Department FrontPage

Opening Statement delivered by Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe, Advisor to the AU Chairperson to Namibian Civil Society Organizations at the ECOSOCC Sensitization and Motivation Campaign in Hotel Safari
Windhoek, Namibia, 20 August 2014

Distinguished Delegates of the Namibian Civil Society Organizations,
Colleagues from the AU,
Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with honour and great delight that I am addressing this august gathering of the Namibian Civil Society Community in Windhoek, Namibia, today. The journey that brought us here began in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea at the 23rd Session of the Executive Council of the African Union which adopted Decision, EX.CL/Dec.849(XXV) on the process of ECOSOCC elections.

Our leaders had received a progress report from the AU Commission on the elections which indicated that processes of election into the 2nd ECOSOCC General Assembly was constrained by lack of eligible candidates in several Member States of the Union. The Commission then outlined various options for overcoming this hurdle and requested that the executive Organs make an appropriate decision on the way forward.

Our leaders took necessary decisions that went beyond the choices presented to them. They directed the Commission to ensure that it worked constructively with African civil society groups to facilitate the establishment of the next ECOSOCC General Assembly before the end of 2014. They also decided that the Commission should undertake a sensitization and motivation campaign that focuses on states and regions in which there were insufficient candidates for the election. The details of this decision and implications will be elaborated subsequently by the responsible Department of the AU Commission, the Citizens and Diaspora Organisations Directorate (CIDO). Suffice to emphasize here that our leaders saw the solution as one that must put in practice the cardinal provision of the Constitutive Act of the Union which stipulated that Governments and institutions of the Union were required to partner with civil society in implementing the principles of the fundamental law of the Organization, hence the need to activate ECOSOCC.

This is the rationale behind the continent-wide campaign of the African Union Commission to invite and encourage African Civil Society Organizations to participate in the ECOSOCC elections. Our presence here is not simply designed to foster interest in the purposes of electioneering. Our intentions are far broader. We want African civil societies to buy into ECOSOCC and make it their own so that the framework of partnership that would support the integration and development project of our continent would be truly people-centred and people-driven.

As the then Chairperson of the African Union, President Jakaya Kikwete has observed at the launching of the 1st Permanent General Assembly of ECOSOCC in Tanzania, in September 2008, the African Union ECOSOCC is a unique institution that has no existing parallel. It is one that provides civil society with direct presence at the portal of decision-making. This Organ is also one elected by civil society and managed by civil society. Yet it is one in which civil society shares privilege, power and responsibility in active interaction with other stakeholders in the African policy processes.

ECOSOCC provides a barometer for assessing the state of the health of African civil society and the overall development on the continent. It is an Organ that embraces the active involvement of every non-state actor in the continent in policy-making. The ECOSOCC Assembly represents civil society but does not replace it.

This is a message that we have been spreading across our previous stops in Southern Africa particularly in Zambia and Zimbabwe where it was very well received. It is a message that we have brought to you as well.

Our mission to Namibia is all the more significant in that Namibia was not represented in the last ECOSOCC General Assembly. This is a state of affairs that the Namibian civil society should not allow to happen again, given the importance that Namibia attaches to the African Union and the role that the organization played in the independence of Namibia.

If there is one lesson we learned in the struggles from slavery, colonisation, apartheid and subjugation, it is that victory comes from unity and involvement. The African Renaissance that we seek, the restoration of dignity that we deserve and the upliftment of the lives of our people that we are entrusted to bring about cannot be achieved by anyone of us standing on the sidelines. To do so is to dishonour the memory of our fathers and forbearers, many of who laid down their lives to give us the platform for independence, reconstruction and development. Africa needs all her children in government and in civil society. It is in this spirit that we are calling on you all to participate in ECOSOCC and the affairs of the African Union. This is a call to duty. Your continent needs you and there is no greater honour no greater service than to answer the call of duty.

I thank you all.

Statement by AU Commission Chairperson
H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma

To the
BUSINESS FORUM

US-Africa Leaders Summit
5 August 2014. Washington, DC

Honorable Michael Bloomberg
Honorable Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce of the United States
Excellencies, Representatives of the US Government and Congress
Excellencies, Heads of State and Government
Chief Executive Officers of US and African Companies,
Leaders of Delegations and Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am delighted to address this Business Forum, on the occasion of the historic USA-Africa Leadership Summit. This engagement between governments and business is an important stepping-stone towards evaluating and strengthening the relationship between Africa and the United States, which is the purpose of our endeavours this week.

This engagement comes at an important moment in the continent, when many economic, social and political indicators are moving in the right direction, and there is general consensus amongst the leadership and citizens that Africa can take charge of its destiny to navigate a different course.

This consensus is largely reflected in the fifty-year vision, Agenda 2063 and in the sectoral strategies on critical priorities such as agriculture, industrialization, mining, and infrastructure development.
We also agree that concerted efforts are necessary to make these changes irreversible, in order to realize the vision of an Africa that is integrated, prosperous and peaceful. These concerted efforts are reflected in our Pan African priorities, which form the basis of the partnerships we seek to build.

Africa has recorded sustained growth of 5% over the last decade, not only in the resources sectors, but also in infrastructure and consumer-facing sectors. Intra-Africa trade in West, East and Southern Africa has reached over 20% and intra-Africa investments now account for 18% of total FDI. Public and private investments in infrastructure projects have grown exponentially over the last couple of years.

However, in order to eradicate poverty and create decent jobs, Africa needs growth at sustained levels of growth of above 7% in order to double incomes and eradicate poverty in one generation.

It therefore has no choice but to transform the structures of its economies, through industrialisation and diversification of its economies. The private sector in the continent has an important role to play in this, and so do foreign companies investing into the continent.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

The transformation of African economies thus informs all our priorities and forms the basis of our actions, as African states and at regional and continental levels.

Firstly, Africa’s most precious resource is its over one billion population, the majority whom are young, and over halve who are women. Investing in their health, education, access to basic services and infrastructure is therefore critical to governments, Regional economic communities and the African Union alike.

More specifically, we are encouraging an African skills revolution, to train hundreds of thousands of young Africans in science, technology, engineering, innovation and research, so that they can take participate and take charge of the social and economic transformation of the continent. Skills shortages are often mentioned in competitiveness surveys as amongst the reasons for low business confidence, whilst at the same time, Africa needs to develop skills in all priority sectors it seeks to develop and grow.

Agriculture and agroprocessing is a second priority, and we spoke at length about this yesterday, about accelerating the Common African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and now the Malabo Declaration targets, of increasing investments and productivity in the sector.

Infrastructure is of course the third priority, transport, ports and harbours, energy, irrigation and ICT. The infrastructure projects are critical to power and grow industries and agriculture, and to connect markets in the continent. Infrastructure projects on the continent are one of the fast growing sectors, and one of the areas of partnerships we continue to explore.

The beneficiation of natural resources and the development of manufacturing are the main components of Africa’s industrialization strategies. We therefore proactively seek investments beyond mining, and seek to link mining and other extractive industries more closely to the rest of our economies.

Many speakers have made this point this week, but its worth repeating that key to African development is its capacity for domestic resource mobilisation. This includes a focus on improving revenue collection and expenditure, as well as stemming illicit flows from the continent.

Studies indicate that, at the very least, Africa loses in excess of $60 billion every year due to this practice. What is more, multinational corporations account for over 60 percent of these illicit transfers, while 30 percent and 8 percent respectively are due to activities of organized crime and official corruption. Put in context, the amount lost in illicit capital flight out of Africa every year is higher than development aid.

We must therefore work together to ensure that companies make profit, but at the same time ensure that Africa can develop based on its resources.

The empowerment of women has featured prominently in our discussions yesterday. No country or region can be successful if it operates at halve its capacity. Investing in women, their access to land, capital and other productive capabilities are therefore critical, in every sector of the economy.

Finally, African governments, the African Union and RECs are making concerted efforts to build and develop the private sector, including providing platforms for engagements between African governments and the African private sector. These efforts can and should be strengthened and we look forward to your inputs in this regard.

Excellencies,

The US remains the largest foreign direct investor in Africa, larger than the European Union and China. These investments have however remained relatively static; the structure of investments have not change, it remain primarily in natural resources, and predominantly fossil fuels, and it is highly concentrated in a few countries.

As we therefore move forward in our engagements with the US, this should also be an opportunity review this structure of US FDI, so that investments are also directed in areas of beneficiation, value addition and manufacturing and agribusinesses in Africa.

Yes, Africa is open for business and we encourage foreign direct investment to participate in the development of the continent. Such investment must be predicated on a “win-win” philosophy, it must be a partnership that benefits Africa’s transformation in as much as it does the investor.

A prosperous, integrated and peaceful Africa is as much in the interest of current and future generations of Africans, as it is in the interest of humanity and of the US.

We look forward to the deliberations of this Business Forum.

Opening Statement delivered by Mr Jalel Chelba, Division of Civil Society (Fr), to Togolese Civil Society Organizations at the ECOSOCC Sensitization and Motivation Campaign held in Togo

SPEECH BY THE ASSITANT SECRETARY GENERAL PROGRAMME COMESA,
AMB KIPYEGO CHELUGET (DR)

ECOSOCC SENSITIZATION AND MOTIVATION CAMPAIGN METTING FOR CIVIL SOCIETIES ORGANIZATIONS HELD IN LUSAKA, ZAMBIA

12TH August 2014.

Honourable Guest of Honour, Minister of Community Development

Dr Jinmi Adisa, Director CIDO,

Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe, Special Advisor to the AU Chairperson,

Distinguished Delegates,

Invited Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It give me great pleasure to welcome all participants to this sensitization and motivation campaign for Zambian civil society organizations that is taking place here today in our COMESA Conference Center.

Our agreement to host this meeting is due to the variety of reasons. First, the meeting is being organized by the Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO) of the African Union in order to implement the decision adopted by the 21st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the Union (EX.CL/Dec.849(XXV) held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in June/July 2014.

The Decision directed the Commission to extend the call for applications into the 2nd ECOSOCC General Assembly by three (3) month and to conduct a sensitization and motivation Campaign within this for the elections. I am happy to note that the AU Commission chose to commence the process of the sensitizations campaign in Lusaka, Zambia. May I first of all extend our sincere appreciation to the Honourable Guest of Honour, Minister of Development for taking time out of his busy schedule to come and open this workshop. We are truly honoured by your presence.

Civil Society Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our desire to work closely with the AU to ensure the implementation is directly related to the responsibility of COMESA as a Regional Economic Community and building bloc of the African Union. Significantly also COMESA is focused on trade and development and this enterprise can only be undertaken in a framework that harnesses the energies and efforts of all segments of society to promote integration and development.

Ladies and Gentlemen
COMESA understands the importance of collaboration with civil societies and other Non state actors such members of parliament, private sector organizations and other relevant groups for effective regional integration. COMESA has been working closely with CSOs and Non state actors in Climate change, CADDP, ACTESA and Governance and Peace and Security programme.

Guest of Honour
During the Fourth Summit of the COMESA Authority that convened in Nairobi, Kenya in May 1999, a decision was made for COMESA to be formally involved in matters of peace and security. This was in recognition of the fact that conflicts in the sub-region were adversely affecting our regional integration agenda as there can not be any sustainable development amid violent conflicts.

Following that decision, COMESA held various consultations and it became clear that the conflicts in our region are very complex and exhibit the kind of dynamism that calls for multifaceted approaches to address them and this in turn requires a variety of stakeholders to work together in addressing them. This not only ensures that comprehensive solutions are reached but it also ensures that issues affecting peace and security are addressed at grass root levels.
As a Secretariat, we were then directed to ensure the involvement of private sector and civil society organisations on matters of peace and security in a consultative basis. During the Tenth Summit of the COMESA Authority that was held in Kigali in June 2005, we were further directed to ensure that a wide range of civil society organisations in all our member States become aware of the rules of accreditation so as to give them all an equal opportunity to partner with COMESA in this Programme.

We have since been able to develop rules of accreditation which were disseminated to civil societies at national level through national consultations in seventeen countries, including Burundi, Comoros, DRC, Djibouti Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe and thirty (30) CSOs have been accredited to the programme. COMESA has also involved Parliamentarian from our member state, through the Parliamentarian Forum, the Member of Parliaments have participated in election observation and also have been able to provide in puts in all the researches which have been conducted in the region on the status of peace and security.

We are happy that the African Union has also taken up the decision to strengthen efforts aimed at collaborating further with the civil society organizations and other non state actors. As you are aware, COMESA as a REC is a building block of African Union programs and activities. Therefore COMESA peace and security programme is developed in line and according to the AU Peace and Security architecture. It is also against such a background that CIDO and COMESA are working together to sensitize CSOs on the ECOSOCC Elections as directed by the AU Commission. Hence, COMESA will continue working with CIDO in this sensitization process in all the COMESA member states.
I am hopeful that this meeting will help civil society organizations with the information they need in order for them to apply for ECOSOCC elections.

I want to end by thanking the guest of honour for taking his time off to open this very important meeting and i also thank AU for choosing to work with COMESA as a REC on this important undertaking.

STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION, H.E DR. NKOSAZANA DLAMINI ZUMA

To the Ministerial Conference on New Partnerships for the Development of Productive Capacities in Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

28 July 2014, Cotonou, BENIN

FINAL
 
Your Excellency, Dr Boni Yayi, President of the Republic of Benin and Chairman of the Group of the Least Developed Countries,

Your Excellency the High Representative for the LDCs, the Landlocked Developing Countries and the Small Island Developing States,

Honorable Ministers,

Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Representatives of Regional and International Organisations

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am honoured to address this meeting of the Ministerial Conference on LDCs and to take this opportunity to thank the President, Government and the People of the Republic of Benin for the legendary hospitality extended to our delegation.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
This Conference is of great importance to Africa, because despite impressive economic performance by the continent over the last decade, almost two-thirds of African countries are still classified as LDCs. So the issue facing LDCs is a challenge of the continent, which Africa must collectively address.
The theme of this Conference, focusing on developing the productive capacities of LDCs, resonates with the vision of the Africa we want, a continent that is integrated, prosperous and at peace with itself. To achieve this vision, the AU is in the process of finalizing Agenda 2063, the Africa we Want, with milestones and priorities towards the next fifty years.
Key to the achievement of this vision is the structural transformation of the continent - which at its core means the eradication of poverty, the development of Africa’s productive capacity and building shared prosperity.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
At the time of the formation of the OAU in 1963 several African countries were on par or had even higher GDP rates than some of their counterparts in Asia.
The GDP per capita of Ghana and South Korea were the same in 1960. Until 1975, the world’s fastest growing developing country was Gabon. And yet these countries in Asia like Singapore and Japan, often with little natural resources managed in one generation to rise to prosperity, by being resolute, finding solutions that worked for them and with confidence in themselves and the durability of their cultures. But without fail, they all invested heavily in developing the skills of their people and their productive capacities.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
Africa today is in a much better position to achieve its vision, than at the start of the millennium. Over the last decades, life expectancy in Africa is up from 40 to 60 years, we’ve halved infant and maternal mortality; absolute poverty is on the decline, there are more children in school, including girls, than at any time in our history, and university enrollment has tripled.
Africa was also the world’s second fastest growing region over the last decade, and poverty has declined faster since 2005 than over the preceding fifteen years. Countries which are on the LDC list, regularly top the list of fastest growing economies on our continent. However, given the low base from which we started, this is not fast enough to reach the MDG target of halving poverty by 2015 or the African target of eradicating poverty in one generation.
Agenda 2063 therefore looks at Africa’s past, present, as well as future trends: its demographic trajectory; its mineral, energy, maritime, land and other natural resources; its infrastructure and human capital; peace, human rights, inclusion and good governance; human development; economic transformation and Africa’s place in the world.
Excellencies,
The key to the Africa we Want, where there is no need for a category of least developed countries and indeed where the LDCs of today become the leaders of tomorrow, is the structural transformation of our economies.
There is a vibrant discussion on the continent on how to achieve this structural transformation, and a few broad issues, which are taken up by Agenda 2063 have emerged.
Firstly, human capital development has emerged as a critical issue. By 2050, Africa will have the largest and most youthful workforce, and must therefore start investing today: by boosting secondary and university enrollments; strengthening science, technology, research and innovation; reinforcing linkages with industry; developing vocational, technical, and polytechnic education; and by supporting on-the-job training and continud education.
Africa therefore, in short, needs a skills revolution to transform its agriculture, and agribusinesses, to beneficiate its commodities, to build manufacturing, trade and services, and to build and maintain its infrastructure. A literate, healthy and educated skilled population, both men and women, is a critical precondition for unlocking economic potential in a manner that is sustainable and inclusive.
It is for these reasons that the African Union works with universities, and with the science, technology and education sector more broadly about the issues of transformation that sector; harmonization of university curricula, quality assurance and professional qualifications; the use of technology in education and that we again appeal to our Member states to increase investment in higher education, science, technology and research.
Secondly, it has been said before that lack of infrastructure is a major impediment on the productivity of all sectors of our economies. Across the continent, public and private investments in infrastructure are rapidly growing. We do however need to be bolder, and the Agenda 2063 accelerated infrastructure flagship projects being conceptualised, such as in energy, transport (including a Pan African integrated high speed rail network) and ICT, are therefore critical.
Energy development in Africa has not kept pace with rising demand, placing a strain on productivity of households, industry and businesses across the continent.
At the same time:
Our approach to infrastructure in all these areas is to use modern technology to leapfrog our development, learning from the experiences of other developing countries in the South.
Thirdly, after the decimation of our capacity and institutions for economic development under the two decades of structural adjustment, there are processes across the continent to rebuild institutions. These include capabilities for the implementation and monitoring of national and continental visions; strengthening statistics; building the African private sector, including SMEs and smallholder farmers; and planning and management of the public expenditure.
Fourthly, the agribusinesses sector in Africa has shown that the surest way of building the productive and manufacturing sectors, is to beneficiate and add value to the commodities that we have, rather than to continue to export them as raw materials. In the process of exporting raw materials, we are also exporting jobs. During the AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security, this issue of regional and cross country agricultural chains is receiving particular attention.
For example, the 2014 African Transformation Report mentions three such examples, namely:
• The processing of traditional exports such as coffee, cacao, and cotton, where Africa has demonstrated its global competitiveness in production, adding value ad creating jobs.
• The scaling up of promising non-traditional exports such as fruits by upgrading the supply chain - from farms to factories - increasing farmer incomes, and creating jobs in factories and allied agro-processing services such as packaging, distribution and retail.
• Substituting agricultural imports, and reversing the trend of Africa being a net importer of food to the tune of 37 billion USD by 2011. In all food areas African countries must therefore upgrade and invest in their domestic agro-processing capacities.
I hope that most of the participants here will have a chance to visit Benin’s Songhai Centre. This indigenous agribusiness initiative clearly demonstrates the success of an integrated development model that is eradicating poverty and providing jobs through innovative practices, development and use of appropriate technology, as well as preservation of the environment through use of organic methods. If we can replicate this model all over the continent, there will be no more hunger, and our youth will be gainfully employed.
Fifthly, Africa remains well-endowed with mineral resources – in oil, gas, bauxite, titanium, copper, and gold, and with much greater unexploited reserves of very high quality. In addition, our continent still has had less exploration than elsewhere and has good prospects for the discovery of additional resources. Africa must therefore improve its capacities and skills to conduct geological surveys, to negotiate better contracts with investors and to beneficiate the minerals that are extracted from its soil.
This is necessary, as highlighted by the 2014 African Transformation Report:
“Because resources, once extracted are gone forever… turning oil, gas and minerals into a blessing is to see them as part of a portfolio of national assets that also includes human capital, physical capital, financial capital and institutional capital. Government revenues from oil, gas and minerals can also promote technological upgrading, higher productivity and growth in other economic sectors.
In addition to energy and mineral resources, Africa’s oceanic space is three times the size of its landmass. The blue economy is therefore a critical resource which we have to pursue more aggressively, as we address the unique challenges facing especially the island states, including the challenge of climate change.
In all of the above, the issue of technology is critical. As the mobile revolution on the continent is showing, it is indeed possible to leapfrog development with technology. The same can be said in the area of energy, especially renewables, where with solar, biomass and wind energy, rural communities do not necessarily have to be connected to the central grid to have access to electricity.
The transfer and development of technology therefore requires greater emphasis in our strategies.
A sixth priority is Africa’s main resource and greatest strength – the youthful population and women, whose strength and potential has not yet been realized. By investing in these two critical segments of our population, we will unlock their creativity and energy, to become the drivers of our transformation.
When women are given skills, access to economic opportunities, capital and assets such as land, they generally invest these to improve the standard of living of their children, families and communities. Families with economically empowered women are healthier, the next generation is better educated and communities and societies more stable and cohesive.
Women are the largest part of the workforce in agriculture in Africa and a number of other sectors such as cross-border trading. We must therefore invest in women for increased productivity in agriculture, agribusiness, industry and trade, and ensure their participation as entrepreneurs, business owners and policy and decision makers.
Excellencies,
We know that conflict and instability can set the development of countries back for decades. We therefore need peace in order to have effective development. At the same time, without development, good governance and inclusive societies, it is difficult to sustain peace.
The integration of Africa and its economies will be its success. As individual countries we have small domestic markets, which makes it difficult to reach economies of scale. When we integrate, as we set out in the Abuja Treaty, we can pool our collective strengths and capabilities, as well as our markets and productive capacities.
Africa is also making progress in this regard, through the Regional Economic Communities, work on the removal of non-tariff barriers, and towards the Continental Free Trade Area by 2017. In three regions, East, West and Southern Africa where integration is most vigorously pursued, intra-Africa trade is already approaching 25%, although the continental average is 12%. The target of doubling intra-Africa trade over the next decade is therefore realistic - if we address the hardware of integration (especially infrastructure), as well as the software (the free movement of people, goods and services; and harmonization of policies).
Our vision for the Africa we Want, is a vision where no part
of our continent is left behind as least developed, where every child, woman and man are able to reach their full potential.

The deliberations of your Conference are critical towards global discussions on the challenges facing humanity, and how to ensure a world that is more peaceful, more secure and inclusive for everybody.

Because we live in a globalized world, addressing the challenges facing African countries and LDCs to structural transformation and achieving the goals and targets of the Istanbul Programme will require stronger action and cooperation between LDCs, developing countries and the development partners.

As the LDCs relationships with emerging economies deepen, with significant potential for further expansion, South-South cooperation should be strengthened in all areas and collaborations institutionalized and resources from innovative financing mechanisms made available for LDCs development. The LDCs need easy access to resources from different environment and climate change funds and programmes.
This should also include reforms of the international markets to improve their access to financial resources. Mainstreaming trade policy into development strategies, improving supply side capacity, trade facilitation and effective duty free and quota free market access for the LDCs need to be pursued in an integrated manner.
 
Excellencies,
As the world looks towards the Post-2015 Development Agenda, building partnerships to increase the productive capacities of the LDCs is not only a moral imperative, but also a means to promote a stable and peaceful global order.
For the African Union the moderate progress recorded towards achieving the MDGs underlines the need to give priority to the LDCs in the Post -2015 Development Agenda. Several LDCs have announced their intention to graduate out of this category by 2020. We need to all work tirelessly towards a world where there is no need for such a categorization, and this can be done.
As the late Nelson Mandela said: It is impossible, until it is done.
We look forward to the deliberations and I wish you success.

I thank you