ECA and the Government of Rwanda Launch Three Economic Reports.

	Left: Antonio Pedro.  Right: H.E. James Musoni

Addis Ababa, 18 August 2009 (ECA) -The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Sub-Regional Office for East Africa (SRO-EA), in collaboration with the government of the Republic of Rwanda jointly launched three economic reports in Kigali, Rwanda on Friday 14 August.

ECA presented its Economic Report on Africa 2009, while Rwanda presented its Annual Economic Report 2008 and the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) Annual Progress Report.

The audience of over 200 included senior government officials, representatives of UN agencies, African Development Bank (AfDB), diplomatic missions, international organizations, NGOs, the private sector and academia.

H.E. James Musoni, Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Rwanda, said the country was suffering from the effects of the global economic downturn, but its economy was still growing by an estimated 5.3% per year.  He said the government was taking several steps to counter the effects of the recession and return Rwanda to the double-digit growth rates it had achieved in recent years.

“The three economic reports are contributing directly to the current economic policy making in Rwanda given the comprehensiveness of the data and analysis they contain”, the minister said.  He added that the country had achieved above 80 percent of the targets contained in its EDPRS for 2008 and the remaining goals were being addressed in the current fiscal year.

Mr. Antonio Pedro, Director of ECA’s SRO-EA said that in choosing “Developing African Agriculture through Regional Value Chains” as the theme of ERA 2009, ECA was emphasizing the centrality of agriculture to Africa’s development, and offering a blueprint for the transformation and modernization of the sector.

“This hinges on capturing economies of complementarity, exploring economies of scale at all stages of the commodity value chain and fomenting linkages between the agriculture sector and other sectors of the economy”, he said.

He added that the theme of SRO-EA 2010 statutory meeting would be on Enhancing Food Security in Eastern Africa.  “This would provide another opportunity to deepen the understanding of the concept of regional value chains and discuss how to operationalize it in Eastern Africa”, he said.

ERA 2009 is available on www.uneca.org/era.
The website of the Rwanda ministry of finance and economic planning is: http://www.minecofin.gov.rw/

:: Statement by H.E. James Musoni
:: Statement by Mr. Antonio Pedro 

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