africa: AFRICAN MINISTERS TO DISCUSS IMPLEMENTATION OF NEPAD

ECA Press Release No. 14/2002 For Immediate Release

AFRICAN MINISTERS TO DISCUSS IMPLEMENTATION OF NEPAD

Addis-Ababa, 05 October 2002 (ECA) -- African Ministers of Finance,
Planning and Economic Development are due to meet in South Africa from 19 -
21 October to discuss what it will take to effectively implement the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

This will be the largest gathering of Ministers and experts dealing with
economic policy in Africa on NEPAD since its endorsement by African leaders
at the inaugural summit of the African Union in Durban in July 2002.

In addition to the Ministers, more than 500 participants -- including
central bank governors, leading academics and researchers, civil society
and private sector representatives, and the international community -- are
due to attend. A meeting of the committee of Experts from 16 - 18 October
will precede the Conference.

The 2002 Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic
Development is organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) under
the theme "Accelerating Africa's Performance and Progress: The challenge of
NEPAD". The theme is in response to a request by the Ministers at last
year's Conference in Algiers that ECA convene the next Conference
specifically to discuss and agree on the way forward in effectively
implementing NEPAD.

The Conference, hosted by the Government of South Africa at the Sandton
Convention Centre in Johannesburg, takes place at a crucial time in the
evolution of NEPAD.

The last twelve months have seen a number of global meetings dedicated to
the creation of a new global development compact -- including the 4th World
Trade Organization Ministerial meeting in Doha, the Financing for
Development Conference in Monterrey, the G8 Summit in Kananaskis, and the
World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. At all these
meetings, commitments were made to support NEPAD.

NEPAD is guided by a number of core principles that are regarded as
preconditions for sustainable development. These include:

- African ownership; effective governance, particularly transparent and
accountable public management systems, and a consolidation of democracy;
- a commitment to macroeconomic fundamentals;
- increased priority for capacity building; a commitment to peer learning
and self-monitoring; and
- A transformed relationship with partners based on predictable long-term
partnerships and a mutuality of commitment to achieving shared development
outcomes.

The most innovative dimension of NEPAD is the creation of the African Peer
Review mechanism. African governments have established their own monitoring
mechanism to produce more acceptable ways of ensuring compliance with
nationally and internationally accepted norms of political, economic and
corporate governance.

Against this background, the Conference agenda will be organized to allow
discussions on three broad clusters of issues:

- Actions required on the part of African countries to translate the
principles and objectives of NEPAD to country level actions and thereby
operationalize the Partnership;

- Actions on the part of Africa's partners to support the principles and
objectives of NEPAD, and

- The challenge of monitoring and tracking of progress by African countries
and their partners to ensure the achievement of the shared development
objectives under NEPAD.

The Conference will discuss the operational challenges in each of these
areas and propose what might be done differently. The agenda is designed
around panel discussions, aimed at ensuring the maximum of interactivity.

Previously known as the New African Initiative, NEPAD is a consolidation of
two proposals -- the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery
Program (MAP), which had its driving force in Presidents Mbeki of South
Africa, Bouteflika of Algeria, Obasanjo of Nigeria and Mubarak of Egypt,
and the OMEGA plan of Senegal's President Wade. It also draws on the
Compact for Africa's Recovery, prepared by ECA following a request from the
African Ministers of Finance in Addis Ababa in November 2000.

(END)

For the Issues Paper, Programme of Work, and other documents related to the
Conference, visit http://www.uneca.org/conferenceofministers
During the Conference this page will also feature daily summaries and updates of
the proceedings.

For more on NEPAD, visit http://www.uneca.org/nepad

Issued by the ECA Communication Team
P.O. Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251-1-51 58 26
Fax: +251-1-51 03 65
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org
Web: http://www.uneca.org