Johannesburg - African Ministers of Finance,
Planning and Economic Development are to meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on
June 1 to discuss how the international development system can more
effectively aid Africa's battle against poverty.
The Macroeconomic Implications of HIV/AIDS.
A meeting of the Committee of Experts will precede the Conference from
May 29-30. In addition to the Ministers, more than 500 participants -
including central bank governors, leading academics and researchers, and
international partners - are expected to attend.
The 2003 Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and
Economic Development is organized by the Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA) under the theme Towards greater policy coherence and mutual
accountability for development effectiveness.
The theme has been chosen to provide an opportunity for African
Ministers and senior African policymakers to develop African positions on
policy coherence and harmonization towards enhancing development
effectiveness, as well as to the current discussions over the future role
of the IMF in Africa.
The June 1 Conference is being held back-to-back with the Annual
Meetings of the African Development Bank (ADB), at the United Nations
Conference Centre in Addis Ababa. The two institutions will jointly sponsor
the Annual Meetings Symposium, to be held on June 2 and previously a
hallmark of the ADB Annual Meetings.
The theme of this year's Symposium is 'Poverty Reduction, Social
Development, and the Millennium Development Goals in Africa: Are We Making
Progress on the Ground?'. The ADB Annual Meetings will take place from June
3-5.
African Finance, Planning and Economic Development Ministers are key
policymakers for both the ADB and ECA. In the past, these policymakers were
obliged to travel to two separate meetings at different times of the year,
a situation that affected attendance and worked against the development of
coherent African positions. Holding the meetings successively provides more
time for the Ministers and other stakeholders to discuss and chart new
policy initiatives.
Back-to-back meetings also allow these senior policy makers to agree on
strategy in time for crucial negotiations.
In recent years, the ECA Conference of Ministers has provided a forum
for agreement on strategy in tackling key challenges facing the continent.
Last year's meeting, held in South Africa, was the largest gathering of key
Ministers dealing with economic policy in Africa on NEPAD since its
endorsement by African leaders. At that meeting, Ministers were unified in
their call for action, and outlined detailed proposals for how NEPAD could
best be moved forward.
- I-Net Bridge (Business)
