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Africa: Recent ECA Statements, 2
Africa: Recent ECA Statements, 2
Date distributed (ymd): 970509
Document reposted by APIC
The Economic Commission for Africa, which just completed its latest
Conference of Ministers meeting in Addis Ababa, is now making a wide variety
of documents available by e-mail and on the World Wide Web. This posting
and the previous one contain a press release and statements from the May
5-8 meeting.
For more information, please contact:
Peter K.A. da Costa Regional Adviser, Communication for Development
Cabinet Office of the Executive Secretary UN Economic Commission for Africa
P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Tel: +251-1-51 58 26 (direct) or +251-1-5172
00 Ext 161 Fax: +251-1-51 22 33 E-Mail: <ipspdc@harare.iafrica.com>
or <Peter_da_Costa_at_UNECA@un.org>
The ECA's web site, on-line at http://www.un.org/Depts/eca,
has additional documents, including the "Report on the Economic and
Social Situation in Africa, 1997" (http://www.un.org/Depts/eca/confr/23conf/ecorpt.htm).
For most convenient access to recent information, go directly to the "What's
New" page (http://www.un.org/Depts/eca/news/index.htm).
May 8, 1997
Global Information Infrastructure Commission(GIIC) Statement of Addis
Ababa
1. The Information Revolution is driven by information and communications
technologies (ICTs) and is fundamentally important for all societies
The processes of development and growth that are appropriately the focus
of much of the ECA, will be greatly affected by the Information Revolution
now under way around the world. The Information Revolution is a real thing;
it is not hype; it is not just for rich countries; it is not a self-serving
campaign by vested interests; it is not peripheral to development. Information
and communication services are as important as other basics of social well-being
and civilization, for collective and individual fulfilment. These changes
may be as great as those of the industrial revolution, with far reaching
effects we cannot even envision today. No country or region can afford
to be left out. Because change is occurring so fast, a wait-and-see-policy
is a recipe for marginalization. Governments, private firms, NGOs and others
are strongly urged to recognize the critical, core importance of these
new technologies.
2. The ICT revolution is especially important and essential for developing
societies and their people
More and more information and communication services and technologies
are being embedded in the everyday processes and activities of modern life.
"ICT" is no longer a thing apart, but is an integral part of
societies today. Information processing is embedded everywhere in developed
and in developing societies. It should be thought of as a requirement for
equitable and sustained economic development and social development, through
education, training, health care, culture, leisure, employment and so forth.
3. While a modern imperative for all countries, diffusing ICT effectively
and equitably, is neither easy nor automatic
To be effective, ICT diffusion and popular acceptance requires top leadership,
effective vision to mobilize new behaviours, wider participation, and major
organizational changes in the ways that governments, NGOs and firms are
organized internally and to interact with one another. In the main, it
will be diffused as much or more through the private sector as the public.
4. We support and encourage the ECA's commitment to adopt a concrete
implementation plan for the AISI (African Information Society Initiative)
as plans for National Information and Communications Infrastructure (NICI)
within each African country
We encourage the ECA to find a constructive role for the public sector
and the NGOs in this implementation. We especially encourage the ECA to
develop an ongoing mechanism for private sector participation in the coordination
of the AISI. Thus, the AISI should:
Be African led, but within a global context;
Take into consideration the substantial work on NICI in Africa that
has preceded it, and related work worldwide on developing the Information
Society;
Encourage developing countries to cooperate with each other, as well
as with the developed world;
Promote African and global private sector leadership in the introduction
of NICI in Africa; together with active participation from the public sector,
civil society and international organizations;
Be driven by development needs and the implementation of applications
and services and not by technology;
Foster transparent plans and policy frameworks for NICI involving all
relevant stakeholders, based on the promotion of: - rights in information
access and use; - global trade and investment; - diversity of content;
- telecommunications competition; - interoperability and appropriate standards;
- privacy, data protection, data security and intellectual property rights.
5. We recommend that the implementation of the AISI should take place
with as much cooperation as possible between the following sectors:
-There is an important role for the public sector
-There is an important role for the private sector
-There is an important role for the labor sector
-There is an important role for civil society
-There is an important role for academia and research institutions
-There is an important role for the ECA
May 8, 1997 ECA CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS
DECLARATION ON ACCELERATING TRADE AND INVESTMENT IN
AFRICA
PREAMBLE
1. We, the African Ministers responsible for economic and social development
and planning, meeting in Addis Ababa, during the thirty-second session
of the Commission/twenty-third meeting of the Conference of Ministers from
5 to 8 May 1997, guided by the principles and spirit embodied in the Charters
of the United Nations and of the Organization of African Unity, the Abuja
Treaty establishing the African Economic Community, the Cairo Plan of Action
for Relaunching Africa's Development, the Marrakech Final Act of the Uruguay
Round Agreement on Multilateral Trade Negotiations, UNCTAD IX Midrand Declaration
"A Partnership for Growth and Development", and the Comprehensive
and Integrated World Trade Organization (WTO) Plan of Action for the Least
Developed Countries, endorse the resolutions and declaration adopted by
the recently concluded Conference of African Ministers of Finance at its
session of 31 March to 2 April 1997.
PURPOSE
2. We have taken stock of Africa's position within the emerging global
economic system at the threshold of the twenty-first century. We have deliberated
on the appropriate orientation of the development of our countries in the
era of a liberalizing and integrating world economy, and the necessary
measures that we need to implement in Africa at the level of government,
with support from bilateral and multilateral development partners, and
in full partnership with African and foreign private enterprise. We reaffirm
that African countries assume the primary responsibility for restructuring
their economies to the challenges and opportunities of a globalizing and
liberalizing world economy.
TRADE, INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
3. We are convinced that trade and investment are essential components
in any credible strategies to accelerate our countries' development and
sustain high rates of economic growth. We are also convinced that poverty,
which constitutes the most serious problem facing African society today,
can be reduced and eventually eradicated by sustained high rates of economic
growth that is broad-based and geared to creating employment and generating
rising incomes. This objective requires a sustained high rate of investment
and production.
DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES
4. We are convinced that this requires considerable resources which
can be obtained mainly from an increased rate of domestic savings (by households,
private enterprises, and governments), supplemented by official development
finance and foreign investment (foreign direct investment, portfolio funds,
and finance tapped from international capital markets). We are concerned
about the long-term declining trend of official development assistance
(ODA) in spite of our economic restructuring efforts and continuing need
of development resources. We deplore the marginalization of Africa, at
a time when significant positive developments are taking place in our countries.
5. In the light of intensifying globalization, we realize that private
local and foreign investment is destined to assume increasing importance.
We also recognize the central importance of mobilizing domestic financial
resources, to boost our domestic savings. Furthermore, our countries have
created an environment conducive to expanding trade with the rest of the
world. Unfortunately, these efforts have been frustrated by continuing
protectionist practices hindering our countries' exports, particularly
agricultural products, textiles and clothing, by our trading partners.
EXTERNAL DEBT BURDEN
6. The cost of servicing external debt which, for the continent as a
whole, is estimated to have exceeded US$ 340 billion at the end of 1996,
siphons away considerable resources which could have been productively
invested in the development of Africa. We welcome the debt reduction initiative
for the highly indebted poor countries (HIPCs Initiative) recently proposed
by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is a
first step in the right direction. We are hopeful that it will be reinforced
by additional more generous bilateral and multilateral measures to substantially
reduce all African countries' debt stock.
TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS AS PARTNERS
7. We believe that any fruitful and long-lasting business relationship
must be built on the hallowed principles of equity, mutual responsibilities
and mutual benefit. It is in this spirit that, in recent years, our countries
have adopted new investment codes and instituted many economic reforms.
Foreign partners who believe with us in these principles will make good
on their investments and reap the expected dividends. In this regard, we
invite transnational corporations to play their rightful role in securing
the flow of foreign direct investment while respecting the principles adopted
by our countries.
TRADE AND INVESTMENT: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
8. We recognize that boosting domestic savings, local and foreign investment,
and the productivity of capital together constitute a real challenge. Regarding
trade, the entry into force of the Uruguay Round Agreement, mandating significant
cuts in tariffs on most tradeable products and limiting countries' recourse
to non-tariff measures, offers Africa both opportunities as well as challenges.
The thrust of the social, macroeconomic, sectoral, and trade policies that
we are implementing in our countries is towards meeting these challenges
and grasping the opportunities, so that our countries can realize the full
potential of their natural comparative advantages in the world economy.
PREREQUISITES FOR EXPANDING TRADE AND INVESTMENT
9. We are aware that in order to achieve our goals (i.e., to boost domestic
savings and investment, attract substantial private foreign capital transfers,
and expand trade with the rest of the world) our countries must accomplish
at least the following prerequisites:
(a) Changing the negative perception of Africa as a high-risk place;
(b) Improving information flow on developments in Africa;
(c) Modernizing, expanding and diversifying production;
(d) Reducing the cost of establishment and doing business;
(e) Strengthening international competitiveness;
(f) Striving for genuine regional economic integration; and
(g) Participating more effectively in the multilateral trading system.
POSITIVE POLICY TRENDS
10. We are convinced that the steps taken by our countries in each of
the above areas will contribute to efficiency in our economies. The economic
fundamentals are more solid today than they have been in decades. In a
number of our countries, fiscal deficits have been reduced, the money supply
has been disciplined, inflation is falling, currencies are finding their
realistic levels guided by market forces, pressures on the current account
have been reduced, economic recovery is under way, and the local private
sector is resurgent. To that effect, the reforms undertaken and performances
attained will be intensified.
AREAS FOR ENHANCEMENT
11. We invite domestic and foreign investors to take advantage of the
opportunities that have been created by the improved policy and economic
environment in our countries.
12. We urge Africa's bilateral partners to continue to provide direct
financial support, on concessional terms at increased levels, and to extend
indirect support through tax incentives to their national investors participating
in infrastructure development projects in Africa.
13. We trust that multilateral development finance institutions, notably
the African Development Bank, the African Export-Import (AFREXIM) Bank
and the World Bank, will continue to play an important role, not only in
providing substantial financial resources, but also in providing technical
assistance to our countries in carrying out analyses of profitability,
risk, and environmental factors of projects, especially in infrastructures.
THE ROLE OF ECA
14. We request the ECA secretariat to identify issues crucial to accelerating
trade and investment, and to come up with appropriate strategies, in collaboration
with African Governments and leading African and global multilateral institutions,
inter alia, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
and the World Trade Organization. We recommend that emphasis be placed
especially on practical strategies, and economic and social policy innovations,
with particular emphasis on regional cooperation, public-private partnership,
and international competitiveness, thereby pointing to new approaches to
accelerate Africa's development process. ECA should also function as the
clearing house for gathering and disseminating experiences and best practices
from within Africa as well as from other regions.
(END)
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the Africa
Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington
Office on Africa. APIC's primary objective is to widen the policy debate
in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa,
by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant information and
analysis usable by a wide range of groups and individuals.
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