The Ninth African Development Forum will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, from 12 to 16 October 2014 on the theme “Innovative financing for Africa’s transformation”. The Forum will offer a platform for prominent African stakeholders to share key information and participate in more focused and in-depth discussions on issues relating to innovative financing mechanisms in the following four thematic areas:

• Domestic resource mobilization

• Illicit financial flows

• Private equity

• New forms of partnership

The Forum seeks to enhance Africa’s capacity to explore innovative financing mechanisms as real alternatives for financing transformative development in Africa. It will aim to forge linkages between, on the one hand, the importance of mainstreaming resource mobilization and the reduction of trade barriers into economic, institutional and policy frameworks, and on the other, advancing the post-2015 development goals.

The Forum will build on best practices, innovative policies and strategies, and institutional and governance frameworks. It will also aim to be guided by evidence-based knowledge and information on the range of options and their scope for leveraging opportunities for financing Africa’s sustainable development.

The Forum is a flagship biennial event of the Economic Commission for Africa, and offers a multi-stakeholder platform for debating, discussing and initiating concrete strategies for Africa’s development. The Forum is convened in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and other key partners with a view to establishing an African-driven development agenda that reflects consensus and leads to specific programmes for implementation.

The Forum is expected to attract some 700 participants from all walks of life: eminent persons, heads of State and Government, African member States, regional economic communities, the private sector, academia, the science and technology community, civil society organizations, the African diaspora, United Nations partners, bilateral organizations and partners, international and regional financial institutions, and South-South cooperation organizations.

Click here to download the Concept Note.