Press Release No. 04/1997

Meeting of Intergovernmental Group of Experts

Addis Ababa, 25 March 1997: The Intergovernmental Group of Experts meeting of the African Ministers of Finance opens here today at the Headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in preparation for the Ministerial Conference which will take place at the same venue from 31 March to 2 April 1997.

During the 4-day meeting, within the context of promoting growth and development in Africa, representatives of 52 African States will discuss a wide array of issues, but at the top of the agenda is the role of multilateral institutions in Africa at the turn of the century and financial sector reforms.

Other important items include the challenges of the African debt problem within the framework of the Debt Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) launched by the World Bank and IMF in September 1996. Another agenda item is devoted to the development of capital markets in Africa.

The meeting comes after a major ECA-sponsored International Conference in Accra on Reviving Private Investment in Africa,in which a number of African Heads of State and leading business executives from around the world took part.

tations of top-notch authorities in formats designed to facilitate the maximum exchange of ideas and experiences.