africa’s main regional institutions.
I am therefore also
pleased that our session has, for the third year in the row, been organized
back to back with the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank.
President Kabbaj, who has personally been instrumental in deepening the
partnership between ADB and ECA, will be addressing us tomorrow at the
closing ceremony.
I will therefore seize
the opportunity to thank him for all he has done to foster stronger relationship
between our two organizations.
Honourable Ministers
and Governors,
It is a great pleasure
to welcome you all to this year’s annual session of the Commission.
It is really a delight to see so many good friends and colleagues again.
This meeting marks
nine years since I made my first opening statement to this Conference
of Ministers.
I therefore hope you
will allow me a few moments to reflect on the increasing significance
and impact of this Conference since 1996.
Looking back, I am
pleased, above all, by the way in which the Conference has repeatedly
focused on the right issue at right time.
It has become the
key ministerial forum for articulating Africa's common positions on major
policy issues.
And in certain cases,
it has set the regional, and sometimes the international agenda.
Without doubt, this
came about as a result of your foresight and focused deliberation.
As I recalled when
I addressed your experts earlier in the week, in 1996, in consultation
with member States, ECA formulated a new strategic direction and work
programme.
As part of this, we
proposed a fresh approach to high-level Conferences, stressing the importance
of making these meetings issues-orientated and substantive, while continuing
to fulfil the legislative requirements of the annual session of the Commission.
I believe we have
succeeded in what we set out to do.
This Conference’s
substantive contributions and leadership have been instrumental in advancing
debate in key areas, such as:
- Development financing,
- ODA trends and aid relations with bilateral and multilateral donors,
- Trade issues
- Debt, and
- Africa’s ownership of the development process at the regional
and country level.
In each case, this gathering has pushed the African agenda forward and
helped trigger changes by establishing a common African position on the
essential policy issues.
(1) For example, this
conference has regularly held up a mirror to expose domestic constraints
and how they should be addressed. Thus last year we squarely addressed
the issue of intra-African trade when we deliberated on what needed to
be done within Africa to improve its internal trade performance - even
as we argued strongly for rich countries to take down their market barriers
to our products and end their subsidies, particularly in agriculture.
It is gratifying to
note that our stress on the critical importance of mainstreaming trade
within national development policies, and improving our capacity to trade,
particularly through the implementation of economic and social reforms,
has since resonated further a-field.
Indeed, one important
recommendation of the Commission for Africa in this area is that developed
countries should agree to provide increased support to Africa’s
trade integration efforts and to help build Africa’s capacity to
trade.
(2) On the issue of
debt, the strong critique by Ministers of the original HIPC initiative
as too slow and too selective was a key input into the Cologne meeting
of the G8 that discussed Africa’s debt and it helped influence the
move to the enhanced version of the HIPC.
Now, in the same vein,
as the AU Declaration last week in Dakar showed, Africa is cogently arguing
for more action on debt as HIPC II has failed to meet Africa’s MDG
financing needs.
(3) The collective
voice of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
was also loudly heard at the Monterrey Financing for Development conference
in March 2002 as a result of the strong, united positions adopted at the
ECA ministerial session, which preceded that meeting.
(4) Over the past
5 years, the Conference has also played a lead role in articulating the
key principles of a new African-owned development programme.
The 2001 Algiers Conference was particularly instrumental in this regard,
as it was there, after a very engaging discussion, that ministers agreed
on the need to consolidate several regional parallel initiatives for Africa's
recovery.
Their strong call
for a speedy merger of the Millennium Africa Recovery Plan (MAP) and the
OMEGA initiative, as well as the ECA's Compact for African Recovery document,
set the stage for the eventual launch of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development or NEPAD.
This year’s
deliberations promise to have similarly far-reaching impact.
Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Having focused in
earlier sessions on various important elements of the development agenda,
it is now very appropriate that this year’s Conference theme focuses
on putting all the pieces together and taking stock of our regional situation.
As we all know, 2005
is an important year for Africa, due to the international community’s
decision to review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals at
the UN General Assembly Summit in September.
In that regard, this
meeting can make a crucial contribution to the formulation of a consensus
on what Africa needs to do to achieve the MDGs and also highlight the
ways in which the international community can assist us.
Coming hard on the
heels of the African Union meeting of Finance Ministers in Dakar, this
Conference in Abuja is another important opportunity to clearly express
your views on this issue so that they can be fed into the regional political
process at the forthcoming African Union Summit in Libya.
Furthermore, your
views will also serve as input into discussions at the international levels,
namely the UN High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development next month,
the G8 Summit in Scotland in July, as well as the General Assembly MDG
review summit later in the year.
As the lead managers
of the MDG process at the country level, your voice is crucial to a clear
articulation of what needs to be done to achieve the MDGs in Africa as
our political leaders prepare for the Summit in September.
This meeting is also
a welcome opportunity to present the united voice of Africa's Ministers
of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on two major reports that
were released earlier in the year- the UN Millennium Project Report and
the Commission for Africa’s report.
Both reports present
a comprehensive analysis of the resources Africa needs, whether financial,
institutional or for developing capacity, in order to achieve the MDGs
and they make detailed recommendations on ways forward.
Your ideas on those
recommendations will be important for building momentum for significant
progress in Africa.
Mr. Chairman,
Honourable Ministers and Governors,
This brings me to
the agenda of this year’s Conference. As you see from the programme,
it has been structured to allow a rich discussion on our main theme.
Furthermore, a full
morning tomorrow has been set-aside for you to exchange views on the Mutual
Review of Development Effectiveness with invited OECD development cooperation
ministers.
Without a doubt, we
in Africa have gone further than any other region in moving to establish
the new international partnership paradigm called for in the Monterrey
Consensus and which is also an objective of the MDGs.
At the heart of this
new relationship is the principle of “mutual accountability”.
You will recall that
your Ministerial statement two years ago in Addis Ababa recognized the
international consensus emerging on the critical importance of mutual
accountability for development effectiveness.
There was also recognition
that the outstanding challenge was how effectively to operationalize the
commitments being made within the context of this new relationship.
As a result, the ECA
Secretariat was told to proceed with plans to prepare Joint Reviews of
Mutual Accountability in the context of NEPAD, in co-operation with the
OECD/DAC and to submit the first review to the Conference in two years
time.
I am pleased that
we have met the deadline and that the first Mutual Review Report, an essential
tool for monitoring the adherence to commitments on the ground, has been
circulated among your delegations.
This Conference now
has an important role to play in assessing the framework and process adopted
so far and in helping to make sure that we get this right.
It will be interesting
tomorrow to hear your experiences of the key areas highlighted in the
mutual review report and how you see things regarding moves to improve
development effectiveness at the country level.
Has there been any
real change on the ground since Monterrey and Rome? What are the key sticking
points?
Your views can make
an important contribution to further improving partnerships here in Africa
but also provide rich information to guide the UN Special Session on Financing
for Development discussions at the global level in June.
Mr. Chairman,
There is, however,
one particular area where I think it will be crucial for this Conference
to deliberate, and agree, in order to advance the agenda.
It is also a matter
that my good friend, the Honourable Minister of Finance of Nigeria, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, highlighted in her excellent address to the experts on
Wednesday morning.
The issue is multi-faceted
and concerns
· the additional
financing needed to make a big push for the MDGs in Africa,
· who sets
and owns the strategic policy agenda that prioritizes how extra funds
are to be utilized, and
· how the entire
aid system is to be best managed to optimize results at the country level.
As you know, the Investing
in Development report published in January by the UN Millennium Project
Task Force, and the report of the Commission for Africa, on which I serve,
both have led the way this year in making the case for a major and urgent
up-scaling of development financing in Africa by the international community.
The Millennium Project
estimates that in order for sub-Saharan Africa to reach the MDGs, aid
will have to increase, in real terms, from 2004’s level of just
under 25 billion US dollars, to 37 billion this year and then climb steadily
to 73 billion by 2015.
Similarly, the Commission
for Africa has calculated that an extra $75 billion a year is needed for
7% growth in Africa and acceleration towards the Millennium Development
Goals by 2015.
We argue strongly
that these funds be used to fund a holistic package of support for Africa
because it is clear that without simultaneous and effective action on
several priority fronts, successful development is unlikely.
The figures and robust
analysis I have just highlighted underpin the case for “the Big
Push” for Africa.
It is now important
that we see action at the highest levels from influential actors to build
momentum.
In that regard, the
G8 Summit in Gleneagles will be an important opportunity for action by
our richest partners.
We need to see significant
progress from leading developed countries towards meeting their existing
ODA commitments, as well as helping to accelerate progress by concretely
contributing to Africa’s MDG financing needs.
For the decisions
taken to be credible, it would also be useful to see some kind of tracking
system put in place at the same time.
While it is not yet
guaranteed that the necessary increase in resources for the big push will
come soon, it is encouraging to note that the downward trend in ODA has
been halted and that there is widespread discussion on the best modalities
for providing more resources to finance the development agenda in Africa.
Therefore, it is vital
that, for our part, we prepare and make the necessary changes to enable
us to handle the major increase in resources that we need and expect.
At the same time,
we must also do more to stimulate an increase in domestic resource mobilization
as well as private investment.
To address these priorities
effectively, African countries need first to take the initiative and operationalize
national poverty reduction and growth strategies or plans that are underpinned
by the following core principles:
· Ownership
· Leadership and;
· Accountability.
This, in our view,
should be at the heart of the “second generation’’ improved
poverty reduction strategies. These principles will also be critical to
management of the increased resources supplied to help achieve the MDGs.
Success will also
require the development of strong human and institutional capacity at
the national level to manage the entire implementation process.
So what are the best
ways to ensure that African governments own and lead this process? And
how can we ensure accountability for results? What can be learned from
the recent country best practices with regards to setting strategic priorities
and monitoring results on a regular basis?
First, we know that
there is no “one size fits all” solution in the quest for
poverty reduction in Africa, so what do the diverse experiences of member
States tell us about the essential elements of a successful approach,
whether in low-income and middle income countries, or fragile states emerging
from conflict?
If your deliberations
at this meeting help answer these questions, it will be very valuable.
Second, we need to
address critical issues of aid management at the national level. As the
Honourable Minister Okonjo-Iweala said on Wednesday, “the cost of
delivering aid on a business-as-usual basis is not acceptable”.
Again here, your united
position concerning the concrete progress on the harmonization agenda
you would like to see in terms of what partners should do to improve predictability,
amend donor policies, procedures and practices, as well as, provide multi-year
commitments and greater flexibility in the types of aid instruments used,
will be most instructive to the global discussion on these issues.
Third, Africa also
needs to begin thinking about African architecture for aid management.
In effect, we need to arrive at a means, at regional level, of tracking
and monitoring increased inflows of aid resources in order to ensure that
their efficiency is maximized.
In that regard, this
Conference is well-placed to offer guidance on how a framework for this
could be built and managed.
Mr. Chairman,
Honourable Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In concluding my remarks,
I must say that I have, for some time, looked forward to your dialogue
on this important theme.
I am confident that
as we work through our agenda, we will once again produce a ministerial
statement that is focused, action-oriented and will resonate loudly in
the international development community.
Thank you.
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