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  • Event
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    April 01, 2013
  • Event
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    April 01, 2013
  • Event
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    April 01, 2013
  • Event
    The African Union Commission and Regional Economic Communities Retreat
    March 28, 2013 to March 29, 2013

    The African Union Commission and Regional Economic Communities Retreat, held At Izulu Hotel, Ethekwini, South Africa On 28-29 March 2013

  • Event
    5th AU Technical Working Group (TWG) Workshop on the Harmonization of Rules of Origin, Yaounde, Cameroon , 27-29 March...
    March 27, 2013 to March 29, 2013

    5th AU Technical Working Group (TWG) Workshop on the Harmonization of Rules of Origin, Yaounde, Cameroon , 27-29 March 2013

  • Event
    5th AU Technical Working Group (TWG) Workshop on the Harmonization of Rules of Origin, Yaounde, Cameroon , 27-29 March...
    March 27, 2013 to March 29, 2013

    5th AU Technical Working Group (TWG) Workshop on the Harmonization of Rules of Origin, Yaounde, Cameroon , 27-29 March 2013

  • Event
    Sixth Joint AUC/ECA/ Annual Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development , Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, 21 – 24 March 2013
    March 20, 2013 to March 24, 2013

    JOINT PRESS RELEASE N.08

    Abidjan, 26th March 2013

    Africa’s structural transformation via commodity-based industrialization gets nod from Ministers

    Abidjan, 26 March 2013—The Sixth Joint Annual Meetings of ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and AU Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance ended with a unanimous call to pursue commodity based-industrialization as an impetus to Africa’s aspirations for structural transformation.

    In a Ministerial statement issued at the end of the meeting, the Ministers said; “Industrialization has become an imperative for Africa’s development and its careful pursuit cannot be postponed any longer.” The Ministers stressed the imperative of industrialization in order to create much needed jobs for Africa’s youth and to generate the knowledge and skills base to manage a rapid process of urbanization and to reap the potentials of a demographic dividend. To translate growth into an all-encompassing structural transformation will require clarity of vision, effective coordination of actions and an unwavering focus on effective and coordinated actions to adopt and implement a coherent industrialization policy. The Ministers underscored the need to developed infrastructure and provide energy, as major drivers of a successful programme of industrialization.

    The 2013 Economic Report on Africa, which was launched here Monday, advances the case for commodity based industrialization as both feasible and beneficial.
    The Ministers expressed concern with the slow advances in achieving the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs). Looking ahead to the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the ministers underemphasized the importance of context, self-effort, ownership, resource availability and other enables to the prospects for more robust outcomes in the achievement of set target. “(We) request the institutions (ECA, AUC, and African Development Bank (AfDB) to ensure that the African priorities are effectively reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals,” the statement said.
    To enhance Africa’s competitive advantages, the Ministers called for immediate measures to capitalize on its demographic dividend through sustained investments in health and education, particularly for women, the girl-child, and the youth. “These investments should be further enhanced by the adoption of appropriate social, urban planning, and macroeconomic policies,” the read the Ministerial statement.

    On the Follow-up-to Rio +20, the joint ministers meeting urged the integration of Rio+20 outcomes into national development policies, strategies and plans.
    The Ministers called on the United Nations Secretary-General “to provide required support to ECA to enhance its work in accordance with Africa’s priorities.” ECA is restructuring its programming to align and strategically serve the African transformation agenda. In the new strategic orientation ECA will place statistics for evidence-based policy making and effective planning at the core of generation of research, policy, knowledge and consensus.

    About global partnerships and effective development cooperation, the ministers proposed the creation of an African consultative reference group to consult regularly on the Global Partnership.

    Meanwhile, ECA Executive Secretary Carlos Lopes and AUC Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in their joint closing remarks welcomed the ministers’ decision to give impetus to Africa’s aspirations for structural transformation.

    “Another key message emanating from this meeting is that Africa must tell its own story and should take control of the narrative. Thus, while not disregarding the positive gloss put on its current growth performance, this continent should lead the discussions relating to its future prospects by undertaking its own analysis and generating robust statistics to back its case,” they said.

  • Event
    WTO Reference Center Training, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 12-13 March 2013
    WTO Reference Center Training, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 12-13 March 2013
    March 12, 2013 to March 13, 2013

    MEDIA ADVISORY
    Launch of World Trade Organization Reference Center
    INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

    When: 12 – 13 March 2013

    Where: Ministry of Trade Meeting Hall (2nd floor), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

    Who: The Department of Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission (AUC), in collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Ministry of Trade of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

    Objective: The workshop is expected to launch the WTO Reference Center at the AUC and the Ministry of Trade, Ethiopia.

    Participants: African Union Commission, World Trade Organization, representatives from the Ministry of Trade, and other experts as well as invited guests.

    Attached the draft work programme

    Journalists are invited to cover the event on 12 – 13 March 2013 starting from 9:00am at the Ministry of Trade meeting hall.

    Media enquiries should be addressed to Mr. Molalet Tsedeke, Directorate of Information and Communication. molalett@africa-union.org; Tel: 0911-630-631

    The programme is attached.

  • Event
    WTO Reference Center Training, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 12-13 March 2013
    WTO Reference Center Training, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 12-13 March 2013
    March 12, 2013 to March 13, 2013

    MEDIA ADVISORY
    Launch of World Trade Organization Reference Center
    INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

    When: 12 – 13 March 2013

    Where: Ministry of Trade Meeting Hall (2nd floor), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

    Who: The Department of Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission (AUC), in collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Ministry of Trade of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

    Objective: The workshop is expected to launch the WTO Reference Center at the AUC and the Ministry of Trade, Ethiopia.

    Participants: African Union Commission, World Trade Organization, representatives from the Ministry of Trade, and other experts as well as invited guests.

    Attached the draft work programme

    Journalists are invited to cover the event on 12 – 13 March 2013 starting from 9:00am at the Ministry of Trade meeting hall.

    Media enquiries should be addressed to Mr. Molalet Tsedeke, Directorate of Information and Communication. molalett@africa-union.org; Tel: 0911-630-631

    The programme is attached.

  • Event
    March 06, 2013 to March 08, 2013

    3rd CONGRESS OF AFRICAN ECONOMISTS 2013 THEME:“Industrialisation and Economic emergence in Africa”

  • Event
    5TH CAMI Bureau Meeting , 12-13 February 2013, Nairobi, Kenya
    February 12, 2013 to February 13, 2013

    STATEMENT BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, H.E. MRS. Fatima HARAM ACYL

    FOR THE 5TH CAMI BUREAU MEETING, Nairobi, Kenya, 13 February, 2013

    Honorable Ministers, Members of the Bureau,

    Representatives of Regional Economic Communities,

    Representatives of International Organizations

    Distinguished Delegates,

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    On behalf of Her Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, I would like to welcome you all to this 5th Bureau Meeting of the AU Conference of African Ministers of Industry (CAMI).

    Let me first of all thank the Kenyan Government for accepting to host this 5th Bureau meeting, for the warm welcome and facilities granted to us for a successful meeting. Allow me to also express my sincere appreciation to our development partners, namely, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for their continued support to our common goal of achieving an industrialized Africa.

    Distinguished Members of the Bureau
    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Since the last CAMI Bureau meeting held in Vienna, we have collaborated with UNIDO and UNECA to organize for the first time on the premises of the African Union Headquarters, the African Industrialization Day on the theme of the AU Summit of 2012, “Boosting Intra-African Trade”. We thank our Member States and the private sector from East and Central Africa for responding to our invitation at such short notice, to reflect with us on the prospects and challenges of Industrialization on our continent.

    Advocacy on Industrialization for Africa’s sustainable development has reached an important level. As many of you are aware, a Joint Conference of AU and UNECA Ministers of Finance and Planning will meet next month under the theme of Industrialization. It will be an opportunity to continue to advocate for Member States to invest in their industrialization agenda, especially at a time when we are preparing for the Post-2015 agenda, which should include development indicators that are linked to job creation, skills development, tertiary and technical education in order to spur innovation and economic growth from the youthful population of our continent. In this regard, we are extremely proud to learn that Kenya and other countries in East Africa are leading in the ICT revolution such as mobile banking, mobile lending and savings, linking people in the urban and rural areas and indeed across generations. We commend your efforts towards regional integration, evidenced by the importance that you attach to regional industrial policy. Your success story and others’ milestones and achievements can be shared for the benefit of the continent. At the end of the day, the mandate that Heads of State and Government have given to the Ministers of Industry is to forge ahead with the implementation of the Accelerated Industrialization Strategy for Africa. It is a momentous task, but my belief is that Rome was not built in one day. We need your personal commitment to make progress on mobilizing resources for the implementation of AIDA.
    Excellencies
    Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
    It has come to my attention during the short period that I have been with the Commission that there are efforts being made to implement AIDA. Our partners UNECA and UNIDO are all making important contributions amongst other agencies, under the leadership of RECs and Member States. A concrete example of a successful pilot project is the Investment Monitoring Platform, which was implemented in 19 countries, in different regions. This project deserves to be highlighted because it provides the embryo of the African Trade Observatory that will enable us to track trade and investment flows in a timely manner based on information gathered by the private sector. It is a project that has been embraced by some of the RECs, such as COMESA, ECOWAS and others. However, the main constraint is the mobilization of sufficient funding to allow all RECs to participate and benefit from the initiative. This is a low hanging fruit that can be harvested if we join hands and decide to act in concert.

    As the Commission, our main challenge is our ability to coordinate and monitor the impact of these collective actions, due to limited human resource capacity. That is why the establishment of the Implementation Coordination Unit is a goal that is close to my heart because it will inspire confidence that we are now ready to move forward. We are optimistic that this gap will be addressed during 2013 as it is indeed one of our priorities.

    Excellencies
    Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
    Our meeting today is indeed very important and timely. As you are aware, the 20th Ordinary Session of CAMI has been scheduled for the second week of June 2013, in Nairobi, under the theme “Accelerating Industrialization for Africa within the post 2015 Development Agenda”. It is therefore opportune for us to pave the way to a successful CAMI-20 by discussing strategies that will overcome the challenges facing the implementation of AIDA. We have agreed that resources can be mobilized from different sources. Our belief is that we must make haste slowly. We must be absolutely confident that we have prepared well and that we are putting our best foot forward in our resources mobilization. One of the key questions in this regard is to also reflect on the sustainability issue. It may be possible to fund technical expertise on a short-term basis, which may be good, but we need to build the institutional capacity in the medium and long term. We should also craft an agenda for CAMI-20 that is compelling for your colleagues to attend. We need high level participation and commitment in order to make a difference, as we know it is finally Africa’s turn.

    Excellencies

    The Year 2013 is a special year for Africa. We will celebrate 50 years of the OAU/AU and in this regard there will be a moment of reflection on the development path we have taken so far, and consider how we can move forward to deliver tangible and visible results. We are fortunate that the work of industry is concrete, where a factory goes up, people get jobs, goods flow across borders and wealth is created. We believe that a united Africa, a prosperous Africa, which is at peace with itself and its neighbours is our common vision as a Union.

    I look forward to fruitful deliberations during the course of this meeting.

    Thank you for your attention.

  • Event
    5TH CAMI Bureau Meeting , 12-13 February 2013, Nairobi, Kenya
    February 12, 2013 to February 13, 2013

    STATEMENT BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, H.E. MRS. Fatima HARAM ACYL

    FOR THE 5TH CAMI BUREAU MEETING, Nairobi, Kenya, 13 February, 2013

    Honorable Ministers, Members of the Bureau,

    Representatives of Regional Economic Communities,

    Representatives of International Organizations

    Distinguished Delegates,

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    On behalf of Her Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, I would like to welcome you all to this 5th Bureau Meeting of the AU Conference of African Ministers of Industry (CAMI).

    Let me first of all thank the Kenyan Government for accepting to host this 5th Bureau meeting, for the warm welcome and facilities granted to us for a successful meeting. Allow me to also express my sincere appreciation to our development partners, namely, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for their continued support to our common goal of achieving an industrialized Africa.

    Distinguished Members of the Bureau
    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Since the last CAMI Bureau meeting held in Vienna, we have collaborated with UNIDO and UNECA to organize for the first time on the premises of the African Union Headquarters, the African Industrialization Day on the theme of the AU Summit of 2012, “Boosting Intra-African Trade”. We thank our Member States and the private sector from East and Central Africa for responding to our invitation at such short notice, to reflect with us on the prospects and challenges of Industrialization on our continent.

    Advocacy on Industrialization for Africa’s sustainable development has reached an important level. As many of you are aware, a Joint Conference of AU and UNECA Ministers of Finance and Planning will meet next month under the theme of Industrialization. It will be an opportunity to continue to advocate for Member States to invest in their industrialization agenda, especially at a time when we are preparing for the Post-2015 agenda, which should include development indicators that are linked to job creation, skills development, tertiary and technical education in order to spur innovation and economic growth from the youthful population of our continent. In this regard, we are extremely proud to learn that Kenya and other countries in East Africa are leading in the ICT revolution such as mobile banking, mobile lending and savings, linking people in the urban and rural areas and indeed across generations. We commend your efforts towards regional integration, evidenced by the importance that you attach to regional industrial policy. Your success story and others’ milestones and achievements can be shared for the benefit of the continent. At the end of the day, the mandate that Heads of State and Government have given to the Ministers of Industry is to forge ahead with the implementation of the Accelerated Industrialization Strategy for Africa. It is a momentous task, but my belief is that Rome was not built in one day. We need your personal commitment to make progress on mobilizing resources for the implementation of AIDA.
    Excellencies
    Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
    It has come to my attention during the short period that I have been with the Commission that there are efforts being made to implement AIDA. Our partners UNECA and UNIDO are all making important contributions amongst other agencies, under the leadership of RECs and Member States. A concrete example of a successful pilot project is the Investment Monitoring Platform, which was implemented in 19 countries, in different regions. This project deserves to be highlighted because it provides the embryo of the African Trade Observatory that will enable us to track trade and investment flows in a timely manner based on information gathered by the private sector. It is a project that has been embraced by some of the RECs, such as COMESA, ECOWAS and others. However, the main constraint is the mobilization of sufficient funding to allow all RECs to participate and benefit from the initiative. This is a low hanging fruit that can be harvested if we join hands and decide to act in concert.

    As the Commission, our main challenge is our ability to coordinate and monitor the impact of these collective actions, due to limited human resource capacity. That is why the establishment of the Implementation Coordination Unit is a goal that is close to my heart because it will inspire confidence that we are now ready to move forward. We are optimistic that this gap will be addressed during 2013 as it is indeed one of our priorities.

    Excellencies
    Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
    Our meeting today is indeed very important and timely. As you are aware, the 20th Ordinary Session of CAMI has been scheduled for the second week of June 2013, in Nairobi, under the theme “Accelerating Industrialization for Africa within the post 2015 Development Agenda”. It is therefore opportune for us to pave the way to a successful CAMI-20 by discussing strategies that will overcome the challenges facing the implementation of AIDA. We have agreed that resources can be mobilized from different sources. Our belief is that we must make haste slowly. We must be absolutely confident that we have prepared well and that we are putting our best foot forward in our resources mobilization. One of the key questions in this regard is to also reflect on the sustainability issue. It may be possible to fund technical expertise on a short-term basis, which may be good, but we need to build the institutional capacity in the medium and long term. We should also craft an agenda for CAMI-20 that is compelling for your colleagues to attend. We need high level participation and commitment in order to make a difference, as we know it is finally Africa’s turn.

    Excellencies

    The Year 2013 is a special year for Africa. We will celebrate 50 years of the OAU/AU and in this regard there will be a moment of reflection on the development path we have taken so far, and consider how we can move forward to deliver tangible and visible results. We are fortunate that the work of industry is concrete, where a factory goes up, people get jobs, goods flow across borders and wealth is created. We believe that a united Africa, a prosperous Africa, which is at peace with itself and its neighbours is our common vision as a Union.

    I look forward to fruitful deliberations during the course of this meeting.

    Thank you for your attention.