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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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Africa: Economy Updates
Africa: Economy Updates
Date distributed (ymd): 990731
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +economy/development+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains three recent press releases noting
initiatives by African countries to form common positions for
present and future international discussions on trade,
investment and debt, including the December 1999 Seattle
conference of the World Trade Organization, the tenth session
of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in
Bangkok in February 2000, and the current World Bank/IMF
review of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative
(HIPC). A parallel posting today contains updates on recent
U.S. economic initiatives related to Africa.
Additional links and background on these issues can be found
at:
http://www.africafocus.org/docs99/tr9902a.php
http://www.africafocus.org/docs99/tr9902b.php
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
VACATION NOTICE
The Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List will be taking
a three-week break, in order to allow for staff vacation and
organizational housekeeping. In the meantime, we would like
to remind those who have not recently visited our web site
that the site contains a wealth of organized links to other
sources of current information, including
* a new action page on Africa's Health
http://www.africapolicy.org/action/health.htm
* topical links on economy (see above), democracy and human
rights (
http://www.africafocus.org/docs01/pol.shtml),
peace and security (
http://www.africafocus.org/docs01/peace.shtml),
and education and culture
(
http://www.africapolicy.org/featdocs/educ.htm).
* convenient country-specific links to daily news from Africa
News On-Line, BBC, the UN's Integrated Regional Information
Network (IRIN) and others:
http://www.africapolicy.org/featdocs/centnews.htm
http://www.africapolicy.org/featdocs/eastnews.htm
http://www.africapolicy.org/featdocs/northnws.htm
http://www.africapolicy.org/featdocs/southnws.htm
http://www.africapolicy.org/featdocs/westnews.htm
Economic Commission for Africa
Press Releases on Africa,
Upcoming Trade Talks, and the HIPC Debt Initiative
Please visit the ECA web site at http://www.un.org/depts/eca
for relevant documents and further information on these
meeting, or contact:
The Communication Team
Cabinet Office of the Executive Secretary
Economic Commission for Africa
United Nations
P.O. Box 3001, Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251-1-51 58 26; Fax: +251-1-51 03 65
E-mail: ecainfo@un.org
ECA Press Release No. 80/1999
For Immediate Release
African negotiators meet in Addis Ababa to prepare for Seattle
and UNCTAD X
Addis Ababa, 21 July 1999 (ECA) - Geneva-based African
negotiators, representatives of regional economic communities,
and experts from relevant UN agencies kicked off a three-day
meeting here today to help prepare African countries for the
latest rounds of important global trade forums.
The meeting -- organized by the Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA) in collaboration with the Organization of African Unity
(OAU), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the
World Trade Organization (WTO) -- is in anticipation of the
upcoming Third WTO Ministerial Conference to be held from 30
November to 3 December 1999 in Seattle, USA, as well as the
Tenth Session of UNCTAD scheduled for 12 to 20 February 2000
in Bangkok, Thailand.
Opening the meeting at ECA today, Ms. Lalla Ben Barka, Deputy
Executive Secretary, noted that one of the fundamental
challenges facing Africa as the new millennium loomed was
"adapting to the momentum of globalization and liberalization
of global trading markets in goods and services, within the
framework of the rule-based multilateral trading system, and
the implacable process of liberalization of financial
markets."
Globalization and liberalization of the world economy, said
Ms. Ben Barka, had indeed created opportunities for economies
that were well-prepared or had sufficiently adjusted to the
challenges and exploited the expansion in world output and
trade. That said, "Africa has been among the regions that
have not fared well, as reflected in the decline in its share
of world trade which stands now at only 2 percent".
Among other issues, the meeting aims at:
- Elaborating specific proposals reflecting African concerns
vis-a-vis the multilateral trading system that are to be
submitted to the General Council of the WTO before the end of
July 1999;
- Looking at the parallel African Caribbean Pacific - European
Union (ACP-EU) negotiations and proposing appropriate African
strategies towards securing a waiver at the WTO for the trade
arrangements in the successor agreement to the Lome IV
Convention; and
- Addressing the main issues of concern to African countries
in regard to UNCTAD X, including deliberations on the text of
a draft "African Ministerial Declaration on UNCTAD X".
Experts say that for the Seattle WTO Ministerial Conference
and the negotiations in the new millennium to work in Africa's
favour, they need to focus on a number of key issues,
including:
- The need to structure a development dimension to WTO
Agreements and the agenda of the multilateral trading system;
- Lifting supply constraints in African countries, especially
least-developed countries;
- Addressing the problems of African countries in meeting the
continual evolving quality and technical standards for
exported goods;
- Advocating for further negotiations on tariff peaks and
escalation, as well as for flexibility on tariffs for those
LDCs that may require such flexibility; and
- Examining the implications of further negotiations of trade
in services, including air transport, maritime services,
telecommunications, financial services, and addressing
limitations to most-favoured-nation exemptions.
Participants at the meeting expect the positions they evolve
this week to be taken up by African policy makers at the
forthcoming Conference of African Ministers of Trade being
organized by the OAU with UNCTAD and ECA in Algiers, Algeria
from 6 to 9 September this year.
ECA Press Release No. 81/1999
For Immediate Release
Seattle, UNCTAD X should reflect "genuine commitment" to
Africa's growth
Addis Ababa, 23 July 1999 (ECA) - A three-day meeting convened
to formulate common African positions on key global trade
issues ended here today with a call for developed countries to
ensure that Africa received a fair and balanced deal between
rights and obligations within the World Trade Organization
(WTO) regime.
The meeting also underscored the need for UNCTAD, along with
other regional organisations, to assist African countries
formulate national policies consistent with their individual
development realities.
It also stressed the need for UNCTAD X to be an occasion for
the launching of a new initiative that would bring about
greater coherence between UNCTAD and the Bretton Woods
institutions in translating policy ideas into practical
programmes at the country level.
The meeting was organized by the Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA) in collaboration with the Organization of African
Unity (OAU), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
and the WTO, in anticipation of the upcoming Third WTO
Ministerial Conference to be held from 30 November to 3
December 1999 in Seattle, USA, as well as the Tenth Session of
UNCTAD scheduled for 12 to 20 February 2000 in Bangkok,
Thailand.
According to a draft report prepared by the African Group
(UNCTAD) in Geneva, entitled, ' Africa's Development
Challenges and Actions Required in the Context of UNCTAD X and
Beyond', critical sectors of the continent's economy exhibit
poor performance, while "Africa's continuing marginalisation
is increasingly defined by the continent's very low absolute
level of exports and decreasing share in world trade during
the past four decades".
The paper called for UNCTAD X to set the stage for a genuine
international commitment to Africa's growth and sustainable
development in the new millenium, with the conference taking
urgent action to strengthen the countries' capacity for
sustainable growth and development.
According to a statement read on behalf of the Chair of the
African Group in Geneva, Ambassador George Sipho Nene of South
Africa: "It is clear that without a substantial reduction in
the level of external debt, the marginalization of Africa will
continue. [...]. During UNCTAD X, an attempt should be made to
mobilise support to widen the HIPC initiative to include more
countries while criteria to define debt sustainability should
be recast to not only focus on the export and fiscal ratios,
but also take into consideration development indicators."
The meeting recommended that:
- Progress achieved in improving WTO transparency should be
achieved through a broader policy of document de-restriction
and informal means for dialogue with civil society;
- Further measures to enhance transparency of WTO operations
should be looked into;
- The imperative of the forthcoming mulilateral trade
negotiations not diverting attention from the need for a
streamlined and accelerated accession process, particularly
for LDCs;
- The automatic granting of special and differential treatment
provisions to acceding developing countries as stipulated in
the respective WTO agreements;
- That acceding developing countries should not be pressured
to join Plurilateral Trade Agreements or accept optional
sectoral market access initiatives;
ECA Press Release No. 83/1999
Debt Relief Must Focus on Poverty Reducation,
Institutional Reform and Transparency
African stakeholders reach consensus on key areas for
reforming the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative
Addis Ababa, 23 July 1999 (ECA) -- "Broader, deeper, faster
debt relief will only be effective if funds released from debt
servicing actually reach the poor. " This was the firm
consensus of a high-level meeting of African governments,
bilateral and multilateral creditors, United Nations agencies,
and leading non-governmental organizations from industrial and
developing countries gathering at the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa.
The meeting, organized in cooperation with the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund, took place from 29 to 30 July.
"This is the very first time that all stakeholders have been
represented around one table. Here in Addis Ababa we have a
unique opportunity to really help the poor, not just by
agreeing on more effective use of debt relief, but by
beginning an ongoing dialogue which can lead to the common
development of economic and social policies to lift millions
out of poverty," said ECA Executive Secretary K.Y. Amoako.
The two-day meeting was part of a comprehensive review of the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, an
international debt relief programme administered by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. The
Initiative, established in 1996, is designed to significantly
reduce the external debt of some 40 of the world's poorest,
most heavily indebted countries. So far four countries have
completed the HIPC process (including Uganda and Mozambique),
receiving about $5.5 billion in debt service relief, and six
more countries have received preliminary commitment of debt
relief totalling another $3.4 billion.
While the Initiative has marked a significant step forward,
civil society around the world has called for the programme to
be strengthened. Toward that end, the boards of the Bank and
IMF in September called for a comprehensive review of the
programme, with full participation of all stakeholders. In
June, the G-7 proposed a major expansion of the programme,
which would both increase and speed up the amount of debt
relief delivered to poor countries. This week's meeting in
Addis, which set out specific ideas on linking debt relief to
poverty reduction, is a direct result of this global
discussion.
Representatives reached broad consensus on the following
points:
- Debt relief must be firmly linked to a broader approach to
long-term poverty reduction and economic growth. Strategically
targeted debt relief must be an integral component of a
country's poverty reduction policy strategy, not an end in
itself.
- Establishing an effective, transparent linkage will be a
complex and long term challenge, requiring development and
implementation of a wide range of social, economic, financial
and political reforms. Specific areas include improved budget
management; development of a medium term expenditure
framework; poverty-focused public spending priorities, with a
clear view toward achieving the 2015 international poverty
targets.
- To be successful, such reforms must be pursued with the
broadest participation of civil society, including NGOs,
community groups, the media and the private sector. Emphasis
should be placed on improving parliamentary processes,
strengthening the role of the media and local groups in
monitoring implementation and the outcomes of policies, and
drawing clear lines of accountability.
- Creditors, particularly the international financial
institutions, must avoid excessive conditionality.
Performance criteria should reflect a balance between sound
macroeconomic policies and structural reform joined with
social and institutional strengthening, working together to
reduce poverty. Donors should seek to coordinate their
assistance in the context of poverty reduction action plans.
- Governments and International Organizations can learn much
from the success and failure of other country experiences.
Many countries have developed programmes designed to channel
debt relief directly into poverty reduction programmes
integrated within the budget, often in the education and
health sectors. Many representatives suggested that the
success of these programmes could be complemented by
programmes that direct funds to employment-generating
initiatives such as micro-credit programmes and private sector
development.
- Participants welcomed the frank and informative dialogue,
and hoped it could be continued.
Discussions will continue throughout the summer, leading to
September's Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, with a
view toward reaching an agreement on an expanded framework. It
is expected that by this time ministers will endorse an
enhanced HIPC framework that could provide significantly more
debt relief at an earlier stage. Moreover, specific attention
will be given to placing debt relief within a context of
overall poverty reduction and economic and social development.
For detailed background on the HIPC initiative, please visit
the following web sites:
http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/hipc/
http://www.imf.org/external/np/hipc/hipc.htm
Or contact:
Anthony Gaeta External Affairs Department
E-mail: Agaeta@worldbank.org
Gita Bhatt External Relations Department
E-mail: gbhatt@imf.org
The ECA web site also contains extensive data on HIPC,
particularly as related to the push by African countries for
a more inclusive initiative. It can be found at:
http://www.un.org/Depts/eca
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). 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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