STRATEGIES, PRIORITIES AND EXPECTATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA

1. UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA STRATEGY AND BUSINESS PLANNING WORKSHOP FOR THE NEPAD, REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND TRADE DEPARTMENTAFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANKTunis, Tunisia5-7 July 2007 STRATEGIES, PRIORITIES AND EXPECTATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA Dr. Robert M. Okello, Director NEPAD and Regional Integration Division

2. Outline • Africa’s Development Challenges • Mandate of ECA • Strategic Framework • Programme Structure • NEPAD and Regional Integration Division • Partnership • Collaboration with ADB ROkello@uneca.org

3. Africa’s Development ChallengePhasesof Africa’s Development ROkello@uneca.org

4. Phases of Africa’s Development (Con’t.) ROkello@uneca.org

5. Mandate of ECA ROkello@uneca.org

6. Mandate Within its general mandate, ECA has played and continues to play the role of: • Advocacy and catalyst for spearheading development in Africa • Articulating issues, producing policy responses and incisive publications to guide and orient member States’ development efforts on a number of key issues and problems • Building capacities through training, seminars, workshops, advisory services, and provision of technical assistance • Monitoring and analysing countries’ economic performance, including providing them with early warning signs and corrective measures to get their economic fundamentals on track ROkello@uneca.org

7. Strategic Framework • The United Nations Summit outcome Document defining new areas of development focus • The UN Secretary General’s Management Reforms • The exercise on Review of Mandates in the UN system • The new Cooperation Agreement between the United Nations and the African Union: 10 year Capacity Building Plan for the AU • The need to ensure better coherence of UN support to Africa, and • The Need for enhanced partnership. ROkello@uneca.org

8. Strategic Framework (Con’t.) The ECA 2007-2009 Business Plan • Achieving the MDGs • Integrating for development • Benefiting from globalisation • Strengthening institutions and capacity for development ROkello@uneca.org

9. Strategic Framework (Con’t.) Strategic orientation and repositioning Two key areas of concentration now underpin ECA’s strategic orientation: • Promotion of Regional integration in support of the African Union vision and priorities, and • Meeting Africa’s special needs and the emerging global challenges. These special needs and challenges include: MDGs, globalization, gender equity, NEPAD and APRM, sustainable development, statistics, ICT and governance ROkello@uneca.org

10. Strategic Framework (Con’t.) Expected outcome: • Increased regional integration and effective integration into the global economy • Accelerated progress towards achieving the MDGs, including poverty reduction, sustainable development and gender equity • Improved macroeconomic policies, political and economic governance • Enhanced development of ICT and participation in the knowledge economy • Improved statistical capacity of member States to enable planning for achieving the MDGs and for monitoring progress, and • Strengthened and better-networked institutions and centers of excellence to build Africa’s capacity for sustained development. ROkello@uneca.org

11. Strategic Framework (Con’t.) The subprogrammes are focused on the following themes: • Subprogramme 1. Trade, finance and economic development • Subprogramme 2. Food security and sustainable development • Subprogramme 3. Governance and public administration • Subprogramme 4. Information and science and technology for development • Subprogramme 5. Economic cooperation and regional integration • Subprogramme 6. Gender and women in development • Subprogramme 7. Subregional activities for development • Subprogramme 8. Development planning and administration African • Subprogramme 9. Statistics ROkello@uneca.org

12. Strategic Framework (Con’t.) Strengthening of ECA’s Subregional Offices • A major part of this strategic orientation and repositioning consists of strengthening ECA’s five Subregional Offices by decentralizing more staff and resources to them, so that ECA can have a stronger Subregional presence and proximity to its member States. The ECA five Subregional Offices (SROs) are: • SRO for North Africa based in Rabat, Morocco • SRO for West Africa based in Niamey, Niger • SRO for Central Africa based in Yaoundé, Cameroon • SRO for Eastern Africa based in Kigali, Rwanda, and • SRO for Southern Africa based in Lusaka, Zambia. ROkello@uneca.org

13. Strategic Framework (Con’t.) Mandate of SRO • Lead in shaping ECA’s agenda and its implementation at the Subregional level • Promote and support specific Subregional priorities and programs • Operate Subregional nodes for knowledge management and networking. • Act as privileged partners of the RECs • Partner with African Union Commission’s Subregional offices and institutions • Engage member States through UN Country Teams, and • Participate in joint AU-ADB-ECA programmes on regional integration ROkello@uneca.org

14. ECA’s NEPAD and Regional Integration Division (NRID) Main objectives: • Strengthen the process of regional integration in Africa through promoting intra-regional and international trade as well as physical integration, with particular emphasis on the transport and communications sector. • Strengthen the United Nations’ system support for the implementation of NEPAD at the regional and Subregional levels • Support to NEPAD Secretariat ROkello@uneca.org

15. ECA’s NEPAD and Regional Integration Division (NRID) (Con’t.) Expected accomplishments of NRID • Strengthened national capacities for policy-making in the area of regional integration. • Increased national capacities to adopt policies and programmes for rationalizing and streamlining the regional economic communities and other institutions of regional integration in Africa • Enhanced coherence, coordination and cooperation among United Nations agencies in support of the implementation of NEPAD at the regional and Subregional levels • Improved cooperation and coordination between United Nations agencies and African continental organizations (African Union, African Development Bank and the regional economic communities) for the effective implementation of NEPAD at the regional and Subregional levels. ROkello@uneca.org

16. ECA’s NEPAD and Regional Integration Division (NRID) (Con’t.) NRID Sections • Regional Integration Section • Infrastructure Section • NEPAD Support Unit. ROkello@uneca.org

17. ECA’s NEPAD and Regional Integration Division (NRID) (Con’t.) Major Areas of Work • Promotion of Regional Integration • Institutional Support to RECs • Assessment of Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA) • Support on trade issues ROkello@uneca.org

18. ECA’s NEPAD and Regional Integration Division (NRID) (Con’t.) Major Areas of Work (Con’t.) Infrastructure and Natural Resources Development • Transport: SSATP; Almaty Programme for Landlocked Least Developed Countries; Yamoussoukro Decision on African Air Transport; Road Safety • Energy: Capacity Building for Integrated Resources Planning (IRP) for Energy/Electricity in Africa. • Water: Africa Water Development Report; UN Inter-Agency Group on Water; African water information clearing houses; Climate for Development (ClimDev) Africa Programme. • Mining: Integrating mining and mineral issues in development; Promotion of mineral clusters; Advisory services to countries ROkello@uneca.org

19. ECA’s NEPAD and Regional Integration Division (NRID) (Con’t.) Major Areas of Work (Con’t) Support to NEPAD – Strategic Partner • Regular work programs - ECA specifically takes into account NEPAD’s objectives in the preparation of its biennial work programs and budget • Responding to specific requests from NEPAD organs and related structures as a continuous strategic partner of NEPAD (5 Year Evaluation) • Creation of continent-wide initiatives such as the African Development Forum, the Big Table meeting, and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers Learning Group, that have helped advance Africa’s development agenda. • The NEPAD Support Unit in NRID was designed to strengthen ECA’s support to NEPAD and its role of coordinating and operationalizing UN support to NEPAD. The establishment of the unit is already beginning to have some impact. ROkello@uneca.org

20. Special Initiatives • The Big Table A platform senior policymakers from Africa and OECD for informal discussions of issues for sustained growth and poverty reduction, the critical importance of African leadership and commitment and the importance of mutually reinforcing partnerships between the continent and its development partners to achieving effective outcomes. • African Development Forum provides a platform for all stakeholders, member States, the private sector, civil society and development partners, to engage in candid and constructive dialogue and build consensus on major challenges facing the African continent. ROkello@uneca.org

21. ADF ROkello@uneca.org

22. Big Table ROkello@uneca.org

23. Partnerships Partnership with UN system UN Regional Consultations Mechanism for inter-agency coordination to support both the NEPAD agenda and key priority issues of the AU Commission. Tripartite ECA/AUC/ADB collaboration Joint Secretariat to foster much stronger and seamless partnership with the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank based on a shared vision of Africa’s development objectives as embodied in NEPAD and AU priorities ROkello@uneca.org

24. Partnerships Bilateral ECA-AfDB Partnership • 2006 ECA and AfDB Executives, senior and technical staff met again in Golden Tulip Hotel, in Tunis agreed on the following areas of collaboration: • Knowledge Management, Capacity Building and Statistics • Governance, Post Conflict, Fragile States • Agriculture, Natural Resources, Energy, Environment/Water and sustainable development • Regional Integration, RECs’ issues, Trade and Private Sector • Promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment ROkello@uneca.org

25. Possible Areas of Collaboration with ADB • ARIA IV on intra-African trade and subsequent ARIA series • Evaluation of NEPAD • Capacity building for mainstreaming regional integration and NEPAD at national level • Studies, workshops/seminars on trade facilitation • Support to the implementation of the NEPAD Medium to Long Term Strategic Framework (MLSF) for infrastructure development. • International Investment Conference on Infrastructure and Natural Resources Development in Africa ROkello@uneca.org

26. THANK YOU ! ROkello@uneca.org