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UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
SUB·REGJONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE FOR WEST AFRICA (SRDC-WA)
NATIONS UNIES COMMISSION ECONOMIQUE POURL'AFRlQUE
CENTRE DE DEVELOPEMENT SODS REGIONAL POURL'AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST (CDSR-AO)
Sub Regional Preparatory Workshop Of
AFRICAN DEVELOPEMENT FORUM III
Institute
ofEconomic Development and Planiflcation (IEDP) Dakar, Senegal 29-30 January 2002
« DEFINING PRIORITIES FOR REGIONAL INTEGRATION »
NARRATIVE PROGRAMME
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ADFIII
"DEFINING PRIORITIES FOR REGIONAL INTEGRATION"
NARRATIVE PROGRAMME
Introduction
The imperative of accelerated regional economic integration is reflected in African nations' move towards the formation of the African Union (AU) and in leading initiatives for economic development such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEP AD). ADF illbuilds upon itsestablished track record of cutting- edge debate and the widest stakeholder participation, to promote regional economic and political integration. ADF III
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be the critical coming together of Africans, including governments, the private sector, experts, international organizations and other stakeholders, toseek consensus and ownership of regional integration.The African Union
African Heads of State have committed themselves to the establishment of the AU.
This has ambitious structures, which will require considerable skill and capacity if they are to function effectively. A carefully phased and prioritized process could enable these institutions and structures to be setupincrementally and to maximum effect. ADF III can help bringina range of vital stakeholders and experts,and broaden the substantive input into the process of establishing the AU, as well as widening the African ownership of the process.
ADF HI will provide the OAU with a unique opportunity to publicly discuss the challenges of moving towards the African Union and regional economic integration, benefit from expert analyses and obtain input from key stakeholders. Up to now the AU process has been driven by governments.Itis necessarily a sovereign process, but the experience of elsewhere indicates that successwilldepend upon broadening the ownership of the process, so as to engage others more fully. Public dialogue on the AU was initiated at the June 2001 OAU-eSO meeting, which included presentations and a question-and-answer session led by the former Secretary General and senior staff members. At Sirte in 2000 and subsequently at the 2001 Lusaka Summit, Africa's Heads of State and Government agreed that broader consultation was necessary. This discussion can be broadened and deepened at ADF.
ADF ITI takes place in the middle of the period of transition to the AU. The Constitutive Act of the AU invites parliamentarians, CSOs and others totake on a
pivotal role in the architecture of the Union. ADF III will be a crucial opportunityto examine how best to promote these components of theAU process. It will provide the AUwith the opportunity for reflection and incorporating input from a rangeof participants, therefore making it possible forthe AU process to become fully inclusive.
Regional Integration and Economic Development
There is a powerful Africa-wideconsensus on the prerequisites for economic development and poverty reduction. One component of this consensus is good governance for building a capable and effectivestate, with political representation of all social groups, effective institutions, and good macroeconomic management and corporate governance. The ECAlSconcept of 'enhanced partnership' envisages a compact between African governments and their people.Leaders undertake to provide good governance, to manage the affairs of the state fairly and effectively in pursuit of development. Goodgovernance also enables high quality development partnership in pursuit of poverty reduction, and facilitates private sector investment and economic growth. A second key component is regional economic integration, to overcome the handicaps imposed by small and fragmented national markets, toobtain economies of scaleinkey infrastructural developments, and to maximize the efficient use of capital and labour in the context of globalization.
Africa's major development initiatives, such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), include regional cooperation and integration as a central component. Economic integration is vital if Africa is to optimize the use of its resources and attract inward investment. At Abuja in 1980) African governments committed themselves to move towards a common market, and the need to implement those commitments has never been greater.
The success of development partnership initiatives, regional integration and poverty reduction strategies will depend crucially on the fuller engagement of a wider range of stakeholders including the private sector and civil society. ADF III is a tremendous opportunity for these and other stakeholders, alongside experts,to provide inputs into Africa's strategies for economic development, with a special focus on regional issues.
African leaders today are determined to chart a new political and economic course for the continent. There is a consensus on the pivotal role that regional political and economic integration can play in this regard. ADF III provides an exceptional and uniquely-timed opportunity for the AU and emergent development partnership initiatives to engage with a wide array of stakeholders.
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Annotated Agenda
Pre-Forum Events
Severalimportant pre-Forum events will precede the opening of the ADF
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These include:• Transport experts meeting;
• lCT workshopon electronic commerce and internet governance;
• Preparatory meetings forthestakeholders Focus Groups;
• Briefings for Chairs, Rapporteurs, Facilitators and Resource Persons;
• Briefing for the media;
• The African Union Symposium.
Pre-Forum: African Union Symposium
Rationale
The ADF will discuss the AU in two stages. First, there will be thepre-forum
Symposium, including approximately 60 selected participants (detailed here). Second, a major plenary followed by breakout sessions in the ADF itself will be concerned with the AU.
The AUSymposium provides an opportunity for the OAU todetail the status, process and objectives of the establishment of the AU,to obtain input from a range of
stakeholders, and toconsolidate consensus about the road ahead. It takes place in the middle of the transition period from GAU toAU. This pre-ADF symposium will facilitate a much more coherent input into the ADF itself, by making it possible for organized and focused interventions to be made during the conference, highlighting the relevance ofthe AU in each of the main focus areas for the ADF.
SpecificObjectives
1. To enable the OAUSecretariattopresent the current state of the process of establishing the AU.This includes the structure, resources, and priorities of the process.Inparticular,this win includedetailing the current transition from the GAUto the AU, which started after the Lusaka Summit in July 2001. Four months before the scheduled completion of the transition period, the GAD will be able to explain the terms of reference, timetable and outcomes for the transition period.
2. To provide an opportunity for CSOs, opinion makers and other stakeholders to engage withthe GAD for a constructive input into the AU process. It is hoped that this willbe the beginning of an ongoing dialogue that can be formalized,
3. To situate the AU and its role in Africa's quest for integration, relating it to other regional and subregional organizations and initiatives, including NEPAD.Itwill
be an opportunity for stakeholders to examine tbe best means of ensuring convergence and complementarity betweenAmes'sdifferent regional and subregional arrangements.
Issues to be Examined
Issues for discussion at the Symposium will be grouped into three areas: economic integration, peace and security. and institutional architecture and capacities.
I. Economic integration.How is the AU going to accelerate economic and political integration? How will the envisaged AU structure facilitate integration? How does it relate to the 1980 Abuja Treaty and other economic initiatives at regional and subregional levels? How will theAU relate to the private sector, both African and international? What is its relevance to key civil society concerns such as
democracy,citizenship and human rights?
2. Peace, security, humanitarianism and human rights. How will the AU be linked to existing peace and security systems? How is the CSSDCA envisaged as a conflict management mechanism within the framework of the AU? Existing peace and security activities are also undertaken at the subregional level: given tbat there is no single comprehensive peace and security system, will the AU bring
coherence to these subsystems? Or will ad hoc management remain the order of the day? Are transitional arrangements envisaged to harmonize initiatives until a new comprehensive peace and security doctrine emerges? What peacekeeping and peace enforcement mechanisms and doctrines will be developed, based on the African experience and linked to international responsibilities? What doctrines for approving and implementing humanitarian interventionareenvisaged, and how will mechanisms for mandating this be established in coordination with
subregional organizations and the UN? Given the provisions for human rights in the Constitutive Act of the AU, what monitoring and enforcement mechanism should be established? How will the regional peace and security agenda be linked to the UN Security Council and other international initiatives? How will the AU seek to position Africa with respect to shifting global security concerns after September II?
3. Institutional architecture and capacity. Given the background of weak linkages in the past between the OAU and the subregional organizations (SADC, ECOWAS, EAC, IGAD, AMU etc.),howisthe AU process rectifying this weakness? How can these subregional organizations be helpful to the integration process? What kind of structural relationship is envisaged to integratethe RECs into the AU?
How does the AU model reflect specifically African experiences and aspirations?
How are people to be engaged, sensitized and activated in the process of building the Union? What is the timing and sequencing of the establishment of the
institutions? What are the resource requirements for the AU Commission and other institutions. Wherewill the resources come from? If they are to be primarily membership dues, how will the AU augment its resourcesincomparison with the OAU whichhas always had chronic funding problems? What provisions are envisaged for seeking technical assistance in building the necessary African institutions? What are the human resource requirements for the AU? How will it seek to leverage a collaborative and meaningful association with relevant research
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institutes, foundations,
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universities, and other independent institutions?What interface does the AU anticipate with the UN?
Participants in Symposium
Secretary General of OAU and senior staff Senior staff of ECA
Selected African intellectuals Selected
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leadersPrivate sector representatives Senior staff from SROs
Diplomats assigned to Addis Ababa Parliamentarians
Others as appropriate Content
The Symposium will consist of the following sessions:
1. Anopening session. TIle ECA Executive Secretary or his designated
representativewill introduce the Symposium and outline its relationship to the ADF. This will be followedbya presentationby the OAD Secretary General or his designated representative on the AU, to explain its content and process and the state of the transition.
2. Senior staff from the OAU will present the process of creating the AU and where it stands now, with two specialist discussants asking questions. This will be followedby an open discussion.
3. Working groups/breakout sessions on the following issues:
(i) The AU and economic integration
(ii) The AU and peace and security, humanitarianism and human rights (iii) The AU Commission: its institutions, capacities, requirements and
relationships
In each case, an issue paperwill be prepared in advance by the facilitators. This will be a short document, raising questions for consideration.Presenters will summarize these papers, followed by comments from a panel (including an OAU staff member, a CSO representative) and open discussion.
4. Plenary for conclusions and recommendations. A report from the Symposium will be tabled for the ADF.
ADF III Opening Session
Chair:
Presenters:
KY. Amoako, Executive Secretary, ECA Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister, Ethiopia Amara Essy, Secretary General, OA U Omar Kabbaj, President,ADB
Wale Soyinka,African writer and intellectual, Nobel Laureate The opening session will begin with a welcome statement by the host, the Executive Secretary of the ECA.The Ethiopian Prime Minister, MelesZenawi, will make an address, followed by statements bythe Secretary General of the OAU and the President of the ADS,representing the other two regional organizations. The session will conclude with a keynote address by the leading African writer and intellectual, Wale Soyinka.
Plenary Session 2: The History and Prospects for Regional Integration
Chair:
Presenter:
Discussants:
Ismail Serageldin
Adebayo Adedeji, fanner Executive Secretary, ECA
Emmanuel Mushega, Secretary General of East African Cooperation Leading African businessman
Africa has a history ofprojects for integration and unification, from the Pan
Africanism ofNkrumah through the 1980 Ahuja Treaty committing governments to an African common market to the challenges of integration in the context of 2151 century globalization.The dreams and promises of several generations of African leaders have yet to be realized.In this session, the lessons to be learned from this history, and itsapplication to current initiatives,will be presented.
Dr Adebayo Adedeji will present a comprehensive overview of the history of regional integration, including regional initiatives, subregional efforts, the legal structures set up in Abujain 1980, and their rationale in the light of globalization. Hewill ask, how are we to measure Africa's historical demand for integration against current
challenges and opportunities? Africa's leading authority on this subject will lay out the successes and failures of regional integration from a long-term perspective.
The discussants will each contribute their views, the first based upon the experience of subregional integration effortsinEast Africa, and the second reflecting the interests of the private sector. What is the vision for integration, and what interests have driven it? Where is the impetus for integration? What forms of integration have been tried?
What has been the level of compliance with treaty obligations? Should the priority be subregional integration or continent-wide planning? What is the perspective of the private sector? How does the political vision of African unity fit in with the economic agenda?
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Plenary Session 3: Assessing Economic Integration tn Africa: Launching tbeARIA
Chair:
Presentation:
Discussants:
Kwesi Botchwey, Harvard
Launch of the first Annual Report on Integration in Africa (ARIA), ECA Regional Cooperation and Integration Department
RECs
Economic integration is a complex and challenging task that requires a well-
developed system for analysis, assessment, measurement and monitoring. How should such an assessment mechanism be established? What is the conceptual framework to be used? What are the dimensions that need to be measured, and what indicators should be monitored? How is this assessment process to be utilized by policymakers?
This session will launch the first ARIA report. ARIA is an ECA project to analyze and monitor integration efforts in Africa, assess the effectiveness of those efforts, and provideasound analytical basis for taking actions to promote regional coherence.
This reporting is intended to provide quantifiable benchmarks for progress, which can enable policyrnakers evaluate their programmes and policies,and their outcomes, and thus hold themselves accountable to their goal of regional integration.
The presentation of the ARIA will be followed by a discussion on enhancing the understanding and measurement of integration.
Plenary Session 4: Integration in Other Regions: Lessons for the AU
Chair:
Presenters:
Discussant:
ZepherinDiabre, Associate Administrator,UNDP
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Enrique Iglesias, President, IADB Nick Stem, EBRD
What lessons do other regions' experience hold for Africa? In this session, speakers will review the factors that helped and impeded regional integration elsewhere in the world. The presentations will discuss the strategies for regional integration pursued elsewhere in the world, including Europe, the Americas and East Asia. Senior officials from relevant regional organizations will make presentations.
What are the preconditions for economic integration? Does it require a dominant regional economy to drive it? Doesitneed a dynamic private sector? How does it relate to globalization? What are the necessary institutional capacities in government?
What are the costs to government institutions for the necessary adjustments? How are we to evaluate the relative importance of infrastrucmral integration and the
harmonization of economic and monetary policies? This will allow for reflection on best practices, pitfalls and recommendations to suit Africa's particular circumstances.
Plenary Session 5: Physical Integration through InfrastructuraJ Development
Chair:
Presenters:
Discussant:
Egyptian Minister of Transport, Chair of Transport Conference Cyril Enweze, Vice President, ADB
Callisto Madavo, Vice President, World Bank Kenneth Button
Leading African businessman
What is the infrastructural agenda for accelerating integration? Upgrading transport, telecommunications, and energy infrastructure are recognized as essential contributors to the process of economic development and poverty reduction.This sessionwill be an opportunity for infrastructural initiatives in key sectors to be showcased and discussed.
What are the priorities in the various components of the transport sector, including road, rail, river, sea and air? Whatmeasuresare envisaged intelecommunicationsand ICTtobridge the digital divide? How can regional energy policies be rationalized?
What decision-making structures are required for effective planning and management in these sectors? What financing mechanisms should we contemplate for both private and public sector funds?
Plenary Session 6: Economic Policies for Accelerating Regional Integration
Chair:
Presenters:
Discussant:
Ademola Oyejide, Ibadan University Konan Bany, BCAO
Dani Rodrik, Harvard
Leading African businessman
Economic and monetary union is one of the aims of the African Union.The
Constitutive Act of the AU commits Africa to setting up the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank (Article 19), alongside the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (Article 22). Current African development initiatives envision regional integration in thecontext of effective macroeconomic management and corporate governance, and enhanced partnership between Africa's best-performers and international development partners. This entails promoting increased regional trade and convergence of monetary policies. The removal of barriers between national markets will increase efficiency and help attract foreign investment. Some subregions have already taken significant stepsinthis direction.
This session will begin with a comprehensive presentation of these issues.
In what ways will good macro-economic management facilitate economic integration, and vice versa? How is fiscal and monetary discipline to be maintained at a supra- national level? What are the implications of diverse economic performance for integration? What are the priorities for the private sector? How can government revenues be maintained while trade barriers are dismantled? Is subregional integration a stepping stone to regional integration? How does regional integration contribute to Africa's position in a globalized economy?
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Plenary Session 7: Peace and Security Architecture
Chair:
Presenter:
Discussants:
Speaker of Parliament, South Africa
Salim Ahmed Salim, former Secretary General, OAU Lansana Kouyate, ECOWAS
Ibrahim Gambari, UNASG
Peace and security are absolute prerequisites for regional integration. There are many complex issues to be addressed. Are some of Africa's conflicts-s-including those in theGreatLakes and the Hom-partly attributable to the absence of effective structures for regional peace and security? Can we identify a firm or evolving consensus on a doctrine to guide Africa's peace and security efforts? Is the current system workable, whereby peace-related efforts are mostly undertaken at a
subregional level? How are the AU and CSSDCA to work together in this area with an effectivedi vision of labour? How are they to relatetosubregional organizations?
What are the roles for Africa's most powerful states? How should the economic dimensions of conflict be addressed? What should bethemodalities for post-conflict reconstruction?
The presenter and discussants will examine current modalities for peacemaking at a subregional, regional andUNlevel, and how these may be enhanced and integrated within the AD. There will be an opportunity for input based onthe conclusions of the African Union Symposium.
Plenary Session 8: Building an Effective African Union
Chair:
Presenters:
Discussants:
SimbaMakOID,MinisterofFinance, Zimbabwe
Said Djinnit, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs,OAU Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheern,General Secretary, Pan African Movement Establishing the African Union is an ambitious undertaking whichwill make considerable demands on the existing institutional infrastructure and finance.The Constitutive Act of the AU specifies a range of institutions, but not an action plan for prioritizing their establishment and functioning. A comprehensive presentationwill focus on the AU vision, the functional architecture of the AU,the building of capacities in the AU and subregional organizations,and the financing of the AU Commission.
The AU is the most ambitious political programme for Africa. since independence.
What is the model that it is following, and how does it reflect specifically African experiences and aspirations? What is the timing and sequencing of the establishment of the institutions? How should the AU sensitize and engage a wider group of stakeholders in the AU institutions such as civil society? How will the AU further democracy and human rights? How do national governments see the compatibilities
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Plenary Session 9: Heads of State Presentations
Chair:
Presenters:
AmaraEssy, Secretary General, OAU Heads ofStateand Government
This session will be an opportunity for the invited Heads of State and Government to present their vision and plans for regional economic and political integration.
Parallel Closed Session: Priorities for Implementation
Co-chairs: Lalla Ben Barka, Deputy Executive Secretary, ECA Said Djinnit, Assistant Secretary General, OAU
This will be a closed session in which select representatives of the Focus Groups, regional organizations, RECs, selected governments and experts will discuss the key findings from the Forum, and prepare and approve a final declaration for ADFill.
This session will be conducted in parallel with Plenary Session 9.
Plenary Session 10: Heads of State Forum
Chair/moderator: K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary, ECA Panels: Heads of State and Government
Representatives of six stakeholder FocusGroups
In this plenary, representatives of the six stakeholder Focus Groups will have the opportunity to ask questions of the Heads of State and Government on their views on how integration should proceed in Africa. The session will help better understand the political concerns about integration and the ways in which stakeholders and
governments can be engaged in supporting the process of regional integration,
Closing Session: The Way Forward
Co-chairs: K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary, ECA Amara Essy,Secretary General, QAU
The final sessionwill consist of a presentation of the final declaration and plan of action from ADF III, and discussion of recommendations for the July 2002 Summit to inaugurate the African Union in Pretoria, South Africa.
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There will be a video address by H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations .
Stakeholder Focus Groups
ADF experience underlines the benefits of organizing stakeholder Focus Groups as an integral part of the Forum. These groups can provide cross-cutting analysis and advocacy, and can ensure that key interest groups are able to make sustained and constructive inputs into the Forum and its outcome.They can be a key instrument for post-Forum follow-up activities. Focus Groups also help ensure the widest possible ownership of the final outcome statements.
In ADF III, the experience of previous ADFs will be built upon, by giving the Focus Groups a more integrated role. Specifically, each Focus Group will conveneit breakout session (in round one) to present itself, its analysis and aims, and to receive inputs from other conference participants including experts. This is designed to maximize their interaction with the main conference and to ensure the best possible output.
Each Focus Group will be tasked with preparing its recommendations for presentation in Plenary Session 10 (the Heads of State Forum). Thiswill take the form of (a) a written statement that can be tabled and(b) specific questions for the Heads of State Forum.
List of Focus Groups
The following Focus Groups will convene during ADF Ill:
1. Private sector.
This is a stakeholder group of businessmen, including both Africans and non- Africans who invest inAfrica.This group will identify the private sector's priorities for regional integration, and evaluate current efforts in line with these priorities.
Convenor:Africa Business Roundtable 2. Civil society.
This is a stakeholder groupdrawn from a wide range of CSOs concerned with development issues including poverty reduction, social service provision, human rights, etc. It will identify the roleto be playedbycivil society in promoting and influencing regional integration.
Convenor: Jalal Abdel Latif, InterAfrica Group.
3. Youth.
Young people are stakeholders in the future. UNICEF will help convene a group of African youth to participate and make their voices heard in ADF III. The group will advocate the interests of young people.
Convenor: Nankali Maksoud, UNICEF.
4. Parliamentarians.
This stakeholder group of elected representativesdrawn from across Africa, which will focus on the future development of a Pan-African Parliament, the
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relationships between democratization and regional integration and how the two can be utilized to strengthen one another.
Convenor:Ibrahim Fall, Inter-African Parliamentary Union.
5.
ict.
This is a stakeholder/expert group consisting of Partnership for Information and Communication Technologies in Africa, i.e. the existing working group on leT.
This will examine and promotetheroleofIC'I' in all aspects ofregional integration.
Convenor: Karima Bounemra,DISD, ECA.
6. HIVIAJDS.
This isa groupofstakeholders (persons livingwith HIV/AIDS and those engaged in IDV/AIDS programmes and activities), and experts concerned withmY/AIDs.
It will ensurethat therequirement of responding to the HIV/AIDSpandemic remains atthe forefrontof theagenda.
Convenor: Ugandan PLWA
Focus Groups' pre-Conference Preparations
Members of each Foeus Group will meet before the main conference to prepare themselves.They will appoint a chair and rapporteur (tasked with preparing the final statement) and designate members to attend breakout sessions and report back. The stakeholder groups may require longer preparatory sessions.
Focus Groupsin BreakoutSessionsRound One
Thefirst breakout sessions will be panel discussions convened by the Focus Groups themselves.This will be an opportunityforeach group to outlineits agenda:its relationship to theAU and NEPAD, its interest and concerns forregional integration, and its hopes for the outcome of ADFIII.This will also be an opportunity for other participantsinthe ADF to familiarize themselves with the Focus Groups and to contribute themselves to substantive discussions on the core issues of concern to the Focus Groups.
Focus Groups throughout the ADF
Subsequently, each Focus Group will be expected to send one member to each breakout session in rounds 2 and 3,toreport back to a daily resume and strategy meeting of the Focus Group.These meetings will also draft the Focus Group's final statement anditsquestionstopose to the Heads of State Forum on the final day.
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Breakout Sessions
Threerounds of Breakout Sessions are scheduled.These will allow smaller groups to discuss key issues ingreater depth.
Each Breakout Sessionwillhave a chair, and a rapporteur (assigned by ECA) to prepare a summary of discussions and recommendations, which will be made
available to conference participantsinthe daily report, and tabled. Note that Round 1 sessions will have two rapporteurs: the conference rapporteur who prepares a report on the discussion, and the Focus Group'sowndesignated rapporteur who will prepare a final report from the Focus Group for presentation on the final day.
Each breakout session will consist of a short (10 minute) presentation followed by remarks from one or two discussants, and open discussion.
Breakout Sessions Round One
The first round of Breakout Sessions is based upon the Focus Groups themselves. In each case, a member of the Focus Group will present the analysis and viewpoint of the stakeholders concerned, followed by remarks by discussants.
J.JPrivate sector.
The confidence and engagement of the private sector is key to the success of regional economic integration. How does the private sector assess the AU and development partnership initiatives? How doesitevaluate its involvementwith these initiatives to date? How does it see that the AU can promote investment and trade?
1.2 Civil society.
Is there a pan-African civilSOCiety?What can be done to establish or strengthen civil society linkages across Africa? What relationship does civil society seek with the AU? How should human rights be promoted and protected within these initiatives? What should be the role of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights?
1.3 Youth.
Youth are critical toany initiatives for Africa, yet there seem to be few
mechanisms for including them in processes such as the AU and NEPAD. What are the views and priorities of young people? How can they be consulted and included?
1.4Parliamentarians.
Deepening democracy should be an integral component of effective regional political integration. and Article 17 of the Constitutive Act of the AU calls for a Pan-African Parliament. What experience is there of subregional parliamentsthat can be learned from? How can democratization and regional integration be
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pursued in a mutually supportive manner? How should the Pan African Parliament be established?
1.5
tcr.
ICT is at the forefront ofregional integration and can playa major Tole in promoting and realizing the AU and enhanced development partnership, How is this to be achieved? What are the priorities for investment in ICT?
1.6 HIVIAIDS.
The HIVIAIDS pandemic is the single greatest threat to Africa in the coming decades.Itis a region-wide threat that demands coordinated regional action at all levels. How should the AU and development initiatives incorporate measures to overcome ffiV/AIDS? How can the pandemic be tackled at a regional level?
BreakoutSessionsRoundTwo
This round will be based upon plenary sessions 5 and 6,The six breakout sessions will concentrate on:
2.JFiscal and monetary policies.
How will governments achieve convergence of macro-economic policies at subregional (REC) level and at the continental level? How can national
macroeconomic policies be enhanced and made more consistent with convergence targets?
Presenter:Musa Toure,UEMOA 2.2 Trade policies.
What are thepriorities for trade policies to promote integration? What are the options for free trade areas,customs union,cornmon markets? How can factor mobility (goods and services,people, and capital) be promoted to Africa's advantage? How should these relate to the international trade regime?
Presenters: ECA
Pri vate sector 2.3Infrastructurepriorities.
What are the priorities for physical infrastructure, in transport,communications and energy? What should be the conceptual framework for agreeing, designing and implementing regional infrastructural projects, taking into account the need to enhance Africa's global competitiveness? How are these projects to be financed, utilizing national banks, ADB,World Bank and the private sector?
Presenters: ECA
ADB
2.4 Higher education and research.
How should Africa's higher education and research priorities be defmed? What is the role of the university in Africa in the 2151century? What is the role for regional cooperation in establishing centres of excellenceinhigher education, scientific research and public policy analysis? How should higher education be financed and how shoulditbe linked to international universities?
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Presenter:Bolanle Awe (MacArthur Foundation) or Jacob Ajayi (University of Ibadan and International Congress of African Studies)
2.5 Assuring government revenues.
Any moves towards regional integration entail a probable loss of revenue for national governments, alongside increased expenditure on institutional capacity building in order to implementAUand governance commitments.How are government revenues to be sustainedinthese circumstances? What alternative sources of revenue exist? Willdebt reliefand increased external assistance be sufficient? What special needs do small countries have?
Presenter. tobe identified
2,6Promoting regional private sector investment.
Regional integration stands or falls on private sector investment. How can this be promoted? How can African countries cooperateto attractFDI? What should be the policy towards intra-regional investment, e.g. by South African businesses elsewhere in Africa? What is the role of regional capital markets and howcan these be expanded?
Presenter: Private sector
Breakout Sessions Round Three
This round will be based upon plenary sessions 7 and 8.The seven breakout sessions will concentrate on:
3.1 Building institutional capacities/or integration.
The AU and regional economic integration require institutional capacity building at both national and regional level. What should be the prioritiesto ensure that appropriate capacities are built, so that treaty obligations are implemented? How are these capacities to be built without undermining other governance
requirements?
Presenters: ECOWAS EAC
3.2 Creating political backing/or integration.
Popular pan-Africanist sentiment exists across the continent, but so far the processes of political and economic integration have been state-led and there is a recognized need for involving other stakeholders. How is political backing for the AU and regional economic integration to be promoted? What is the role of subregional and regional parliaments and parliamentary associations? What isthe role of civil society? How can the private sector organizeto promote effective regional integration?
Presenters: Ibrahima Fall, UN Private sector 3.3 Protecting small countries.
Small states are often losersinintegration processes, but there is experience from southern Africa and elsewhereinthe worldwith mechanisms to ensure that small
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countries do not lose their identities in the process of integration. How should these lessons be applied?
Presenter: SADe
3.4 The regional rule oflaw and compliance with agreements.
African countries adherencetoregional commitments has so far been imperfect.
What lessons are to be learned from the implementation or non-implementation of treaty obligations to economic integration? What mechanisms can be developedto encourage adherence? What sanctions can be applied to non-performers?
Presenter:Malwa, fanner OAU
3.5Roles for SROs, supra-regional organizations and the UN in the African Union.
International organizations haveacomplex architectureatsubregional level, supra-regional level (e.g. Arab League, Commonwealth) and UN level. How is the AU torelate to these different organizations? What tasks are best performed at which levels? Are there benefitsto the current state of ambiguity'?
Presenters: IGAD ACAS
3.6Citizenship.
Establishing the AU and economic integration requires the harmonization of citizenship laws, promoting the free movement of labour, and dismantling discrimination of all kinds. This is a challenge for many African nations.How is this agenda to beconceptualizedandpursued?What are the roles of regional judicial and parliamentary institutions in this regard?
Presenter: Chidi Odinkalu, Interights.
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