| E/ECA/CM.22/9 25 April 1996 BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY 1994-1995 CONTENTS Page PREFACE . . . . . . . . . iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . v Chapter I. OVERVIEW OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA . . . . . . . . 1 II. PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENTS IN 1994-1995 . . . 5 Development issues and policies . . . . . 5 Trade, regional economic cooperation and integration . . . . . . . . 7 Poverty alleviation through sustainable development . . . . . . . . 11 Development administration and management . . . . 15 Human resources development and social transformation . . . . . . . . 16 Statistical and information systems development . . . . . . . . 18 Natural resources and energy development . . . . 20 Infrastructural and structural transformation . . . . 23 Women in development . . . . . . 30 ECA's regional advisory services programme . . . . 31 Africa: Critical economic situation, recovery and development . . . . . . . 33 III. COOPERATION AND RELATIONS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND PARTNERS . . . . 35 IV. MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES . . . . . 37 Introduction . . . . . . . . 37 Management of financial resources . . . . . 37 Information technology development . . . . . 47 Human resources management . . . . . . 47 Chapter Page V. FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF THE ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA: THE RENEWAL PROGRAMME AT ECA . . 49 Introduction . . . . . . . . 49 Medium-Term Plan, 1998-2001 . . . . . 49 Administrative and organizational changes . . . . 50 Annexes I. TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROJECTS FINANCED FROM EXTRABUDGETARY RESOURCES, 1994-1995 . . . 51 II. MEETINGS OF LEGISLATIVE ORGANS HELD IN 1994-1995 BIENNIUM . . . . . . 55 III. TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS PREPARED BY ECA, 1994-1995 . 67 PREFACE The present report highlights the activities of the Economic Commission for Africa
during the period 1994-1995, the second biennium of the 1992-1997 Medium-term Plan. The
period was marked by consolidation of the transitions occurring in member States and
deepening of the process of renewal and reform at ECA which itself, was an important
element in responding to the changes taking place in the member States. A most significant
and promising trend related to the economic performance of the region: regional output in
the two years are estimated to have grown by over 2 per cent (2.1 per cent in 1994 and 2.3
per cent in 1995). Compared with the performance of other developing regions and Africa's
own population growth rate during the same period, the growth was modest indeed. Yet there
were an improvement over the less than 1 per cent of the previous biennium. The relatively improved economic performance during 1994-1995 period, taken together
with the deepening of economic reforms, the end of conflicts in several countries, and the
renewed commitment to political liberalization - all hold out much hope and promise for
Africa's development. Sustaining these positive trends must rank high on the priorities of
the member States as well as in institutions like ECA, whose main role is to be a catalyst
for progress in the region, both by assisting member States in their development and
promoting international cooperation in support of regional development efforts. One particularly important area in which ECA's catalytic role was demonstrated
pertained to assisting African countries prepare for the various international conferences
held during the biennium. Thus, ECA organized African regional preparatory meetings to
articulate African Common Positions for the World Summit for Social Development (1995) and
the fourth World Conference on Women (1995). The vehicle of the ECA Conference of
Ministers responsible for Economic and Social Development and Planning was also used to
prepare an African Memorandum to the Global Mid-term Review of the implementation of the
Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (1995). Just as a corporation striving to remain competitive in the marketplace has to innovate
its products and processes, so must a regional institution keen on serving its member
States better reinvent itself to be of high-quality service. Hence, the single important
reason for the reforms and renewal that have been embarked upon is to position ECA to
remain an important contributor in the process of Africa's economic and social re-birth.
The nature and scope of the current reforms at ECA, the highlights of which are given in
the last chapter of this report, attest to the Commission's commitment to institutional
renewal. By definition, the effort at reform of the Commission is a collective effort, because
many stakeholders are involved. It requires the support of the member States and goodwill
of Africa's development partners. But it also requires the commitment of the staff of the
Commission and executive leadership, which I pledge to give. Working together, I am sure
that a renewed ECA can truly serve Africa better. K.Y. Amoako Executive Secretary Addis Ababa 22 April 1996 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The biennial report of the Executive Secretary is 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 facing them. The present report covers the period 1994-1995, the
second biennium of the 1992-1997 Medium-term Plan. During the l994-1995 biennium, the Commission, operating within its broad mandate of
promoting the economic and social development of the African region, focused its actions
and activities around the following key areas: advocating economic and social policies;
articulating plans and strategies; strengthening institutions for development; and
providing technical assistance to member States and their intergovernmental organizations
(IGOs). The substantive work of the Commission was carried out under nine subprogrammes, namely
Development issues and policies; Trade, regional economic cooperation and integration;
Poverty alleviation through sustainable development; Development administration and
management; Human resources and social transformation; Statistical and information systems
development; Natural resources and energy development; and Women in develop-ment. The
issues of capacity building, gender and economic cooperation and integration were
cross-cutting themes that were treated across the subprogrammes. In the area of development issues and policies, the work programme addressed broad
macroeconomic policy issues of concern to member States. Emphasis was also placed on
research and analysis related to national mechanisms for the review and appraisal of
socio-economic conditions; the development of methodologies and techniques for enhanced
national development planning. Particular attention was given to the peculiar problems of
the least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa. Activities in this area included the
provision of assistance to member States to implement the provisions of the Paris
Declaration and Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s. With regard to trade, regional economic cooperation and integration in Africa, the
imple-mentation of the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community occupied a
significant part of ECA's activities during the period 1994-1995. The issues addressed in
this regard were the strengthening of the regional economic com-munities especially
through institutional develop-ment and elaboration of programmes; promoting intra-African
trade; strengthening institutional capacity for monetary and financial integration and the
development of tourism. Attention was also paid to Africa's position in world trade. In
this regard, the secretariat, inter alia, prepared a number of studies an analyses
on the implica-tions on the Uruguay Round Agreement on the region's development. The interrelated issues of food and agri-culture, population, the environment and human
settlements were addressed under the subpro-gramme "Poverty alleviation through
sustainable development". The thrust of Commission's work in this area was to help
advance the understanding and management of the interrela-tionships among the issues on
this nexus which is at the heart of the poverty syndrome in Africa. Activities in the area of development administration and management continued to focus
on the articulation of policies and strategies to dynamize public sector manage-ment,
especially in its regulatory role and in the promotion of measures to enhance the
effi-ciency of the public service in the management of scarce development resources. The
active involvement of a broad-section of civil society including the private sector,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other interest groups in the socio-economic
development process was vigorously pursued through a mix of interven-tions to promote
their participation. The thrust of the work programme in the area of human resources development and social
transformation was on the promotion of human- and social-centred development policies and
strategies in the region. Activities focused on the essentials of planning the development
and utilization of human resources and social development; building and strengthening
human and institutional capacities; fostering popular participation and reinforcing the
social dimen-sion of development. In the area of statistical and information systems development, emphasis was on the
need to build national, subregional and regional capacities to generate and facilitate the
flow and exchange of statistical data and information in support of sustainable
development and regional integration. The programme addressed these concerns through
activities which paid special attention to the human, institutional and infrastructural
capacity required for the generation, processing and exchange of statis-tical data and
information. Support was pro-vided in the areas of training and other staff development
opportunities; the introduction of technological innovations for enhancing the flow of
information and communication; the estab-lishment of institutional frameworks and
mechanisms and networks for accessing information. The development and management of Africa's natural resources and energy remains one of
the major challenges facing the region. In addressing this challenge, the Commission
assisted member States to formulate appropriate policies and programmes. Specifically, it
under-took a number of operational activities, mainly through the organization of meetings
at which, among other things, the following emerged: formulation of programmes of action
calling for the development of capacities and capabilities by African countries for the
development and utilization of mineral resources and energy so as to enhance their
contribution to the socio-economic development of the region; recom-mendations aimed at
enhancing cooperation among governments and the private sector for the sustainable
development and management of natural resources and energy as an important basis for
boosting value added in processing and for industrial development generally. Activities in the area of infrastructural and structural transformation were particularly directed at the implementation of the two major decade programmes in Africa, namely the
second United Nations Transport and Com-munications Decade in Africa (UNTACDA II) and the
second Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA II) as well as the application of
science and technology for the development of sustainable industrial capacities and
efficient transport and communication systems. ECA's work in the area of women in development was wide-ranging and catalytic, adding
to the many initiatives for the creation of an enabling environment for the enhancement of
women's participation and contribution to the region's development. The secretariat
provided an important leadership role in Africa's parti-cipation in the fourth World
Conference on Women. Advisory services to complement work in all the above areas were provided to countries
and IGOs through the secretariat's regular programme of technical cooperation. Short-term
advisory services were provided to member States and their IGOs on request by the ECA
Multidisciplinary Regional Advisory Group (ECA-MRAG) on a wide range of issues and
policies. ECA continued to cooperate with several development partners, including multilateral
and bilateral agencies, other United Nations pro-grammes, as well as NGOs in the
furtherance of Africa's development. Cooperative relationships provided the secretariat
with the flexibility needed to address the broad spectrum of issues that faced African
member States in the biennium under review. A major exercise of reform and renewal has been initiated at the Commission to enable it to serve Africa better. The reforms cover policy orientation, programme focus, organiza-tional structure and management practices. They are guided by the principles of excellence, cost-effectiveness and effective partnerships.
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Communication Team,
Economic Commission for Africa, P.O. Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |