Login

Register




Building capacity to help Africa trade better

Joint AU-UNECA Ministerial on Finance and Integration concludes with an urgent call for domestication of the Agenda 2063 and 2030

News

Joint AU-UNECA Ministerial on Finance and Integration concludes with an urgent call for domestication of the Agenda 2063 and 2030

Joint AU-UNECA Ministerial on Finance and Integration concludes with an urgent call for domestication of the Agenda 2063 and 2030
Photo credit: AU

African Union Ministers of Finance, Planning, Economic Development and Integration concluded their 9th annual meeting on 5th April 2016 with a strong call for the domestication of Agenda 2063 and 2030 for Sustainable Development, which they said offers a unique opportunity for Africa to achieve inclusive and transformative development with equity. The Ministers further recognized the role of Regional integration through the RECs in the implementation of both developments agendas.

In her closing remarks, H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasized that the success of both Agenda 2063 and 2030 can only be guaranteed if the implementation processes includes women and the youth.

The AUC Chairperson called for a change of mindset. “We need to believe in ourselves, in our capacities and the capacities of our people.” She further addressed the issue of the continent’s resources which should be an advantage for rapid development, stressing on the need to make impactful change in not only policy reform but also administrative improvements and diligent implementation of existing policies.

The AUC Chairperson encouraged stakeholders to invest in the training of competent statisticians with the right skills to produce sound accurate, good quality and timely statistics for the continent. Most importantly, she highlighted that African programs must be inform by African solidarity, and the spirit of Pan Africanism, “so that we can celebrate our successes, and help to address our weaknesses”.

She called for synergies from international partners, to unite efforts for the common goal. Dr. Dlamini Zuma commended both the UNECA and the AU Commission for the quality work to ensure that the meeting was successful.

Addressing the ministers at the closing ceremony, H.E. Dr. Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, said the Conference was a fulfillment in relation to the expectations of both the UNECA and the AU Commission.

The Minister of Planning of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Chair of the Ministerial meeting, Mr. Georges Wembi Lwambo saluted reiterated the need to harmonize the two development programs; Agenda 2063 and 2030. Minister Wembi stated that the greatest challenge will be at the level of financing the implementation of both agendas as well as the lack of human resource capacity which needs to be overcome by joining efforts to support the development agenda. He underscored the importance of reinforcing capacity in order to ease the achievement of all the recommendations adopted during the week long meeting at the UNECA Conference Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, the Ministers exchanged views and shared best practices on the theme: “Towards an integrated and coherent approach to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. They recognized that Africa has made considerable progress towards social outcomes, with poverty levels dropping in the various sub regions.


Report of the Joint Committee of Experts

The meeting of the Joint Committee of Experts of the ninth Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development was held in Addis Ababa from 31 March to 3 April 2016.

Opening statements were delivered by Anthony Mothae Maruping, Commissioner for Economic Affairs, African Union Commission; Abdalla Hamdok, Deputy Executive Secretary of ECA; and Admasu Nebebe, Director, Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation of Ethiopia.

In his statement, Mr. Maruping thanked the experts for their attendance at a time of economic hardship on the continent, and noted that the meeting provided an invaluable opportunity for the exchange of views, sharing of experiences and collective decision on a way forward. He highlighted the decline in commodity demand and prices, which had led to cuts in production, increased unemployment, falling incomes, eroded tax bases and reduced foreign exchanges; the prolonged and severe drought that had affected agricultural production and disrupted the supply of hydropower, clean water and sanitation services; the floods which had displaced people, destroyed infrastructure and caused the spread of waterborne diseases; and the strengthening of the United States dollar, which had caused a jump in dollar-denominated external debt and had increased inflationary tensions. He indicated that, in combination, those factors had caused financial and macroeconomic imbalances, downward revision of growth rates, regressions in social and economic development, and an increase in poverty. He highlighted the importance, in that context of the ministerial round table to be held during the Conference on the theme: “Addressing the impact of drought; floods and declining commodity prices in Africa.”

He also noted that in 2015, amidst the adoption of key global initiatives such as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change, the African Union had adopted Agenda 2063 and its first 10-year implementation plan and highlighted the comprehensive bottom-up approach through which Agenda 2063 and the first 10-year implementation plan had been formulated. He noted that Agenda 2063 was a timely and relevant framework for increasing productive capacities, strengthening competitiveness, fostering diversification, engendering value addition and enabling intra-African trade and the effective participation of Africa in global value chains.

In his opening statement, Mr. Hamdok pointed out that Agenda 2063 had been developed and adopted through a consultative process among African people, pan-African institutions and the leadership of the continent. Africa was now confronted with two interconnected processes: Agenda 2063 and its 10- year implementation plan at the continental level, and the transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals at the global level. He stressed that a shared understanding of those continental and global frameworks, including their relevance to national development agendas and the relationship between the two, would be crucial to their effective implementation. That understanding would provide an opportunity to implement the two agendas without unduly burdening policymakers with multiple development frameworks, while at the same time minimizing the related coordination challenges. It would also ensure that benefits were widely shared, with a view to reducing poverty and raising living standards for all Africans.

Mr. Nebebe, speaking on behalf of his country’s federal authorities, welcomed delegates to the meeting. He highlighted Africa’s notable economic growth performance in recent years and the challenges facing the continent and stressed the need to explore bold and transformative options for sustained economic growth and inclusive and sustainable development. He also emphasized the need to leverage the synergies and complementarities of long- term global and regional development frameworks to facilitate the realization of the continent’s aspirations for structural transformation. To that end, it was vital for countries to implement both agendas in a coherent and integrated manner.

Turning to how African countries implement and monitor implementation of the global and continental agendas, he underscored the substantial convergence of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as the latter had taken on board many of Africa’s aspirations, as reflected in the common African position on the post-2015 development agenda. With a view to reducing the burden on national structures and ensuring coherent implementation, follow-up and review processes, he called for the development of an integrated results framework that embraced both the continental and global development agendas.

Turning to the experience of Ethiopia in integrating and mainstreaming global and continental development frameworks into its national development plan, he noted that the process required extensive consultations with a wide array of stakeholders, strengthened policymaking and statistical capacities, and the active participation of subnational institutions. He stated his expectation that the Conference would afford opportunities for sharing experiences, particularly on how sustainability could be integrated into national development plans, which was vital for the successful implementation of global and continental development agendas.


Account of proceedings*

Overview of recent economic and social developments in Africa

The representative of the secretariat provided an overview of recent economic and social developments in Africa, highlighting the main messages in the overview report in the background document. Despite the global economic slowdown, Africa’s growth was still relatively strong and would remain positive in the medium term, underpinned by domestic demand, improved macroeconomic management, increasing public expenditure and diversification of trade and investment ties. There were still internal and external risks, however, including the weak global recovery, low commodity prices, tightening of monetary policy in the United States and the European Union, weather-related shocks, and security and political instability. Africa was also making steady progress towards social goals. Improvements had been registered in terms of poverty reduction, universal education, gender parity, under-5 mortality and access to safe drinking water, but progress remained limited. Absolute poverty numbers were on the rise, and only a marginal decline in unemployment had been observed, amidst an increasing working-age population. Meanwhile, rapid urbanization offered opportunities for growth and transformation. Looking ahead, Africa had made major gains in economic growth. The region therefore needed countercyclical fiscal policies, intra-African trade and integration and strategies to harness urbanization and the youth bulge for industrialization.

Discussion

In the ensuing discussion, experts noted that strong continental and subregional financial institutions and organizations were essential to provide support for investment programmes. In that regard, innovative strategies for domestic resource mobilization were critical, including tax reforms, unused financial resources such as pension funds, capital markets and savings. The potential for Governments to borrow on international markets was also highlighted. The sharing of experiences across countries in respect of domestic resource mobilization was noted.

The threat to macroeconomic stability from rising inflation in some countries in 2016 and the need for appropriate policy instruments was noted. African countries had, however, managed inflation risks and weathered the impact of global economic shocks relatively well. They could therefore engage in countercyclical policies without risking macroeconomic instability. Reconciling short-term macroeconomic stabilization with long-term diversification strategies was thus possible with the right policy mix.

Employment creation was a core priority for Africa’s transformation agenda and new approaches were needed to address that challenge. In that regard, technology transfer was essential for the development of innovative enterprises for employment creation, especially in sustainable development. Skills development and investment in research and development were also necessary to support commodity-based industrialization, value addition and the realization of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, the urgent need to shift from informal to formal economic activities and employment by leveraging existing opportunities in the informal sector was emphasized.

Although experts acknowledged the progress made in advancing the continent’s development agenda, they noted the need for domestic structural reforms to optimize development outcomes in the light of declining commodity prices and limited fiscal space. The commodities sector was also important in financing other industries and creating jobs.

In addition, a concern was raised that the report seemed to encourage a focus on traditional markets while market diversification might also be required. It was highlighted, however, that markets in both traditional and emerging markets were important.

Recommendations

In the light of the discussions, the Joint Committee made the following recommendations:

(a) Given the economic slowdown and Africa’s dependence on commodities, the region needs to diversify its economic sectors and markets and adopt the right policy mix to enable African countries to withstand the effects of the economic crisis;

(b) As intra-African trade is more conducive to industrialization, Africa needs to produce more consumer goods and services for national and regional markets to reduce import reliance;

(c) There is an urgent need to shift from informal to formal economic activities and employment by leveraging existing opportunities in the informal sector through appropriate policies, structural reforms, and skills development;

(d) Recommendations on structural transformation should take into account the experience of countries from the global South;

(e) Africa’s development model should be oriented in line with national contexts and priorities;

(f) Domestic resource mobilization should be the main strategy for financing Africa’s development in a sustainable manner. In addition, international development partners should be encouraged to honour their official development assistance commitments.

Assessment of progress on regional integration in Africa

The representative of the secretariat outlined the status of regional integration at the subregional and continental levels, including the major achievements of the regional economic communities along the steps identified in the Abuja Treaty. Tremendous efforts had been made by all the Regional Economic Communities in the area of regional integration, but the pace of integration was relatively slow. Despite the achievements, the implementation of regional integration continued to face challenges such as poor infrastructure, poor governance, conflicts and insecurity, concerns over sovereignty, barriers to trade and the movement of people and overlapping memberships of regional economic communities.

He outlined the synergies between the objectives of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and observed that the two were complementary and that their implementation would therefore contribute significantly to the acceleration of the integration process on the African continent. He drew attention to the risk of prioritizing the implementation of global agendas rather than African ones, as had been done in the past. The adoption of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda brought new challenges to the regional economic communities and African countries. Countries should work towards aligning their respective strategic and development plans with Agenda 2063 and its first 10-year implementation plan, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and should mobilize and allocate the necessary domestic resources for their implementation.

Discussion

In the ensuing discussion, it was noted that the pace of integration in Africa was relatively slow and that increased momentum was needed to meet the milestones established in the Abuja Treaty. Participants observed that strong continental institutions were needed to enable Africa to roll out its development agenda.

Experts were informed about the challenges that some countries experienced in applying Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda at the national level. An assessment of previous development agendas in terms of implementation and lessons learned could be critical to success in implementing the two agendas. Experts noted the need to implement the Agendas within national contexts, and that countries needed to adopt specific tools and mechanisms to successfully integrate the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 into their national development plans. It was recommended that a road map be developed to facilitate the integration of the two agendas into national contexts.

Regarding the financing of Agenda 2063, it was noted that the dependency on partner funding represented a major impediment to the implementation of Africa’s development plans, as witnessed in past experiences. Although many initiatives and solutions had been proposed, the lack of implementation represented a major challenge. It was therefore necessary for countries to mobilize internally the required financing.

Recommendations

In the light of the discussion, the Joint Committee made the following recommendations:

(a) Member States should step up the operationalization of the three pan-African financial institutions, namely, the African central bank, the African monetary fund and the African investment bank, by signing and ratifying the respective founding statutes;

(b) The African member States should take ownership of their continental development agendas by, among other strategies, implementing alternative and innovative financing mechanisms, including domestic resource mobilization;

(c) The African Union Commission and ECA should be requested to assist member States in designing a road map for the implementation of both Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the national level, and to put in place a common comprehensive and harmonized monitoring and evaluation framework for the two agendas.

Presentation on the theme of the ninth Joint Annual Meetings: towards an integrated and coherent approach to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals

The representative of the secretariat presented the draft concept note on the theme of the Conference of Ministers, which focused on the background to Agenda 2063 and its objectives and outlined the objectives and thematic areas that would be considered by the Conference of Ministers. He stressed the need for harmonization, the harnessing of synergies, awareness-raising and a coherent development approach in the process of implementing Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

A steering committee comprising representatives of the African Union Commission, the Planning and Coordination Agency of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), ECA, the African Development Bank and the African Symposium on Statistical Development had been established to guide the process of developing a measurement framework for the first 10-year implementation plan of Agenda 2063 and to prepare progress reports on implementation for the African Union policy organs.

He highlighted the importance of convergence of the two frameworks, in particular since there were more goals in Agenda 2063 (20) than the Sustainable Development Goals (17) that were of particular relevance to Africa: Agenda 2063 also covered cultural, political and governance issues in addition to the social, economic and sustainability issues addressed by the Sustainable Development Goals. Work on integrating the frameworks into national planning systems had started in the fourth quarter of 2015, with a view to building awareness among State institutions and ordinary citizens, and promoting engagement and ownership of Agenda 2063 in order to catalyse and sustain momentum for transformation.

The African Union Commission, working together with the NEPAD Agency and the regional economic communities and supported by ECA and the African Development Bank, had started the process of developing a monitoring and evaluation system aimed at leveraging their respective strengths that would ultimately enhance their roles individually and collectively in the implementation of Agenda 2063. To that end, member States, regional economic communities and all implementing agencies had agreed to adopt a unified implementation, reporting and monitoring platform for continuous review of the findings of progress reports relating to both agendas, so as to avoid overburdening policymakers. In carrying out the  pdf First 10-year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 (2.04 MB) , Africa would also be implementing the 2030 Agenda.

Since financing both agendas would require substantial financial and non-financial resources, he drew attention to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which, among other goals, called for the establishment of an infrastructure platform aimed at coordinating investments in infrastructure. That was in addition to a domestic resource mobilization strategy aimed at facilitating the development of the financial sector, with a view to widening the tax base. In conclusion, he called for the mobilization of resources to facilitate implementation of the two frameworks and their ambitious goals.

Discussion

In the ensuing discussion, experts recognized the need to harmonize Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda and to ensure their effective implementation by incorporating them in national frameworks. Harmonizing the agendas would avoid placing an excessive burden on the human and financial resources of member States. At the same time, account should be taken of the specificities of the continent and of the differences in the context, resource endowment and development priorities of each individual country. Member States also requested technical support from the African Union and ECA to offset their inadequate capacity for implementation.

Experts stressed the need to harmonize the terminology of the two agendas and to align their goals, priority areas, targets and indicators at the regional level. They underscored the importance of clear monitoring and evaluation and reporting mechanisms, which would bring together the two agendas and national priorities, as articulated in national development frameworks and medium-to-long term visions. In that context, they noted that the current mapping exercise conducted between Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda should be extended to align the harmonized framework with national development priorities. A clear reporting mechanism was recognized as being important for countries to assess progress, share experiences, learn from one another and improve implementation. They recognized that sound coordination between the different national sectors was essential to ensuring that the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the two agendas were effected in an integrated manner.

Experts identified financing constraints as the primary impediment to the effective implementation of the two agendas at the national level. In that context, and in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, they emphasized the need to reduce dependency on external resources by identifying alternative sources of financing, primarily by enhancing domestic resource mobilization efforts. In that context, they called for further clarity on how to take full advantage of commitments made in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and stressed the need to curb illicit financial flows, which were costing the continent $50 billion each year, as reported by the High-level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows. The development by the African Union Commission and ECA, under the leadership of Thabo Mbeki, of measures to counter illicit financial flows was recognized.

Experts also identified the inadequacy and poor quality of data and statistics as constraints on the implementation of the two agendas, as good quality and easily available data were critical for the setting of baselines and measurement of progress.

Recommendations

In the light of the discussion, the Joint Committee made the following recommendations:

(a) Countries should take steps to incorporate the harmonized framework in their own development planning systems and to adapt it to the specific contexts of their countries;

(b) The African Union Commission, supported by ECA, the African Development Bank, the NEPAD Agency, the African Capacity-building Foundation, the regional economic communities and other partners, should harmonize the terminology relating to priority areas, goals, indicators and targets in the two agendas through the mapping exercise.

(c) At the continental level, the African Union Commission, supported by ECA, the African Development Bank, the NEPAD Agency, the regional economic communities and African statisticians, should establish a harmonized monitoring and evaluation and reporting framework for the agendas, while, at the national level, countries should coordinate their process of integrated reporting;

(d) The African Union Commission, supported by ECA and the African Development Bank and the NEPAD Agency, should continue to assist member States and regional economic communities in:

(i) Incorporating Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals into national development plans and the strategic plans of regional economic communities;

(ii) Adopting an integrated and coherent approach to implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals;

(iii) Completing the design of a monitoring and evaluation framework that caters for both Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals;

(e) Measures to curb illicit financial flows should be intensified, including investment in a financial intelligence system in Africa; enhancing political commitment to fighting the problem of illicit financial flows; deepening engagement with receiving countries to tackle the unfavourable practices of multinationals by implementing the recommendations set out in the report of the High-level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa;

(f) The capacities of national institutions involved in revenue collection, including customs and revenue authorities, should be strengthened to improve domestic resource mobilization;

(g) Efforts should be made to rationalize national expenditures and the resulting savings should be redirected towards building and maintaining the good-quality infrastructure needed to enhance productive capacities on the continent;

(h) The capacity of national statistics systems should be strengthened to support effective implementation, monitoring and assessment of the two agendas.

* Download the report for full details.


Draft resolutions

Joint resolution of the African Union Commission and the Economic Commission for Africa

Mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 into national strategic frameworks, actions plans and programmes

The Conference of Ministers,

Welcoming with deep appreciation the adoption by the African Union Assembly in January 2015 of Agenda 2063,

Welcoming the adoption by the General Assembly in September 2015 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the call for its full and effective implementation,

Mindful of the challenges associated with the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, and aware that the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will pose even greater challenges for member States owing to the larger number of goals, targets and indicators involved and the focus on multidimensional sustainability,

Taking note of the convergence of the two agendas and the need to ensure coherence and build synergies between them,

Concerned about the limited financial and human resources for implementing and monitoring development plans, in particular given the resource constraints already experienced by the national statistical offices,

Aware that the core set of continental indicators should be derived from the indicators in the 10-year implementation plan for Agenda 2063 and the global set of indicators in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, taking into account the commonalities and variations that exist between the two agendas,

1. Calls upon the African Union Commission, supported by the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank, regional economic communities and the Planning and Coordinating Agency of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development to create awareness among member States about the importance of a coherent and integrated approach to the implementation of and follow-up to Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

2. Requests the African Union Commission, supported by the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank, regional economic communities and the Planning and Coordinating Agency of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development to foster the incorporation of both agendas into national strategic frameworks;

3. Requests the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank to develop an integrated monitoring and evaluation framework that will inform a single annual progress report on the implementation of both agendas.

Contact

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel +27 21 880 2010