ANNUAL REPORT, 2002

The annual report of the Commission has become a vehicle for reporting on the activities of the Commission as carried out by its main policy organs, its subsidiary bodies and the secretariat in assisting member States to tackle the socio-economic development problems they confront. The present report covers the period from 2000 to 2002. The report provides an overview of the major activities carried out by the Commission and its secretariat under the programme structure approved in 1996 and revised in 1998, which consists of seven mutually complementary sub-programmes which encompass the key priorities in Africa's development. These are facilitating economic and social policy analysis; ensuring food security and sustainable development; strengthening development management; harnessing information technology for development; promoting regional cooperation and integration; promoting the advancement of women; and promoting subregional activities for development. The strategy for carrying out the work programme, which is reflected in each of the subprogrammes, involves policy analysis and advocacy; convening stakeholders and building consensus on development policy issues; providing technical assistance and training to support the capacity-building efforts of member States; networking with African researchers to enhance information and experience sharing including best practices; and promoting closer collaboration with other UN agencies and international donors in support of Africa's development. The report is divided into five main chapters.

Chapter 1 reviews the economic and social developments in Africa in the period 2000-2002 against the backdrop of developments in the global environment. The review shows that economic performance in Africa during the 2000-2001 period remained stable at a rate exceeding 3 percent per annum. The review also estimates an average growth rate for the African economies of 4.9 percent in 2002 provided the major determinants of growth in Africa - weather, international commodity prices, social and political stability, ODA flows, debt and a stable macroeconomic framework - remain favourable. The review concludes that the social situation continues to deteriorate despite the modest improvement in overall regional economic performance. This is because the growth rate is not high enough and not sufficiently broad-based to achieve poverty-reduction. This is further worsened by the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS and the raging wars and armed conflicts across the continent.

Chapter 2 provides a description of the new policy and programme initiatives undertaken by Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) during the period. These include the establishment of the African Union and the adoption by African leaders of a new African-owned framework for development, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) which calls for a transformed partnership between Africa and the rest of the world in return for social and economic reforms by Africa. ECA has been instrumental in the process of elaborating the new initiative. It provided technical backstopping to the work that led to the merger of the Omega Plan and the Millennium Africa Partnership Programme (MAP) into NEPAD. Other policy and programme developments undertaken during the period include convening the second meeting of the "Big Table" which has become a forum for African Ministers of Finance to engage in dialogue with their OECD counterparts on the International Development Goals (IDGs) and the related poverty reduction strategies; the third African Development Forum (ADF III) on the theme, Defining priorities for regional integration in Africa; the first meeting of the African Knowledge Network Forum (AKNF), an ECA initiative aimed at facilitating knowledge-sharing and research partnerships between professional networks, and between them and key knowledge end-users, including policy makers, civil society groups and the private sector; and the African Learning Group on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP-LG), an annual forum which brings together senior African policy makers and experts to share information on the African experience with PRSPs, and articulate on African perspective on the process. The chapter also provides a preview of the fourth African Development Forum (ADF IV) to be held in December 2002 on the theme of governance and development.

Chapter 3 provides an account of the main activities undertaken under each subprogramme.

In the area of facilitating economic and social policy analysis, the work programme addressed broad macroeconomic issues of concern to member States. Emphasis was placed on research and analysis related to national mechanisms for the review and appraisal of socioeconomic conditions; the development of methodologies and techniques for enhanced national development planning. Several activities were also undertaken within the context of supporting African countries to adjust to the new international trading environment following the agreement reached at Doha. Particular attention was also given to the peculiar problems of the least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa, and countries emerging out of conflict; the African debt problem and the problems of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC). The subprogramme also addressed social development issues, particularly the strategies and reforms needed to alleviate poverty and policy responses for addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other diseases.

The nexus of food security, population and environmental sustainability were addressed under the subprogramme on ensuring food security and sustainable development. The thrust of the Commission's work in this area was to assist promote the understanding and management of the interrelationships among the issues of this nexus which is at the heart of the poverty syndrome in Africa; assist in building national and local capacities; and foster interaction among sector experts and specialists at ECA and in the member States to undertake an integrated analysis of the interrelated issues of food security, population dynamics and environmental sustainability. Assistance under this subprogramme during the period under review was mainly focused on preparing African countries for effective participation in the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2002.

Activities in strengthening development management continued to focus on the articulation of policies and strategies aimed at fostering effective public sector management, promoting private sector development and enhancing popular participation in the socio-economic development process of African countries. Significant progress was also achieved under this subprogramme in the preparation of a major publication, the State of African Governance Report which will become one of the flagship publications of ECA. The report will provide a quantitative and qualitative assessment on the state of governance in Africa with the aim of promoting dialogue on improving governance systems on the continent.

During the period under review, ECA continued to play a catalytic role in promoting Africa's connectivity to the information superhighway through its work under the subprogramme on harnessing information for development. The activities undertaken under the subprogramme were aimed at strengthening national, subregional and regional capacities for the adoption and utilization of communication and information technologies, strengthening capacity for the development and use of statistical, bibliographic, referral and spatial databases as decision-making tools in support of information and communication technologies for development. Several activities were also undertaken in follow-up to the recommendations adopted at ADF I which was held in October 1999 on the theme, "The Challenge to Africa of Globalization and the Information Age."

Various activities aimed at facilitating and enhancing the process of regional integration were undertaken, with the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community, providing the major impetus. The issues addressed in this regard were the strengthening of the regional economic communities through institutional development and elaboration of programmes; promoting intra-Africa trade; and strengthening institutional capacity for monetary and financial integration. Other activities carried out under this subprogramme were aimed at facilitating the rationalisation, harmonisation and coordination of pertinent programmes, with the aim of creating an enabling environment for integration through the development of infrastructure, harmonisation of policies, and collaboration in mineral, energy and water resources development. Much effort was devoted under this subprogramme to the development of a set of indicators for measuring the performance of African countries in achieving economic cooperation and integration. This effort will culminate in the publication of the Annual Report on Integration in Africa (ARIA), which will be launched at the next session of the Commission to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 2002. The report will provide the core and organising framework for ECA's work in the area of regional cooperation and integration and its findings will guide the Commission's sectoral interventions.

ECA's work in the area of women in development focused on monitoring and assessing the progress made on the situation of women in the critical areas of the global and African platforms for action. In pursuance of these objectives, ECA put emphasis on the economic and social empowerment of women in Africa. The activities under this subprogramme were also geared towards providing assistance to member States in the implementation of the African plan of action for accelerating the implementation of the global and regional platforms for action, which was adopted at the sixth African regional conference on women in November 1999. Work is also at an advanced stage in the preparation of an annual publication, the African Women's Report (AWR) which will contain a gender development index for measuring progress in mainstreaming gender concerns into policies and programmes of member States and their institutions.

Under the subprogramme on promoting subregional activities for development, the subregional development centres of ECA, located in the five subregions of the continent, intensified efforts in providing technical support to and cooperating with the regional economic communities; facilitating networking and information exchange between governments, civil society and private sector, and strengthening ECA's outreach in the various subregions.

Chapter 4 provides a comprehensive review of the secretariat's technical cooperation in all the areas covered by ECA's work programme during 2000-2002.

Chapter 5 contains a summary of discussions resolutions major decisions and recommendations of the subsidiary organs of the Commission, which have held their meetings since the last session of the Commission held in May 2001.

AAI Alliance for Africa's Industrialization
AAPA Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa
ACARTSD African Centre for Applied Research and Training in Social Development
ACCS Africa Centre for Civil Society
ACGD African Centre for Gender and Development
ACW African Centre for Women
ADB African Development Bank
ADF African Development Forum
AEC Africa Economic Community
AERC African Economic Research Consortium
AFREC African Energy Commission
AFRISTAT States of the African Institute of Statistics
AGDI African Gender Development Index
AGOA African Growth and Opportunity Act
AISI African Information Society Initiative
AKNF Africa Knowledge Networks Forum
AMCEN African Ministerial Conference on the environment
ARCT African Regional Centre for Technology
ARIA Annual Report on Integration in Africa
ASYCUDA Automatic System for Customs Data
AVLIN African Virtual Library and Information Network
AWCPD African Women Committee on Peace and Development
AWR African Women's Report
CAMI Conference of African Ministers of Industry
CAPAM Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management
CBD-COP5 Conference or Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity
CCA/UNDAF Common Country Assessment and United Nations Development Assistance Framework
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women
CEMAC Communaut� �conomique et mon�taire de l'Afrique Centrale
CEPGL Economic Community of the Great lakes Countries
CERPOD Centre d'�tudes et de recherch� sur la population pour la develeppement
CFC Common Fund for Commodities
CILSS Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel
CIPSD Committee on Industry and Private Sector Development
CNRST Committee on Natural Resources and Science and Technology
CODESRIA Council for Development of Social Science Research in Africa
CODI Committee on Development Information
COFAW Committee on Forests and Woodlands
COMESA Common Market for Eastern and southern Africa
CSAE Centre for the Study of African Economics
CSD Committee on Sustainable Development
CSOs Civil Society Organizations
DAC Development Assistance Committee
DHS Databases of Demographic Health Surveys
DISD Development information and Statistical Development
DMD Development Management Division
DND Dakar/Ngor Declaration
EAC East African Community
ECA Economic Commission for Africa
ECCAS Economic Community of Central African States
ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
ERA Economic Report on Africa
ESPD Economic and Social Policy Division
EU European Union
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
FDI Foreign Direct Investment
FIG International Federation of Surveyors
FIS International Federation of Surveyors
G-8 Group of Eight
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GIS Geographic Information Systems
GKII Global Knowledge II
GKP Global Knowledge Partnership
HE Higher Education
HIPC Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
ICE Intergovernmental Committee of experts
ICPD International Conference on Population and Development
ICT information and communication technologies
IDEP United Nations Institute for Economic Development and planning
IDGs International Development Goals
IDRC International Development Research Center
IFF Intergovernmental Forum on Forests
IFPRI International Food Research Institute
IGAD International Authority on Development
IGOs Intergovernmental Organisations
IGWA Inter-agency Group for Water in Africa
IIASA International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
IICBA International Institute for Capacity-building in Africa
IMF International Monetary Fund
IOM International Organisation for Migration
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IRORD Institut de formation et de recherche d�mographique
IT Information Technology
ITCA Information Technology Centre for Africa
KBO Kagera Basin Authority
LDC Least Developed Countries
MAP Millennium Africa Partnership Programme
MAP Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Plan
MEFMI Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute
MFA Multifibre Arrangement
MIGA Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank
NAI New African Initiative
NC-TTA Northern Corridor Transit Transport Coordination Priority pilot
NEPAD New Partnership for Africa's Development
NICI National Information and Communication Infrastructure
NORAD Norwegian Agency for International Development
NSOs National Statistical Offices
NTBs non-tariff barriers
NTTA
OAU Organization of African Unity
ODA Overseas Development Assistance
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
OHCHR Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
OSIWA Open Society Initiative for West Africa Soros Foundation
OSSREA Centre for the Study of African Economies
PEDA Population-environment-Development-Agriculture
PMAESA Ports Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa
POPIN UN Population Division and Global
PRSP-LG Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers - Learning Group
PRSPs Poverty Reduction Strategy papers
RCF II The Second regional Co-operation framework
RCID Regional Co-operation and Integration Division
RCMRD Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development
RECs Regional Economic Communities
RIPS Regional Institute for Population Studies
SACU Southern Africa Customs Union
SADC Southern Africa Development Community
SATCC Southern African Transport and Communications Commission
SDD Sustainable Development Division
SDIs spatial data infrastructures
SMEs small and medium enterprises
SNA System National Accounts
SPA Strategic Partnership for Africa
SSA Sub-Saharan African
SSATP Saharan Africa Transport Policy programme
TAR Third Appraisal Report
TCDC Special Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries of UNDP
TEPCOW Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole
TRIMS Trade-related Investment Measures
TRIPS Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights
UEMOA Union Economique et Mon�taire Ouest Africaine
UM A Arab Maghreb Union
UNCC United Nations Conference Center
UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and development
UNDESA United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund
UN-IAGWAGE United Nations Inter-agency Group on Women and Gender Equality
UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization
UN-NADAF United Nations-New Agenda for Development of Africa
UNSIA United Nations System-wide Special Initiative for Africa
UNSTD United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development
UNTACD Second United Nations Transport and A II Communications Decade
USAID United States Agency for International Development
WAHO West African Health Organization
WBI World Bank Institute
WCAR World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related forms of intolerance
WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development
WTO World Trade Organization

Africa grew faster than any other developing region in 2001 reflecting improved macroeconomic management, increased agricultural productivity resulting from favourable weather conditions, higher oil prices which favoured African oil-exporting countries, higher demand for primary commodities and the cessation of conflicts in several countries. These gains were remarkable as they were achieved in the context of a global economic slowdown, made worse by the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

However, Africa's average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.3 percent in 2001 masks wide disparities, from growth of 65 percent in Equatorial Guinea to -7 per cent in Zimbabwe. Moreover, economic growth remains fragile, and at current rates, Africa will find it difficult to achieve the International Development Goals (IDGs) of reducing by half, the proportion of Africans living in absolute poverty by 2015. Nevertheless, there are many reasons for optimism about Africa's medium-term prospects-including the opportunities created by the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act, the European Union's "Everything But Arms" initiative, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and the launch of a new global trade round which provides hope of a fairer deal for African countries in the new global trading system. Ultimately, though, Africa's future depends on how it addresses its problems of economic and political governance, resolves civil conflicts, and responds to the need for deeper economic and social reforms. It is only by doing so that the continent can hope to attract the necessary long-term investment for its development.

The global economy underwent significant adjustments in 2001. Excess capacity in production of telecommunications equipment and computer hardware-partly reflecting a sharp drop in demand-reduced output and world trade. This reduction was most marked in East Asia, but imports-and hence exports-have been declining in most major economies since at least mid-2001. World trade in goods and services increased by no more than 2 percent in 2001, down from nearly 13 percent in 2000. In 2002, global demand for exports from developing countries is projected to drop about 10 percent.

Economic activity slowed in all the eight major industrial countries in 2001. Between the first and second quarters of 2001, real GDP rose just 0.1 percent in the United States and the euro zone, and in Japan, economic activity fell sharply. The terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. on 11 September 2001 and the commencement of military operations in Afghanistan in October 2001 worsened the already uncertain state of the U.S. economy and the global economy.

But economic fundamentals remain fairly strong in many of these countries, and policies are being implemented to deal with the economic downturn and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The consensus view in financial markets is that, after another quarter of negative growth, the U.S. economy will recover in the second quarter of 2002. Almost all U.S. economic indicators have bounced back from post-attack lows and soared above pre-attack levels.

Given its enormous size, the U.S. economy will have to lead the world out of the current slowdown. With an annual output of more than $10 trillion in goods and services, the U.S. economy is larger than those of France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom combined. However, the key questions for 2002 are: How strong will the U.S.-led recovery be? And what form will it take? The analysis conducted for ECA's Economic Report, 2002(which serves as background for this overview), indicates that the U.S. economy will recover gradually, picking up speed in the second half of 2002 and achieving 3 percent growth for the full year. Such optimism is warranted because the main causes of the recession have abated: real oil prices have fallen 50 percent from their peak, stock markets have recovered from their post-September lows (though they remain well below the highs reached in 2000), and investment and inventory adjustments have made considerable progress.

The main threat to a global recovery, however, is Japan's economy. Japanese banks have $600 billion in bad debts, a sum equal to 18 percent of its GDP. Some analysts fear that Japan will try to solve its debt problems by printing money-a move that would depreciate the yen to 160-200 to the U.S. dollar, from about 130 in early 2002. Such a steep devaluation could cause competitive devaluations in China, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan (China), and Thailand because they have investment and trade links with Japan. Widespread devaluations in Asia would unleash a flood of low-priced goods onto world markets, hurting emerging African countries and Latin American countries.

Forecasts made shortly after the September 11 attacks predicted that economic growth would stagnate in Africa because of lower commodity prices, reduced foreign direct investment, and private capital flows. But the global slowdown has had a much less pronounced impact on Africa than expected. Output has remained relatively strong, with GDP growth accelerating in 2001 to an estimated 4.3 percent in 2001 from 3.5 percent in 2000.

Africa's resilience to the global slowdown can be attributed to the following factors: Lower oil prices, which helped reduce pressure on foreign exchange, inflation, and public spending for oil-importing African countries; increased agricultural output across the region; improved economic management resulting in stronger economic recovery in many countries-with lower inflation, better fiscal positions, stronger external positions; higher than expected export revenues, resulting from the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA); and the cessation of conflicts in several countries.

The significance of these factors should not be overstated, however, as most African countries are dependent on international markets, and a sharp and sustained deterioration in global conditions could take a toll on the region's economies.

Africa's average per capita income grew an estimated 1.9 per cent in 2001-better than the 0.7 per cent increase in 2000 but still not sufficient to achieve the international development goal of cutting poverty in half by 2015. In 2001, 30 African countries achieved per capita income growth above 1.5 percent, and in 2002, this number is expected to increase to 32.

In addition, 16 African countries experienced GDP growth of less than 3 percent in 2001, down from 27 countries in 2000. The number of countries with growth rates exceeding 3% increased from 26 in 2000 to 37 in 2001, and 3 more countries are expected to join this group in 2002. Thus, most African countries appear to be converging towards growth rates above the "traditional" 3%-with positive implications for poverty reduction.

In recent years, Africa's slower GDP growth relative to other developing regions has been attributed to its poor attractiveness in terms of trade and foreign direct investment. Underlying these, however, are the inadequate production and management systems resulting from years of poor economic management, and social and political instability. To close the performance gap, Africa needs to upgrade its technology, resolve armed conflicts, and improve economic and political governance systems and structures as well as improve economic management in order to achieve the level of growth necessary for poverty reduction.

Using continent-wide averages can be misleading because substantial population and GDP differences exist among and within the five subregions of the continent; except for the Southern Africa region, all the regions of Africa achieved impressive growth rates in 2001. In North Africa, GDP growth averaged nearly 6 percent (see table 1 below). Southern Africa's GDP grew just 2.4 percent, down from 3.0 percent in 2000-mainly because of negative growth in Zimbabwe and slower growth in South Africa, reflecting poor harvests. After falling in 2000, average GDP growth rose to 3.3 percent in West Africa and 5.0 percent in East Africa, driven by lower prices for oil imports and higher prices for agricultural exports. In 2002, GDP growth is expected to accelerate in East and Southern Africa and decline somewhat in North and Central Africa.

The five largest regional economies-South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco, which account for 59 percent of the continent's GDP and 36 percent of its population-grew 4.3 percent in 2001, up from 3.2 percent in 2000 and 2.7 percent in 1999. This improved performance was due to rapid economic growth in Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco. Although South Africa experienced more stable mineral prices in international commodity markets, it had the slowest growth rate of this group. The continent's eleven oil-exporting countries which account for half of the continent's GDP and just over a third of its population had an average GDP growth of 5.8 percent, in 2001, up from 4.1 percent in 2000, while the 42 non-oil exporters had a growth rate of 3.7 percent in the same period, up from 2.9 percent in 2000 and 2.7 percent in 1999. Lower oil prices explain the improved performance of the non-oil economies in 2001.


Region	1998	1999		2000	2001a	2002b
Africa	3.1	3.2		3.5	4.3	3.4
North Africa	4.4	3.5		4.1	5.8	2.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	2.6	2.9	3.1		3.3	3.7
West Africa	3.6	3.2		2.7	3.3	3.3
Central Africa	4.9	4.4		4.4	4.9	4.4
East Africa	2.5	4.1		3.1	5.0	5.2
Southern Africa	1.7	2.2		3.0	2.4	3.5

At the sectoral level, growth rates increased in the agricultural, industrial and service sectors in 2000, although this performance was not evenly shared across the continent.

Agriculture remains the dominant sector in Africa, and improvement in that sector's growth fuelled GDP growth in most African countries. It accounts for 24 percent of Africa's GDP, 40 percent of its foreign exchange earnings, and 70 percent of its employment. In 2000, about 56 percent of Africans (431 million people) depended on agriculture for their livelihoods. (In this section and subsequent ones, only data for the year 2000 have been used because it is the most recent year for which complete economic data are available for all African countries). In East Africa, agriculture accounted for 39 percent of GDP, in West Africa 37 percent, in Central Africa 21 percent, in North Africa 17 percent, and in Southern Africa 11 percent. Good weather conditions and reforms, which resulted in improved availability and distribution of modern inputs, including credit contributed to the improved performance.

Despite huge investments in the agriculture sector, the sector remains heavily dependent on the weather and traditional methods, and is dominated by an illiterate and unskilled workforce. In some countries, the sector is negatively affected by civil strife and political instability. In addition, recent agricultural policies have placed too much reliance on market forces, neglecting more fundamental structural issues such as technology and extension services, marketing infrastructure, and civil conflicts over land and pasture.

Industry in Africa continued to face challenges from foreign competition, lack of skilled workers, and limited financial resources. In 2000, the industrial sector-comprising manufacturing, mining, construction, and electricity, gas, and water-accounted for 33 percent of Africa's GDP, with manufacturing and mining accounting for three-quarters of the total.

Many countries achieved industrial growth in 2000, with the fastest growth recorded in the electricity, gas, and water subsectors (with a growth rate of 4.9 percent), followed by construction (3.9 percent) and mining (3.5 percent). African manufacturing grew 2.5 percent in 2000, led by growth in East Africa (4.4 percent) and Southern Africa (3.5 percent). Mining accounted for a substantial share of industrial growth and remains the key to industrial prosperity in many African countries-a potential that has yet to be fully exploited.

During the period 1980-99, Africa's oil reserves grew 1.96 percent a year and oil production grew 0.38 percent a year. Yet, because of increased production in other parts of the world, crude oil exports dropped from 5.1 million barrels a day in 1980 to 4.7 million in 1999. Also in the same period, Africa's natural gas reserves grew 3.6 percent, production grew 9.8 percent, and exports grew 10.9 percent. In 1999, gas production increased 6.2 percent and gas exports, 6.4 percent.

African economies remain trapped in a vicious cycle of low savings and low investment. Investment as a share of GDP was 12 percent in 2000, mainly because of a sudden increase in domestic consumption, fuelled by increased public spending, which absorbed an estimated 88 percent of the continent's GDP, leaving little for savings and investment. Besides low incomes, the main obstacles to higher savings are inefficient financial intermediation and high macroeconomic volatility. To achieve sufficient growth, Africa requires investment of at least 25 percent of GDP. But in 2000, gross domestic savings in the region averaged 12 percent of GDP, indicating a wide gap-13 percent of GDP-between actual savings and the required investment.

Gross domestic fixed capital formation-spending on fixed assets such as buildings, vehicles, plants, machinery, and the like-was just over 20 percent of Africa's GDP in 2000, less than the 25 percent required for industrial takeoff. With many countries privatising state-owned enterprises, private investment accounts for a growing share of domestic investment and public investment for a shrinking share, especially public sector spending.

In 2000, Africa's average inflation rate-excluding Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo-rose to 7.3 percent, up slightly from 7 percent in 1999. Inflation of more than 50 percent in Angola (326 percent), the Democratic Republic of Congo (556 percent), and Zimbabwe (56 percent) reflected civil instability. But most countries, notably CFA zone countries, had inflation below 10 percent-a remarkable achievement given higher oil prices in 2000. CFA countries pursued tight monetary and fiscal policies consistent with those of the European Central Bank, and some recorded negative or less than 5 percent inflation. This performance was aided by favourable weather conditions, which supported higher food production.

In South Africa, inflation was caused partly by high fuel prices and by the depreciation of the rand relative to the U.S. dollar. Higher inflation in East Africa was driven by the 1999/2000 droughts, which raised local food prices, as well as by rising petroleum prices. In North Africa, inflation was subdued and is expected to stay that way in 2001-02 due to lower food prices. In addition, several African countries saw their real effective exchange rates depreciate in 2000 due to worsening terms of trade, government commercial polices that placed a premium on imports, and international movements of capital and incomes.

Higher unit values for exports and imports caused Africa's balance of trade to appreciate by 18.1 percent in 2000, the largest increase since the mid-1980s. But in 2001, the balance of trade fell by 2.1 percent due to falling oil prices.

In 2000, the favourable external environment-particularly for oil exporters-reversed the unfavourable position of Africa's trade account in 1998-99. In 2001, the trade surplus in goods is estimated to have fallen to $15 billion, driven by movements in oil prices.

The perennial imbalance in the services sector, driven by external debt payments, freight charges, insurance, and banking fees continued to put pressure on the current account balance and to claim an inordinate share of foreign revenue from merchandise exports. In 2001, this deficit is estimated to have fallen slightly, to $11.4 billion. However, due to higher export revenues in oil-exporting countries, the current account recorded a surplus in 2000 but this surplus was not maintained in 2001 due to a drop in oil prices.

In the medium to long term, countries that pursue sound economic policies are expected to see improved economic performance. However, countries in political turmoil, those mired in armed conflict or those where HIV/AIDS is most prevalent will have their development set back by these problems.

Resource flows to Africa declined in 2000 as a result of a reduction in private capital flows and ODA. Although net private flows to emerging markets in Africa - Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia nearly doubled between 2000 and 2001, there was a general decline in flows to the rest of the continent. Africa's share of foreign direct investment (FDI) - the most important source of external finance for developing countries _ dropped from 25 percent in the early 1970s to just 5 percent in 2000, but this average masks a number of interesting trends. First, new sources of FDI have emerged. In the past, most FDI to Africa came from a handful of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries _ mainly France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. During the 1990s, however, FDI from Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Spain increased from less than 10 percent to nearly 25 percent. Secondly, FDI from developing Asian economies has also increased, led by the Republic of Korea and followed by China, India, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Third, during the 1990s intra-Africa FDI rose, notably from firms in South Africa and Mauritius.

Aid to Africa increased from just under $1 billion in 1960 to $32 billion in 1991. But by the end of the 1990s, aid had fallen to almost half the 1991 level. (Aid is defined here, as gross official development assistance-whether grants or concessional loans-from multilateral and bilateral sources). The countries that make up the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) remain the largest source of aid, to Africa, although their share of the total fell from 72 percent in 1970 to 63 percent in 1999. Multilateral organizations are the second largest source, and their share of the total jumped from 21 percent in 1970 to 35 percent in 1999. Africa's remaining aid comes from Arab countries, which accounted for 7 percent of the total in 1970 and 2 percent in 1999.

Aid from DAC countries is extremely volatile, rising from $1.3 billion in 1970 to $23.4 billion in 1991-then falling to $11.8 billion in 1999. Aid from multilateral organizations is less volatile, increasing from $0.4 billion in 1970 to $9.5 billion in 1994 and then falling to $6.6 billion in 1999. Aid from Arab countries hardly changed, increasing from $0.1 billion in 1970 to $0.3 billion in 1999.

During the 1990s, aid to Africa as a portion of donors' GNP increased in just 4 of 21 DAC countries: Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, and New Zealand. The OECD target for aid to all developing countries is 0.7 percent of DAC members' GNP, but few members have achieved that goal. Still, in 1991-99 some rich countries provided significant aid to Africa-Norway provided aid equal to 0.30 percent of its GNP, Denmark and France provided 0.28 percent, Sweden provided 0.22 percent, and Portugal provided 0.18 percent. The world's two largest economies, Japan and the United States, provided Africa with aid equal to just 0.04 percent of their GNP.

Driven by a desire to rapidly reduce poverty, economic policies in Africa in 2000-2001 sought to promote macroeconomic stability and higher growth and improve the delivery of social services. Many governments revived stalled structural reforms such as deregulation and external trade liberalization. The main themes of economic policy included creating an enabling environment for producers, investors, and employers and improving governance and public finances.

Stabilization and structural adjustment programmes focused on maintaining tight fiscal and monetary policies and on realigning exchange rates. These measures were complemented by efforts to restructure financial markets, deepen customs and tax reforms, strengthen budget procedures and fiscal discipline, and review industrial relations and legal and judicial systems. Many African countries adopted the poverty reduction strategy framework introduced by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which requires developing clear strategies for investing the savings from debt relief in poverty reduction programmes and defining the human, social, and political environment in which poverty reduction is to be achieved.

The challenges that African countries will continue to face in the medium term can be reduced to four: to accelerate and broaden economic growth; to achieve a sustainable balance in the population-food-environment nexus; to achieve good governance and put an end to conflicts; and to cope with globalization and attain international competitiveness.

The first challenge is a consequence of wide-scale structural weaknesses, which require comprehensive reforms, innovative and pragmatic policies that have sufficient flexibility, generous support from external partners, patience and long-term commitment. The last two elements are important because the weaknesses that hobble Africa and prevent it from accelerating its economic growth and development cannot be tackled within a short period. To reduce the incidence and severity of poverty in Africa, sustained and broad-based robust growth is needed in the medium to long term.

The second challenge is a result of the rapid population growth rate; antiquated, inefficient and even destructive production techniques and a fragile ecosystem. Urgent action on each of the three fronts of the nexus is required to restore equilibrium.

The third challenge arises from the paradox that setting people free and empowering them is congruent with building peace and stability based on equity and participatory governance. The fourth challenge is a consequence of the evolution in information and communications that is making national borders increasingly meaningless in economic terms.

In facing these challenges, African countries will continue to be handicapped by limited financial resources, climatic uncertainties and factors beyond their control - such as world market developments which determine prices of commodities, imported goods, services and interest. The concessions to African countries under the Doha Round notwithstanding, African countries will have to engineer their accelerated growth under conditions remarkably unlike those under which the mature market economies and the new, emerging economies of Asia and Latin America attained their transformation. While these economies all engineered their growth behind protectionist walls, the implications of the Doha Round Agreement are that Africa will have to achieve growth and transformation within conditions of liberal global trade and financial flows. How can this be done? This is a formidable policy challenge indeed.

At the same time, unless Africa's creditors show greater political will in finding a solution to Africa's huge external debt, it will continue to siphon away scarce resources which could have been used for social development.

Within the context of these challenges and constraints, prospects for economic and social performance in 2002 are, obviously, heavily conditional. In spite of these constraints, however, Africa's average growth in 2002 is projected at 4.9 percent, because it is expected that the factors responsible for the performance of the past six years would continue to have an influence on growth in the short to medium term. These include low prices of oil, good weather conditions across much of the continent, a recovery in the prices of primary commodities, political stability, increase in the level of external assistance and a deepening of economic and social reforms.

The Millennium Declaration adopted by the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000 devoted a section to meeting the special needs of Africa. It placed particular emphasis on supporting the political and institutional structures of emerging democracies in Africa; encouraging and sustaining regional and sub-regional mechanisms for preventing conflict and for promoting political stability; ensuring a reliable flow of resources for peacekeeping operations; special measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa, including debt cancellation, improved market access, enhanced Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) and increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI); transfers of technology; and building capacity to help Africa tackle the spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases. African leaders responded by developing initiatives aimed at meeting these challenges.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is a pledge by African leaders, based on a common vision and a shared conviction, that they have a pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to place their countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development and at the same time, participate actively in the world economy and body politic.

The thought of a concerted effort for African recovery which eventually crystallized into NEPAD dates back to 1999. President A. Bouteflika of Algeria, President T. Mbeki of South Africa and President O. Obasanjo of Nigeria were at the time the Chairmen of the OAU, the Non-Aligned Movement and the G77 respectively. They seized the opportunity of their unique positions to address the problems of peace and security, as well as poverty and underdevelopment in Africa. President Mbeki became the arrowhead of MAP; and soon after, President Wade of Senegal sponsored the OMEGA Plan. Following the directive of the OAU, both initiatives were merged into NEPAD and President Obasanjo is now the Chairman of the 15-member Implementation Committee of Heads of State and Government.

NEPAD's central thesis is that Africa's development depends on its full participation in the global economy, and that this requires a combination of reforms in Africa and assistance from other countries. Broadly, the goals of NEPAD are to eradicate widespread and severe poverty; promote accelerated growth and sustainable development; halt the marginalization of Africa in the globalization process; and restore peace, security and stability.

The various priority areas - referred to as initiatives in the NEPAD document - can be classified into three categories, namely: those focusing on development of guidelines or codes, for example the codes and standards on economic and corporate governance and financial standards; those that require further policy measures by Africa's development partners to assist the recovery and development of African countries, for example, relief of external debt burden, improved market access, and increased ODA; and those for which projects, as traditionally understood, will be developed, especially in the areas of infrastructure, environment, human resources and social development.

NEPAD has identified strategic issues and key development challenges which confront Africa at this historical juncture, namely restoration of peace, security and stability; entrenchment of good governance; promoting accelerated growth and sustainable development; reduction of poverty and income inequality; consolidation of democratic gains and strengthening of democratic institutions and structures; rehabilitation and construction of infrastructural facilities; and bridging the digital divide between the North and the South. All these challenges cannot be resolved by individual African nations, and without partnership with the rest of the world, hence governments have opted for concerted and coordinated efforts in the form of NEPAD.

NEPAD calls for a new partnership with the rest of the world including multilateral institutions and the private sector. The new mode of partnership will operate at three levels: (i) at the global level will be Africa's relations with donors, development partners, international institutions; (ii) at the regional level will be African states cooperating in joint ventures and integration, across border projects, etc. and (iii) at the national (domestic) level will be revitalized partnership among the public sector, the private sector and the civil society. A mechanism for peer pressure and performance timetables and target is envisaged to hold governments accountable to their commitment.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) worked closely with some African leaders who were developing initiatives for Africa's economic renewal, in particular the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Plan (MAP). The Compact for Africa's Recovery which ECA was developing at the time in response to the implementation of the Millennium Declaration, also underscored the urgent need for Africa to continue along the path of political and economic reforms, while advocating support from Africa's development partners through increased ODA, debt relief and market access. The Compact focused particularly on four issues. First, the desire for strong political will on the part of African leaders to take good governance seriously by establishing peace and security on the continent. Second, the need for commitment to promote economic growth and macro-economic stability, including developing fiscal targets for national deficits and inflation rates, among others. Third, the desire for Africa to tap the initiative and entrepreneurship of the private sector. Fourth, capacity-building to enable Africa to rise to the new and grave challenge of HIV/AIDS.

The Compact fitted very well into the MAP and Omega Plan that were consolidated into NEPAD. ECA's role in the merger of the MAP and Omega Plan was to facilitate and act as an instrument for the integrated initiatives as they evolve.

ECA also participated in all the meetings of the Steering Committee including the last meeting of the Heads of State Implementation Committee, which was held in Abuja, Nigeria in October 2001. In addition, ECA hosted a brainstorming workshop of the NEPAD cluster on economic and corporate governance and capital flows in January 2002 in preparation for the work-in-progress workshop on the two themes which was held in Pretoria, South Africa January 2002. ECA's work in these areas will thus provide substantive technical inputs to the implementation of NEPAD.

The Heads of State Implementation Committee of the NEPAD, comprising of the Heads of State of the five initiating countries (Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa) and ten other countries (two from each subregion of the continent) has assigned various tasks to the OAU, ECA and ADB to elaborate various aspects of the initiative. The Committee also decided on the establishment of task teams/lead agencies to urgently identify and prepare specific projects and programmes as follows: capacity-building on peace and security (OAU); economic and corporate governance (ECA); infrastructure (ADB); Central Bank and financial standards (ADB) and agriculture and market access (OAU). Subsequent to that decision, ECA and ADB have been assigned the task of working on capital flows, and the UNCTAD and FAO have been requested to assist on the issues of market access and agriculture respectively. Thus, as a result of its ongoing work in the area of economic and corporate governance, ECA has been requested to assist with the development of guidelines and codes in the area of economic and corporate governance. In addition, ECA is collaborating with the ADB in devising strategies and measures for enhancing capital flows to Africa.

The Group of Eight leading industrialised countries (G-8) comprising of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the Untied States held its annual Summit in Kananaskis, Canada in June 2002. The Summit was also attended by four African Heads of State, namely President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, and President Abdelazeez Bouteflika of Algeria. Within the context of NEPAD, the African Heads of State appealed for $64 billion to fill an annual resource gap of 12 percent of Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) in order to achieve a 7 percent annual growth rate required to reduce poverty by half by 2015. The G-8 responded by endorsing NEPAD as part of their action plan for supporting Africa's development in the new millennium and committed a total of $6 billion in support of the implementation of NEPAD of this amount the sum of $1 billion represents additional support from the G-8 for debt relief under the enhanced HIPC initiative.

The overall goal of the project on capacity-building in economic and social policy analysis in Africa through the networking of expertise is to achieve more robust and broad-based economic and social development in Africa and enhance understanding of emerging challenges and persistent problems in global development. More specifically, the objectives of the programme are: to allow ECA and the its member States, increased access to information resources; to provide an opportunity for capacity-building and for raising the quality of research and policy advice generated not only by ECA, but also by national and African research institutions and organizations, as well as those overseas knowledge institutions whose work focuses on Africa; to open more channels for support to Africa by institutions in developed countries, thus galvanizing more resources to supplement official development assistance for capacity-building; and to give overseas scholars and graduate students access to information on Africa, which they need for analytic and policy research on Africa.

There are many facets to ECA's knowledge network architecture in support of Africa's development, including the Africa Knowledge Networks Forum (AKNF); a visiting scholars' programme; a young African professionals fellowship programme; a staff exchange and secondment programme; and an external senior advisory services programme.

The AKNF has by far the largest number of stakeholders. It is complementary to the African Development Forum (ADF) and has now been transformed into the technical advisory mechanism for the ADF process. In October 2001, the AKNF annual meeting took place in Addis Ababa partly in preparation for the ADF III, which took place in March 2002. The meeting focused on setting priorities for regional integration. As AKNF's continuous substantive work programme is determined and reviewed at two levels, the 2001 programme was informed by the August 2000 workshop, while the 2002 work programme has been informed by, and was finalized after the October 2001 AKNF meeting. A draft medium-term strategy and business plan for AKNF, including the work plan for 2002 and its monitoring, and governance and operational modalities for the network, were also discussed and approved at the October 2001 meetings.

The project, through the young African professionals fellowship component, and drawing on AKNF database resources, has supported empirical work to deepen the analytical and empirical foundation of ECA's Economic Report on Africa, 2002. In-depth country studies are now a standard feature of the process of preparing the report. Expert consultations drawn from AKNF- affiliated organizations supported this enhancement. Altogether, fifteen country field studies have been undertaken. ERA 2002 is due to be launched in July 2002.

The project also continues to give support to the Annual Report on Integration in Africa (ARIA) process. Through the provision of services under the young African fellowship programme, data analysis continues to be facilitated by the project. The visiting scholars' programme has supported high quality analysis on macroeconomic policy harmonization. The first edition of ARIA is due for release in October 2002.

Other related significant activities undertaken during the period under review within the two components - the African Development Forum (ADF) and the African Knowledge Networks Forum (AKNF) processes include providing policy - relevant advice to member States; promoting synergies among researchers and between them and Africa's development partners' programmes; forging common positions on policy issues of importance to Africa; facilitating research and policy analysis within the Commission, in member States and among development organizations; serving as a clearing house of African development information; developing and strengthening research methodology expertise in the networks; undertaking studies of common national development policy issues; strengthening communications infrastructure through electronic connectivity with the target network institutions; convening of the Technical Advisory Committee on ADF III; international cooperation and interagency coordination and liaison;; implementation of a fellowship programme for young African professionals; and implementation of the visiting scholars' and staff exchange programme.

3. The African Learning Group on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP-LG)

One of the requirements that must be met by countries seeking debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative is the preparation of a PRSP. Many African Countries have neither the experience nor the capacity to prepare sound PRSPs. The PRSP-LG organized by the ECA provides a forum for African countries on the PRSP process. It also serves as a forum for the articulation of an African voice on the PRSP requirements.

During the period under review, ECA sponsored the African Learning Group on Poverty Reduction strategy Papers which held its first meeting in November 2001 at the United Nations Conference Center (UNCC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting was attended by African PRSP experts, senior policy-makers and civil society representatives from nine countries namely: Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda. Attending the meeting also were resource persons and observers from the Strategic Partnership for Africa (SPA) secretariat, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), African development Bank (ADB) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The meeting was informed by a number of country studies commissioned by ECA and prepared by African experts.

The objectives of the first PRSP-LG were to identify best practices for replication in other countries in Africa; flag industrial and capacity constraints; recommend actions to remedy the constraints; and propose actions to be taken by Africans and donors in order to tap the full potential of the PRSP process in transforming the partnership between African countries and their donor partners. The meeting also aimed to stimulate increased dialogue and partnership in the reform of recipient and donor aid practices for increased aid effectiveness and poverty reduction in Africa. Stakeholders were able to discuss the appropriate framework for selecting indicators and tracking the poverty reduction impact of policies and programmes.

The meeting was organized around the following five themes: the scope and content of the growth strategies underpinning PRSPs; PRSP-related financing and public expenditure management; the depth and legitimacy of the PRSP participatory process; institutional and capacity requirements; and donor policies and modalities.

This first PRSP-LG meeting was unique in several important ways, in particular the rich and candid deliberations among the African country representatives on their experiences and, at times frustrations, with the required PRSP content, process and implementation; the strong, collective articulation in the presence of donor representatives, of an African perspective on the PRSP; the clear messages communicated from Africans to their external partners, and also to ECA on their role; the acknowledgement of the need for formulation of country-owned, broad-based, pro-poor development policy; and the unanimous acknowledgement that harmonized, PRSP-based, aid programs and modalities can better support an African-driven agenda for poverty reduction

NEPAD calls for a new partnership between Africa and the rest of the world, especially western donor countries UN agencies and Bretton Woods Institutions. The objective of ECA's partnership programme is to maximize impact by pooling efforts; coordinating diverse activities and coordinating agenda setting with development partners.

During the period under review, ECA sought partnership and worked closely with African intergovernmental organizations, UN bodies and specialized agencies, donor countries, African universities, research centres and civil society. ECA organized the second meeting of the Big Table in October 2001 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It also sponsored the African learning Group on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers.

The ECA Partners Forum established in February 2001 ushers a new era in the relationship between ECA and its donor partners. It represents a vote of confidence in ECA's reform program. Chaired by the Executive Secretary, the Forum meets every quarter to exchange views on an ongoing basis on ECA's key initiatives to assess the Commission's need for support; discuss concrete proposals around which collaborative arrangements and modalities for implementing them can be agreed; and review progress on coordinated partnerships in several key areas of work. The Forum also aims to foster professional exchange and networking at all levels between ECA and institutions in partner countries working on Africa. In addition, through ongoing interactions with ECA in Addis Ababa, the participants in the Partners Forum provide an important interface between the Commission and donor countries.

Participation in the ECA Partners Forum is on a self-selection basis and is open to countries that have on-going partnership programs and those seeking partnership with ECA. Participants include Ambassadors (and/or their representatives) of these countries stationed in Addis Ababa. Two group of partners currently participate in the Forum - i) the countries providing unearmarked program support and/or having strong ongoing partnerships with ECA including the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, and Germany - who constitute the core group; and ii) the wider group which extends to Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Italy, United States, and the European Union.

In addition to the qualitative change that it has brought to ECA's interactions with its donors, the Forum also has initiated a major shift in the form of donor support to the Commission - away from fragmented support to activities in a range of unrelated areas towards a programmatic support for the Commission's reformed strategic agenda. This shift helps ensure the allocation of extra budgetary resources to priority tasks and offers flexibility in medium-term planning. The partnership agreements with the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and United Kingdom reflect this shift.

The new relationship with partners is helping ECA with its role as an interlocutor between Africa and her development partners through the annual meetings of the "Big Table" - a forum which brings together selected African Ministers of Finance with their counterparts from OECD Development Cooperation Ministries and heads of aid agencies. ECA also interacts with donors through its participation in the Strategic Partnership with Africa (SPA) group, and is undertaking joint work with OECD on mutual accountability at the behest of the G8 Summit organizers.

ECA's new relationship with partners is also helping the institution to shift gear towards a truly knowledge-based organization. With the support from DFID, the Commission is launching a major initiative on knowledge management. Through major initiatives such as the ADF and PRSP Leaning Group which are donor supported, ECA is fostering African debate on development issues and in so doing, is reaching out to partners beyond governments, such as research institutions, think tanks, private sector actors, and civil society at large.

The Second meeting of the Big Table, an initiative of the ECA took place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in October 2001. The meeting was attended by Ministers of Finance and Development Planning of thirteen African countries and their counterparts from development cooperation ministries and senior officials of aid agencies from nine (OECD) countries. The meeting was also attended by high-level representatives from seven regional and international institutions including the ADB, the European Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), OECD-DAC, World Bank and UNDP.

The significance of Big Table II to the African development agenda lies in the fact that building upon the consensus reached at Big Table I, held in Addis Ababa in November 2000, on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), the meeting sought to advance the dialogue on African ownership of plans and strategies for effective poverty reduction and mutual accountability of African governments and their partners for effective international partnerships. The dialogue took place within the context of Africa's success in integrating the two prevailing development frameworks - the Millennium Partnerships for the Africa Recovery Programme (MAP) and the Omega Plan - into one overarching development agenda, the New African Initiative (NAI), underpinned by its technical component, the ECA Compact for Africa's Recovery.

The three major issues discussed at the Big Table II are: governance; making aid more effective and the Africa peer review process. Regarding governance, the meeting agreed that crucial to sustainable development are good governance and the African ownership of good governance; peace and security; capacity in advancing good governance; a more robust investment response by the private sector to improved investment climate and enhanced investor-confidence; independence of the judiciary; more donor support to African efforts to build judicial capacity and to increase the effective participation of citizens in the democratic process; new and bold resources to enhance the processes of a participation and political transition; more support to strengthen regional and sub-regional bodies to enable them to play an even more effective role in conflict prevention and resolution at the national level.

Regarding aid effectiveness the meeting recommended two conditions for effective aid delivery: strict monitoring of performance results to improve development impact of aid and to build a constituency for aid; and adequate funding to good performers to underpin the sustainability of economic and political reforms in Africa. Other enhancement measures include predictability in aid delivery, consistency in conditionalities and improvement in capacities. The meeting noted that differences in agendas between African countries and their partners constrained the process of aid effectiveness; and that demonstrating the transparency in aid utilization, perhaps through the engagement of the media, would expand and strengthen the constituency for aid in donor countries.

During the discussion on the peer review process, the African partners participating in Big Table II unanimously agreed to adopt a Peer Review Process. The meeting agreed that the ECA governance project could constitute a solid basis for generating the data required for the African Peer Review system. ECA's project on good governance has developed three sets of indicators for assessing political representation, institutional effectiveness, and economic management. The indicators are intended to provide the benchmarks for country and regional self-measurement over time of adherence to the standards of good governance. Through the measurement indicators and code of conduct, the base is set for rationalizing the process of information sharing and experience exchange in governance. It was suggested that African experts, drawn from the ECA, The African Development Bank (ADB), and other regional and sub-regional institutions be set up to carry out the peer review process.

The African Development Forum (ADF) is an initiative led by the ECA to establish an African-driven development agenda that reflects consensus among major partners and that leads to specific programmes for country implementation.

The aim of the ADF is to present the key stakeholders in African development (governments, civil society, the private sector, researchers and academics, intergovernmental organizations and donors) with the results of current research and opinion on key development issues, in order to formulate shared goals and priorities, draft action programmes and define the environment that will enable African countries to implement these programmes. In the short time since its existence, the ADF has registered significant impact and rapidly gained recognition as an effective forum for informed dialogue and consensus building on urgent development issues of relevance to Africa, and for agreeing on implementation priorities and strategies at national, sub-regional and regional level. The Forum will meet annually on a different development issues.

The first Forum was held in October 1999 in Addis Ababa, on the theme, "The Challenge to Africa of Globalization and the Information Age". The Second Forum, ADF 2000, was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in December 2000 on the theme "AIDS: The Greatest Leadership Challenge". The third forum, ADF III, was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 8 March 2002 on the theme "Defining Priorities for Regional Integration."

The coming into force of the Constitutive Act of the African Union provided a timely opportunity to focus on what needs to happen institutionally and at the policy level to galvanize regional integration. ECA responded to this need by holding ADF III in March 2002. The objective of ADF III was to energize and define steps towards accelerating and monitoring the process of regional integration in critical areas. It aimed to inform and to add value to the ongoing moves towards an African economic and monetary union. ADF III brought together all stakeholders and experts on regional integration from Africa as well as from across the world who discussed experiences of various regions with a view to drawing lessons for Africa; drew upon the rich experience of ongoing sub-regional initiatives to develop practical action points for furthering economic integration processes; and reached a consensus on practical policy and institutional measures needed to add value to, and accelerate the regional integration process.

ADF 2002 focused on five thematic clusters: economic policies for accelerating regional integration; physical integration through infrastructure development; regional approaches to regional issues; institutional arrangements and capacity; and the peace and security architecture.

ADF III supported and complemented a succession of initiatives by African Heads of State. The Abuja Treaty came into force in 1994 and its aim is to create an African Economic Community by 2025. The subsequent agreements of the OAU in Sirte, Libya in 1999 and 2001 demonstrated renewed determination to move ahead with continent-wide integration. The constitutive Act of the African Union and the Pan-African Parliament, and the Draft Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to the Pan-African Parliament, articulate these commitments.

A number of Regional Economic Centers (RECs) namely the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and others are making progress towards sub-regional economic integration.

ECA is organizing ADF IV on the topic of Governance and its nexus to development. This comes as a backdrop to numerous initiatives that have sought to address the issue of governance in its varied dimensions.

Stakeholders are beginning to realize that sustainable and equitable development in Africa will only become a reality if good governance accompanies all other development initiatives countries are engaged in. Consequently, there is an inordinate desire and commitment on the part of governments, civil society, and private sector to good governance. Underpinning this commitment is the urgency of reversing Africa's economic and social malaise and the probability that Africa may not meet the modest International Development Targets of halving poverty by 2015.

The general goals and objectives of ADF IV are consistent with previous African Development Fora (ADF 1999, ADF 2000, and ADF 2002). Specifically, ADF IV seeks to provide a forum for dialogue between the various stakeholders in Africa on how to improve and sustain good governance in African States; build understanding and consensus on key tenets of good governance and their relevance to development; generate implementable strategies of good governance practices at the national, sub-regional and continental levels; share and disseminate the outcome of the ECA's project on "Measuring and Monitoring Progress towards Good Governance in Africa"; provide a forum and mechanism for the development of partnerships between the civil society, the public and the private sectors in order to advance and sustain good governance practices in Africa; and develop monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for various stakeholders on progress towards good governance.

It is planned that ADF IV will consist of the following thematic clusters: a cluster dealing with the broad and overarching tenents of government, which will serve as the theoretical context for the other themes; and a cluster on "Good Governance for Progress in Africa", which will address the broad and comprehensive issues of governance and the nexus between good governance and the key development challenges in Africa and it should also provide lessons from other regions. Specific Sub-themes include the following: Peace, security and human rights; Democracy and participation; Judicial and legal reforms; Economic management and corporate governance; Gender and governance; and Decentralization and governance.

It is expected that the ADF IV process will help to develop consensus on the political, economic, administrative/institutional components of good governance, peace and stability in Africa.

During the period under review, ECA's programme activities cantered around seven mutually complementary subprogrammes, namely facilitating economic and social policy analysis; ensuring food security and sustainable development; strengthening development management; harnessing information for development; promoting regional cooperation and integration; promoting the advancement of women and supporting subregional activities for development. Other programmes are the United Nations-New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF) and the United Nations system-wide Special Initiative on Africa.

The objective of this subprogramme is to strengthen the capacity of member States to design and implement appropriate policies and strategies for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. The responsibility for implementing this subprogramme lies with the Economic and Social Policy Division (ESPD).

The activities carried out under this subprogramme during the period under review were aimed at generating greater understanding of key issues in Africa's development and ownership of the economic and social policy for sustained growth and macroeconomic stability; trade and investment promotion; debt sustainability; social policy and poverty reduction.

In the area of poverty reduction and social policy analysis; ECA undertook activities that contributed to poverty reduction in Africa by conducting in-depth poverty analysis; assessing and recommending effective anti-poverty policies; and providing inputs to the PRSP Learning Group. The ECA secretariat undertook the following studies during the period under review: Broadened Development Agenda for Africa; Development Finance Requirements; Savings and Investment; The Compact for Africa's Recovery; Trade and Debt; Required Institutional Changes to Adjust to Globalization; Competitiveness of Africa's Major Exports; The Status of Africa's Debt; Promotion of Investment Agencies in Africa; The Impact of Trade Performance in Promoting Export Competitiveness; and Dynamic Competitiveness of Africa's Major Exports. The general conclusion reached by these studies was that Africa had to develop strategies and complementary measures needed to create a conducive environment, which would enable it to benefit from and adjust to globalization. Preconditions for successful integration into the world economy include the establishment of institutions in support of efficient market; removal of trade barriers reform of domestic policies; debt forgiveness or cancellation; and the establishment of investment promotion agencies to attract FDI and technology transfer.

During the period under review, the secretariat also completed work on its main flagship publication, the Economic Report on Africa (ERA), 2001 which was based on the theme of sustainable development in Africa. The report shows that 33 out of 53 African countries achieved an average growth rate of 3 percent in 2001, strongly higher than the rate achieved in 2000. The decline in oil prices, increase in ODA flows and private investment; and the sustainability of macroeconomic stability provided a positive impetus for the non-oil exporting countries. Some countries benefited from the HIPC arrangement, which freed up resources from debt service for poverty reduction programmes. The report also evaluated the performance of African economies in order to determine the extent to which African countries have achieved sustainable development. This was done through the construction of indices for economic, environmental, agricultural, industrial development, and overall sustainability.

Acknowledging that the development challenges and constraints facing Africa and other developing countries are complex and multidimensional, involving economic, social, cultural, political and environmental factors, and that their solution requires a comprehensive effort, the wide range of studies undertaken by the Secretariat in the area of poverty reduction during the period under review addressed the following issues: an estimate of the resources required for attaining Africa's development goal; measures and strategies for enhancing mobilization of resources; and the relationship between savings and investment rates in a selected sample of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.

The work programme of the secretariat in the area of trade and debt, during the period under review focused on the on-going multilateral trade negotiations within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other fora. ECA, in collaboration with other regional and international organizations played a pivotal role in preparing African countries for the WTO Ministerial Conference, which was held in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. A number of actions have been initiated since Doha in the multilateral trade negotiations and they include preparations for negotiations on trade in agriculture; trade in services; Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Trade-related Investment Measures (TRIMS) and implementation issues. A number of studies were undertaken in the area of trade and debt which focused on the challenges Africa faces in integrating into the global economy, namely the fast pace of globalization; the competitive disadvantage of African exports; the debt burden; and the meager inflow of foreign direct investment into the region.

The thirty-fourth session of the Commission was held in Algiers, Algeria in May 2001 as a Joint Conference of Ministers responsible for Economic Development and Planning, and Ministers of Finance. The Conference focused mainly on the themes, "Implementing the Millennium Partnership for African Recovery programme (MAP): The New Global Compact with Africa" and "Mobilizing resources for a major response to HIV/AIDS in Africa".

With regard to the main theme of the Conference, the Ministers called on ECA to provide technical support in the consolidation of the two initiatives, the MAP and Omega Plan into a unified framework for Africa's development. As a follow-up to this mandate, ECA worked closely with the Steering Committees of the two initiatives to achieve a seamless merger of the two initiatives into NEPAD. ECA has continued to work with the Steering Committee of NEPAD in articulating various aspects of the initiative

The Ministers reaffirmed their commitments to addressing the following development issues: health challenges; education; information and communications technologies; generating finance for development and the need to diversify economies; development cooperation; debt relief; external trade; least developed countries; and measures to promote inter-regional linkages in transportation and communications.

The Conference of Ministers also decided that the meetings of the two highest legislative organs of the commission - the conference of African Ministers responsible for Economic Development and Planning and the Conference of African Ministers of Finance which were held separately in alternate years be merged into a single joint annual meeting beginning in 2002. Thus, as a result of this decision, preparations are underway to convene the first Joint Conference of Ministers in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 2002.

The Secretariat also organized the following conferences and workshops: the UN Youth Unit of DESA/UNHQ in collaboration with ECA held the African Youth Forum in Addis Ababa in April 2000; a workshop within the framework of ECA's collaboration with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) was held in Geneva in February 2001; the regional conference on Brain Drain and Capacity Building in Africa.

The subprogramme also organized the following ad hoc expert meetings; ad hoc expert Group Meeting on Africa's development strategies held in Addis Ababa in March 2000; promotion of investment agencies in Africa, held at in Addis Ababa in September 2000, whose main objective was to bring together experts from African investment agencies and the chief executives of those agencies to brainstorm on issues affecting Africa's ability to attract foreign investment; ad hoc experts group meeting on the development implications of civil conflicts in Africa, held in Addis Ababa in April 2001; and the reforms in higher education organized jointly with the UNESCO Regional Office for sub-Saharan Africa UNDP, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which took place in Nairobi in November 2001 and provided forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences of on higher education reforms and the use of technology. The objective of the meeting on Africa's development strategies was to take stock of the most important aspects of Africa's development agenda as the continent enters the twenty-first century, while the meeting on the development implications of civil conflicts in Africa was aimed at creating an understanding of the economics of conflict informing policy-making as regards the prevention of their conflicts.

Technical assistance support provided to member States and their intergovernmental organizations included the following: (a) undertaking studies on WTO agreements; trade and investment; competition policy and government procurement; (b) analyzing the impact of HIPC Initiative; (c) analyzing the African debt problem; (d) strengthening member States' capabilities by contributing to training programmes on debt management; and (e) strengthening business links between South-North countries multilateral negotiations on business links between the African and Arab countries.

ECA continued to provide advisory services to the regional economic communities. For example, technical assistance was provided to ECOWAS on the establishment of a second monetary zone in the region involving all the Anglophone member States; institutional and technical support was given to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) secretariat on the analysis of the economic and social conditions, and on regional integration as a strategy for poverty reduction in the SADC region; provision of training on macroeconomic policy analysis to middle-level policy makers from Ministries of Finance and Planning and Central Banks at the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute (MEFMI) of Eastern and Southern Africa.

Other significant advisory services which ECA provided during the period under review included providing technical assistance to the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, on analyzing of the revenue implications of establishing a common external tariff in the East Africa Community; policy advice and technical support to African countries during the negotiations for the Programme of Action and in preparation for the third LDCs conference held in Brussels, Belgium in May 2001; and analytical support to the Mano River Basin Secretariat on the capacity building and training needs of the region in macroeconomic policy analysis and economic management.

During the period under review, the secretariat collaborated with and sought partnerships with other United Nations agencies, including the Bretton Woods Institutions, African universities, the International Centre for Economic Growth and the African Economic Research Consortium for cross-fertilization of ideas, peer review and sharing of experience. The areas of collaboration included providing joint assistance to member Sates in building capacity for economic and social policy analysis; participation of African policy makers, representatives of civil society organizations and academics in major conferences and events organized by ECA. ECA also sought collaboration with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA), the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) at Oxford University in the United Kingdom which hosts highly trained experts in all social science fields.

In collaboration with UNCTAD, technical advisory services were provided for capacity building to sustain the computerization programme of Customs procedures, to enable member states migrate to the Automatic System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA); introduce the transit module for the benefit of the landlocked countries; to establish the African Road Transport Union; to implement the Advance Cargo Information System; and to arrange for technical support training systems.

In collaboration with the World Bank Institute (WBI), ECA provided capacity building in policy analysis poverty reduction and public expenditure as well as in growth analysis. ECA's role is to identify and support African resource persons, translate training materials and contribute to the servicing of the meetings. In addition, ECA is currently supporting the publication of a book on poverty analysis that it plans to use for building capacity in French speaking African countries. ECA also provided building capacity support to its member States by organizing training workshops at the national as well as regional levels on poverty analysis.

The objective of the subprogramme is to ensure food security and sustainable development in ECA member States by planning and implementing a critical programme to raise policy-makers' awareness of the urgency of food, population and environmental concerns (the nexus issues) in development planning; offering member States feasible solutions drawn from best practices within Africa and around the world; encouraging ECA member States to develop and take full advantage of their abilities to foster and utilise science and technology for development; and providing technical advisory services to enhance understanding and management of the complex interactions among agricultural productivity, population, environment and food security.

To achieve these objectives, ECA's Division on Ensuring Food Security and Sustainable Development which was renamed Sustainable Development Division February 2002, implemented an array of activities for the benefit of the member States during the period under review. These included a meeting of the Committee on Sustainable Development (CSD) to which six reports were submitted, focusing mainly on the review and appraisal of the implementation of plans of action emanating from global and regional conferences; one meeting of the Follow-up Committee on the implementation of the Dakar/Ngor Declaration (DND) and Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD); one meeting of the Committee on Natural Resources and Science and Technology (CNRST); three ad hoc expert group meetings; and the preparation of a number of recurrent and non-recurrent publications, booklets and pamphlets. The Division also provided advisory services, on request, to member States; and promoted international cooperation and inter-agency coordination.

The activities were aimed at awareness-creation leading to better knowledge and understanding of the holistic treatment of the nexus issues in development planning and policy-making; building national and local capacities to analyse and manage nexus issues in the context of sustainable development; monitoring political commitment to the implementation of the plans of action of various regional and global conferences; and adopting of effective science and technology policies and strategies for addressing the nexus issues as well as increasing awareness and commitment of member States in applying science and technology to ensure food security and sustainable development.

During the period under review, the secretariat organised three ad hoc experts' group meetings, as follows: the linkages among Population-Agriculture-Environment in Africa (Addis October, 2000); science and technology for food security and sustainable development (Addis Ababa, October, 2000); and indigenous food technology in Africa (Addis Ababa, November 2001). The main objective of these meetings was to assess progress in the implementation of the work programme in these areas. Thus, the meeting provided an opportunity for experts to share experiences on ECA's work in these areas, and make policy recommendations for in improving food security and sustainable development in Africa.

Several recurrent and non-recurrent publications were also prepared during the period under review to enhance the secretariat's advocacy role. These included population, agriculture and environment interrelationship in Africa: Some key indicators; two compendiums on best practices in population-environment-agriculture in Africa; two compendiums of best practices in science and technology for food security and sustainable development; a handbook on the Population-Environment-Development-Agriculture (PEDA) model; a study on the state of the environment in Africa; a study on the state of demographic transition in Africa; population, environment and agriculture inter-linkages and sustainable development; linkages between research and agro-industries in Africa; indigenous food technology: Application and potential for upgrading

The secretariat strengthened its collaboration with other UN agencies as well as other African regional organizations for the implementation of its work programme in this area. Key collaborating partners during the period under review included the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UN-Population Division and Global POPIN, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), World Bank Institute (WBI), the Organization of African Unity (OAU), African Development Bank (ADB), International Food Research Institute (IFRI), the World Bank, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), as well as some African universities/research institutions and ECA's sub-regional development centres (SRDCs). Collaboration took the form of joint meetings or undertaking joint research on issues relating to the nexus of food security, population and environment. In this context, the ECA secretariat worked closely with IIASA in developing the PEDA model; preparing users and technical manuals as well as advocacy booklets; and organizing a regional training workshop for Eastern Africa, in collaboration with SRDC-EA; and with UNFPA, UN Population Division, Institute de formation et de recherch� d�mographique (IFORD), Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), Central d'etudeset de recherch� sur la population pour le d�veloppement (CERPOD) in reviewing and appraising the DND and ICPD-PA, population estimates and projections, and activities relating to female reproductive health; and with OAU and ADB, in undertaking joint regional follow-up to the recommendations of the DND/ ICPD including jointly organizing the fourth General Assembly of the African Population Commission, and contributing actively to the preparation of ADB's guidelines on population policy; and with UNEP, on the African preparatory process for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development(Rio+10) to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2002.

During the period under review, the secretariat responded to several request from member States and their intergovernmental organizations for technical advisory services in various areas relating to the nexus, and in particular, on the use of science and technology to achieve food security and sustainable development. In this context, technical support was provided to the African Regional Centre for Technology (ARCT) which is an ECA-sponsored institution; two subregional training workshops on the use of the PEDA model were held in Kigali Rwanda in December 2000; to the Addis Ababa City Government in the preparation of a major study on internal migration and urbanization in Ethiopia with particular focus on Addis Ababa; and to the Tigray Regional State Government of Ethiopia, in preparing a report on the planning and management of urban infrastructure. Other operational activities undertaken by the secretariat included preparations for the World Environmental Day celebrations in Ethiopia.

During the period under review, the ECA secretariat organized or participated in several meetings aimed at preparing African countries for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). These included a high-level stakeholders' meeting on sustainable development (January 2000, Addis Ababa), which considered a regional agenda and established the preparatory process for the review of progress in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda (November 2000, Addis Ababa). The meeting also adopted the Addis Ababa Declaration on Human Settlements in the New Millennium, which contained commitments on shelter policy, social development goals, environmental management, economic development and good governance. In addition, two meetings of the expanded Joint Secretariat for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) were held. The first one was held in Abidjan, C�te d'Ivoire in June 2000 and the second in Dakar, Senegal in March 2001; a consultative meeting the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the Division for Sustainable Development, the Regional Commissions and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in New York in June 2000. The meetings discussed the regional institutional frameworks for the preparations; work plan; communications and awareness raising at all levels; components of the review process; identification of priority concerns; respective roles of various institutions and regional meetings.

The secretariat also participated in the following meetings: first session of the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the Habitat II + 5 (Nairobi, May 2000); eighth session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (Abuja, Nigeria, April 2000); the fifth session of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNSTD) which renewed opportunities and challenges offered by new technologies for improving food security and sustainable development (Geneva, May 2001).

A global consensus is emerging on the linkage between peace and development. In this connection, good governance has become a fundamental prerequisite for poverty reduction and sustainable development. A system of good governance is also required for the state to discharge its legitimate functions, for civil society to flourish, and for the private sector to function properly. Thus, the challenge before Development Management Division (DMD) during the period under review was to promote good governance by ensuring that Africa's social and economic priorities are based on common societal needs, and that broad-based stakeholder participation is encouraged in the development process in Africa. In view of the enormous challenges to be met in strengthening good governance, the activities of the ECA secretariat in the area of good governance can be grouped into three major themes, namely public sector management; private sector development; and encouraging civil society participation in governance. The activities undertaken in support of the three thematic areas included research, workshops and meetings to facilitate exchange of experience, studies and publications aimed at fostering public-private partnerships, and creating an enabling environment for private sector-led growth and development.

Activities in support of public sector management were undertaken as part of the work-in-progress on a major flagship publication to be entitled, State of African Governance Report. Work continued on the preparation this flagship publication during the period under review. The report is aimed at developing codes indicators for monitoring progress towards good governance in Africa. It will also serve as a tool for promoting dialogue and building consensus on the issue of good governance in Africa. The codes and indicators to be developed will focus on three dimensions of governance, namely political representation; institutional effectiveness; and economic management.

Several activities have been undertaken during the period under review towards the development of the codes and indicators. These included an ad hoc expert group meeting on prototype codes and indicators to monitor efficiency in administrative governance in Africa which was held in Addis Ababa in March 2000; a subregional workshop on the development of codes and indicators to monitor administrative governance, also held in Addis Ababa in April 2001 to fine-tune the research instruments and methodology for the State of African Governance report. Other activities undertaken in this context included the preparation and dissemination of a number of recurrent and non-recurrent publications. The last edition of the Development Management newsletter published as a recurrent publication focused on issues of good governance, globalization and the developmental implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. The non-recurrent publications prepared during the period under review included a technical publication on prototype codes and indicators of monitoring efficiency in administrative governance in Africa; and a technical publication on strengthening the effectiveness of financial resources management by regional and local government. The first publication was a research instrument, which was designed to obtain information from a cross-section of the population in several countries where the instruments were administered.

The activities undertaken in support of private sector development were aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of African economies and enable them take advantage of the benefits offered by globalization. To achieve these objectives, the ECA secretariat organized several ad hoc experts group meetings and prepared a number of studies to facilitate information sharing on strategies and approaches for promoting private sector development in Africa. The emphasis of these activities was on enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the promotion of policies and programmes that allow wider access to finance, technology and manpower by SMEs.

ECA also organized the first meeting of its Committee on Industry and Private Sector Development (CIPSD). The meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of African Ministers of Industry (CAMI-15) in Yaound�, Cameroon in October 2001, examined strategies and policies for enhancing the competitiveness of Africa's private sector, as well as reviewed progress in Africa's industrialization process. The recommendations of the Committee formed the basis of discussions at CAMI-15, which was jointly organized by UNIDO, ECA, OAU and the Government of Cameroon. The secretariat organized or participated in other meetings in support of private sector development. These included an international conference on the role of business schools in business and development in Africa held in Addis Ababa in November 2001; and the Asia-Africa Association Summit, jointly organized by the ECA secretariat, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank (MIGA-World Bank), and the Special Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC) of UNDP in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November 2000. The Summit discussed a range of issues including enhancing the advocacy role of the private sector at national, regional and global levels; financing Asia-Africa business ventures; use of ICTs in identifying business opportunities; and institutionalization of networking among Asia-Africa business.

Several reports and analytical studies were also prepared and disseminated during the period under review, which served as background papers for some of the meetings organized by the secretariat during the period. These included a report dealing with emerging issues in private sector development which was, submitted to the first meeting of the CIPSD; two studies on enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs in Africa through an improvement of support services; needs assessment for the development of private sector enterprises in selected post-conflict countries in order to determine the appropriate type of support needed; needs assessment for capital markets development in several countries; and studies on best practices in fostering public-private partnerships for development.

Since its launch in 1997, Africa Centre for Civil Society (ACCS), located in the ECA secretariat, has been working to promote popular participation and strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Africa, by serving as a repository of relevant and timely information, both from within and outside Africa on issues related to civil society in development and governance; facilitate effective and programme-based linkages between African CSOs and the international development community

During the period under review, ACCS was actively engaged in activities aimed at strengthening the capacity of African CSOs for effective participation in governance and development. The activities included meetings, conferences, workshops and preparation of analytical studies. In this regard, the Centre organized the third meeting of its Steering Committee in Nairobi in May 2001 which adopted a partnership framework for ECA/CSOs relations, as well as the Centre's work programme for the 2002-2003 biennium; a conference on building partnership for peace and development in Africa, jointly organized with OAU in Addis Ababa in June 2001 which stressed the role of civil society organizations in the development process in Africa; and a workshop on the participation of civil society in the development and implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), organized in collaboration with the World Bank and ADB in Addis Ababa in July 2001. Other meetings and conferences in which ECA participated included the African regional preparatory conference for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related forms of intolerance (WCAR) held in Dakar, Senegal in January 2001 which adopted an African Common Position on the issues on the agenda of the WCAR.

ECA also participated in the WCAR, which was held in Durban, South Africa in November 2001. The conference, which was jointly organized by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Government of the Republic of South Africa, brought together participants from all regions of the world including government officials and representative of civil society groups to examine the issue of racism, racial discrimination and other related issues. The Conference adopted the Durban Declaration and plan of Action aimed at addressing the problems of racism and racial discrimination. In addition, the ECA secretariat participated in an experts' meeting, which adopted the draft OAU Convention on Combating Corruption in Africa, which was held in Addis Ababa in November 2001.

Several studies were prepared on issues relevant to the development of civil society during the period under review. These included a Baseline study for the establishment of indicators to assess and monitor African CSOs' participation in development programmes; ECA and CSOs: A framework for partnership Source Book of People's Organizations in Africa. The ECA secretariat also organized training workshops and seminars in four African countries - Cameroon, Egypt, Namibia and Senegal to facilitate dialogue and build consensus on the best approaches for broadening participation in governance and development.

The overall objective of the subprogramme on harnessing information for development is to strengthen national capacity for the utilisation of information and communication technologies, including strengthening capacity in the development and use of statistical, bibliographic, referral and spatial databases as decision support tools for socio-economic development. Within this broad objective, the specific goals for the 2000-2001biennium were:

To achieve these objectives, ECA's Division for Development Information and Statistical Development (DISD) undertook several policy-relevant and operational activities. In particular, the Division continued to play a key advocacy role for appropriate policies and strategies for the adoption of information and communications technologies in the region; build associated capacity in the area on ICT development; and build effective partnerships and regional networks to promote the development of ICTs.

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA	ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Twenty-first meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development	Thirty-fifth Session of the Commission/Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
Johannesburg, South Africa	Johannesburg, South Africa
16-18 October 2002	19-21 October 2002