Success in development and poverty eradication depends on good governance and trading transparency, African countries say
By Yinka Adeyemi, Communication Officer, ECA
28 October 2005

Africa’s success in achieving the objective of development and poverty eradication depends, among other factors, on good governance within each country and on transparency in financial, monetary and trading systems, African countries said today at the end of a two-day regional implementation meeting (RIM) in Addis Ababa.

In its regional statement to the 14th session of the Commission of Sustainable Development (CSD-14) which will meet in New York next year, the countries expressed concern on the limited progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation “which streams from the lack of fulfillment by the international community of its commitments made in Rio, Monterrey and Johannesburg.”

They also expressed concern on Africa’s limited modern energy production and consumption; its extreme vulnerability to climate change and the inadequate contribution of its industrial sector, in particular mining, minerals and metals, to environmental sustainability.

The countries called for the full participation of the civil society and the private sector in the continent’s pursuit of sustainable development and reaffirmed the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as the sustainable development framework for Africa.

Accordingly, they called on all African governments, with the support of the international community, to accelerate the development of environmentally and socially-balanced hydropower projects in Africa.

They also urged all African governments to design and implement appropriate urgent measures to modernize the traditional biomass sector in order to reduce the negative impact of its usage on human health, the environment and other issues related to the MDGs.