ECA presents papers at Global Development Network Conference
By Andrew Allimadi, Communication Officer, ECA
31 January 2005

The Trade and Regional Integration Division (TRID) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) participated in the sixth annual conference of the Global Development Network, held in Dakar, Senegal from 24 – 26 January. The participants from TRID were Hakim Ben Hammouda, director of the Division, and Patrick Osakwe and Mustapha Sadni-Jallab.

The theme of the conference was ‘Developing and Developed Worlds: Mutual Impact.’ The conference focused on the benefits and challenges of mutual interdependence in its various dimensions, with discussions of how we can best reap the benefits and address the challenges of our world’s mutual interdependence. Over 700 delegates from over 93 countries attended the conference.

During the conference, TRID organized a session on Trade and the Millennium Development Goals, and presented three papers, titled: (1) Trade Capacity Building in Sub-Saharan Africa: Impact and Challenges (by Patrick Osakwe); (2) Consequences of the Doha Round Trade Reforms for Africa (By Hakim Ben Hammouda); and (3) Impact of the Economic Partnership Agreements on Africa (by Mustapha). The session was well attended and the presentations provoked a lively debate at the conference. Copies of the full papers can be found on the division’s website: www.uneca.org/trid.