The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU)/ African Economic Community (AEC) will tighten their joint efforts to promote economic growth and development in Africa. To that end, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed today (7 May) in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Mr. Rubens Ricupero, and Mr. Vijay Makhan, Assistant Secretary-General of the OAU.
Four major areas for action have been agreed upon: regional and sub-regional economic cooperation and integration; resource flows and debt; international trade; and commodities. The two organizations will cooperate in the study of problems and policies, exchange information and participate in intergovernmental processes bearing on those areas.
With regard to regional and sub-regional economic cooperation and integration, they will cooperate in the implementation of the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community. Such cooperation will cover the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers to regional and intra-community trade in goods and services and the harmonization of customs duties and procedures.
UNCTAD and the OAU/AEC will work together to strengthen sectoral integration in the area of trade, transport and communications and monetary and financial cooperation at the sub-regional and regional levels. In addition, they will identify trading opportunities between the AEC and other regional groupings.
A second major area for cooperation between UNCTAD and the OAU/AEC is the identification of the resource requirements of African countries. In this respect, they will join forces in seeking ways and means of increasing aid and concessional flows to African countries, and in identifying investment opportunities in Africa. They will work together on the monitoring of the debt problem of African countries and the analyses of the impact of various initiatives in this respect, the elaboration of proposals for debt relief, and the provision of assistance for debt management.
On the international trade front, the two organizations will help African countries prepare for negotiations in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO), develop a positive agenda for trade, and improve their trade competitiveness. They will do so by identifying trade opportunities for African countries, by providing advice and analyses to these countries with regard to their market access problems, and by helping them in making better use of trade-preferences. Policy assistance is foreseen with regard to the services sectors, as well as investment, competition and enterprise development, and trade facilitation.
Another area for cooperation between the two organizations is the provision of analyses, policy options and technical advice in negotiations between ACP and the European Union, from the perspective of African countries, for a successor agreement to the Fourth Lomé Convention due to expire in February 2000 and its follow-up.
Finally, UNCTAD and OAU/AEC will cooperate in the development of the commodity economy of the African countries. They will join forces to promote the diversification of commodity-dependent African economies through an assessment of the potentials, the identification of supply and demand problems, and the design and implementation of requisite policies, measures and enterprise strategies. Other objectives include the improvement of the utilization of structured finance and risk management, the exchange of information and statistics, and the promotion of environmental and natural resource sustainability.
The Secretary-General of UNCTAD is currently participating in a high-level meeting in Addis Ababa with the participation of Ministers of Planning and Finance, convened from 6 to 8 May by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa to address challenges of financing development in the continent. The Ministers, from 53 African countries, are expected to forge a common position on debt. Mr. Ricupero will speak today (7 May) as a panelist in a discussion on a review of the African debt situation and domestic resource mobilization. On 5 May he met with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, ministers and other senior officials of the Ethiopian Government. He also met the Executive Secretary of AEC, Mr. K.Y. Amoako.
