1982- 198a
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
BIENNIAL
REPORT
OF
THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
NOTE
Symbols of the United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document, United Nations documents symbols which are preceded by the designation E/ECA/ •• ", indicate that the documents are issued under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Africa.
EjECA/CM.IO/ll
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CONTENTS
Page ABBREVIATIONS _ _ _ _ _ - - - _ _ _ - - - vi FOREWORD - - - -
CHAPTERS
I. REVIEW OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN AFRICA, 1982-1983 IN THE LIGHT OF DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES, TARGETS AND STRATEGIES - - - -
II. POLICY ORGANS AND ADVISORY BODIES - - - -
ix
1
9 III. PROGRESS REPORT ON ras IMPLEMENTATION OF nlE APPROVED
WORK PROGRAMME OF THE COMMISSION (1982-1983) - - - 15 DEVELOPMENT ISSUES AND POLICIES - - - -
Socio-economic surveys and reviews
Socio-economic planning and projections- Fiscal, monetary and financial issues at the
national level - - - - ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND INTEGRATION -
Policies and institutions for economic co-operation Projects for economic co-operation - - - - EDUCATION, TRAINING, LABOUR, MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYMENT
Education and training for development - - - - Manpower and employment planning and policies - - - - ENVIRONMENT - - -
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE - - - -
Agricultural development policy, planning and pro- gramming - - - - Promotion of integrated rural development,improve-
ment of agricultural institutions and services and expansion of food production - - - - Agricultural marketing, institutions, services and
facilities - - - -
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15 15 16 21 22 22 26 26 27 30 31 35 35
37
39
CONTENTS (continued)
Page HUMAN SETTLE~ffiNTS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -_ 40
Human settlements policy and planning Institutions and management
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT - - - -
- - -
4042 44 Policy development and institution-building - - -
Development of basic industries - - - - Development of agro-based and forest-based indus-
tries - - - -
Development of small-scale industries - - - - INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Domestic trade and finance
Trade with non-African countries -
International financial and monetary policies - - - - NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY - -
45 47 50 52 53 53 61 64 70
Mineral resources Water resources - - Energy - - - - Cartography and remote Resources of the sea POPULATION - - - -
sensing -
- - - -
- - -
70 73 75 76 78 79
Relevant aspects of population policies and program- mes within the framework of economic and social
development - - - 79
Population dynamics and economic and social develop-
ment - - - 80
Regional training and research 84
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE - 85
Institutional, administrative and managerial capabili-
ties for development - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 85 Development and management of budgetary and taxation
systems - - - _ _ _ _ _ _ --- 87 - iv -
CONTENTS (continued)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - - - • -- - Development of policies, machinery and capabilities
for science and technology - - - - Development of manpower for science and technology Promotion of regional and interregional co-operation
in science and technology - - - --
Page 89 89 90 91 SOCIAL DEVELOIMENT AND HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS - - 93 Integrated rural development - - - 93 Youth and social welfare - - - 94 Integration of women in development _ - _ - - - -- - 97 STATISTICS - - - -
National statistical services
Regional framework of statistical information - - TRANSPORT - - - -
104 104 108 109 A. Implementation of specific projects - - - a - - - 109 Institution-building and planning - - - 109
Intra-African links - 112
Maritime and coastal shipping - - - 115 Development of tourism - - - 117 Improvement and development of communications 118 B. United Nations Transport and Communications
Decade in Africa - Mobilization of resources
and preparation of programmes - - - -- - 120 ANALYSIS OF ACTUAL PROGRAMME PERFORMANCE AT THE OUTPUT
LEVEL IN 1982-1983 IN RELATION TO THE COMMITMENT IN THE
PROPOSED PROGRAMME BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM 1982-1983 - 125 PAN-AFRICAN DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (PAnIS) 128 IV. RESOURCES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORK PROGRAMME
AND PRIORITIES 1982-1983 - - - _ - - - _ - - - - 132 V. PROMOTION (IF TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION AND ECONOMIC CO-
OPERATION AND INTEGRATION - - - 158 VI. CO-OPERATION WITH AFRICAN INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 165
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MC ACP ADB AFCAC AFRM AHSCP AIDF ANC ARCC ARSO ATRCW CAFRAD CEPGL CTNC ECA ECDC ECE
ECLA ECOWAS ECWA EDF EEC ESCAP FAO
ABBREVIATIONS
African Association of Cartography
African, Caribbean and Pacific countries African Development Bank
African Civil Aviation Commission African Airlines Association
African Household Survey Capability Programme African Industrial Development Fund
African National Congress
Africa Regional Co-ordinating Committee for the Integration of Women in Development
African Regional Organization for Standardization African TraiRing and Research Centre for Women
African Centre for Administrative Training and Research for Development
Economic Community of the Great Lakes countries Centre on Transnational Corporations
Economic Commission for Africa
Economic co-operation among developing countries Economic Commission for Europe
Economic Commission for Latin America Economic Community of West African States Economic Commission for Western Asia European Development Fund
European Economic Community
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
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-~~----~._---"""---.,_.,
GAIT lAEA IBRD ICAO IDRC IFAD I FORD lLO IMF lMO ITC
lTU
IYC MULPOC OAU OECD OPEC PAC PAID PADIS PANAFTEL PTA RIPS SIDA
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade International Atomic Energy Agency
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Civil Aviation Organization
International Development Research Cotmcil of Canada International Ftmd for Agricultural Development Institut de formation et de recherche dllmographiques International Labour Organisation
International Monetary Fund
International Maritime Organization International Trade Centre
International Telecommtmication Union International Year of the Child
Multinational Programming and Operational Centre Organization of African Unity
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania Pan African Institute for Development
Pan-African Documentation and Information System Pan-African Telecommunication Network
Preferential Trade Area
Regional Institute for PopUlation Studies Swedish International Development Agency
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STPA SWAPO TCDC UDEAC UNCHS UNCTAD UNDP UNEP UNESCO UNFPA UNICEF UNIDO UNTACDA UNTFAD USAID WFC WFP WHO WIPO WI{)
wro
Statistical Training Programme for Africa South West African People's Organization
Technical co-operation among developing countries Central African Customs and Economic Union
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
United Nations Fund for Population Activities United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Industrial Development Organization United Nations Transport and Communications Decade in
Africa
United Nations Trust Fund for African Development United States Agency for International Development World Food Council
World Food Programme World Health Organization
World Intellectual Property Organization World Meteorological Organization
World Tourism Organization
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, ,_, ~_I"
FOREWORD
This biennial report on the years 1982-1983 is the third in the series which 1 started in 1978 as a vehicle for reporting to member States on the activities of the secretariat in its efforts to assist the Governments of member States, directly through its own activities and indirectly through its technical backstopping of the work of their inter-governmental organiz- ations, in the continuous and arduous tasks of the Governments to solve the economic, social and technological problems of their countries.
The first two issues in the series covered the years 1977-1978 and 1979-1980, respectively, and the fact that the present issue covers 1982- 1983 could be construed to mean that the year 1981 has been skipped. For- tunately, such an interpretation could only be true in the sense of the series. In terms of keeping member States informed about the activities of the secretariat in 1981, it is not true. This is because, reports high- lighting these activities, particularly in the context of the work of sect- oral and other overall organs of the Commission, such as the Conference of African Ministers of Industry, the Conference of African Ministers of Trans- port, Communications and Planning, the Council of Ministers of each MULPOC and the Joint Conference of Planners, Statisticians and Demographers, to name only a few, have been published. Moreover, there was in 1982 a review of the activities of the secretariat units of the United Nations, including the ECA secretariat, by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination for the years 1980-1981. In fact, it is the need to align our biennial reports with those of the Secretary-General on proposed programme budgets approved by the General Assembly that has led to our decision to prepare the present
report to cover the biennium 1982-1983. Henceforth, our biennial reports will deal with the same bienniums on which the Secretary-General prepares programme performance reports for consideration by the Committee for Pro- gramme and Co-ordination.
In the report for the biennium 1979-1980, I gave a brief history of the activities that led to the adoption of the Lagos Plan of Action, in- cluding the Final Act of Lagos, and declared that "The Lagos Plan of Action and Final Act constitute the marching orders of the secretariat and will have a profound effect on its activities in its effort to contribute to the economic and social development of Africa". The biennium 1982-1983 has seen a further intensification of our effor·s to assist member States to implement the goals and objectives of the Plan and the Act, as the contents of the following pages clearly demonstrate.
The programme of work and priorities for the biennium 1982-1983, whose implementation is covered in the present report, was reviewed and approved by the Conference of ~Qnisters at its seventh meeting (sixteenth session of the Commission) in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1981, i.e. barely a year after the adoption of the Plan and the Act by our Heads of State and Government.
In fact, the programme was drafted during the last quarter of 1980, a few months after the adoption of the Plan and the Act. Hence, in the nature of things, the evolution of ideas and the consequent continuous improved inter- pretation of some of the ideas and requirements of the Plan and the Act in the context of a dynamic environment have inevitably led to reformUlations, eliminations, postponements and additions, particularly at the request of
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appropriate legislative authorities, Such reformulations and additions are reflected in various parts of the report while the postponements have been reprogrammed for the biennium 1984-1985,
During the period under review, there were occasions when we have had to defend the reorientation of development and economic growth efforts which the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act imply against ideas and proposals that in many ways detract from such reorientation. In this connection, it is en- couraging to report that the Conference of Ministers unanimously adopted the Declaration of Tripoli on the Ilorld Bank Report entitled "Accelerated deve- lopment in sub-Saharan Africa: an agenda for action" which affirmed that the goals and objectives defined by African countries in the Monrovia Strategy, the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos remained the authentic and authoritative goals and objectives of Africa.
Similarly, it is comforting to report that, as part of the Commission's Silver Jubilee Anniversary resolutions, the Conference of Ministers also adopted the "ADDIS ABABA DECLARATIOr-; ON THE OCCASION OF THE SILVER JUBILEE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC CmlMISSION FOR AFRICA"
in which the ~inisters solemnly resolved to implement the goals, objectives and philosophy of the Plan and Act. Thus, these two Declarations adopted during the 1982-l9A3 bienniwr. confirm that the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act continue to constitute our marching orders. In any case, I be- lieve that we have no choice but to implement the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act since the chapter entitled "Review of economic and social conditions in Africa, 1982-1983, in the light of development objectives, Targets and Strategies" demonstrably shows that the s oc i.o-ieconomi.c condi- tions in the region in 1982-1983 deteriorated mainly because of na tu ra l disasters and external conditions and policies.
Yet, in general, there are hardly any encouraging signs that the neces- sary policy reorientation in individual member States is being vigorously undertaken. However, as this report shows, significant progress was made in the biennium in implementation of the requirements of the Final Act.
Thus, while existing economic groupings continued to be strengthened, new ones, namely, the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Economic Community of Central African States, were firmly established.
Significant progress was also made in our efforts to assist in the establish- ment of the North African MULPOC. Similarly, efforts are being concerted to rationalize economic groupings in West Africa and harmonize their activities.
Still in the important area of collective self-reliance, the secret- ariat continued to give technical backstopping to the activities of the various institutions established for initiating and sustaining economic and technical co-operation among member States, such as the various institutions established for the purpose of increasing our knowledge about our natural resources without which our programme of industrialization will remain stal- led, the institutions charged with the task of upgrading the quality of indigenous technologies, promoting the adaptation of imported technologies and encouraging the development of new technologies in consonant with our human and materials resources and in harmony with tr.e principle of preserv- ing ecological equilibrium, as well as the institutions for upgrading human skills. Our links with the heads of these institutions through the meetings of their Chief Executives were further strengthened.
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Unfortunately, the increasing financial problems facing these insti- tutions led the Conference of Ministers at its ninth meeting (eighteenth session of the Commission) to adopt a resolution entitled "Evaluation and harmonization of the activities of African multinational institutions spo- nsored by EGA and OAU" and establish an' ad 'hoc' commi ttee "to undertake an
assessment of the objectives and operations of the institutions with a view to making proposals as to their continued relevance and effectiveness and to advise on ways and means by which their activities may be better ration- alized, co-ordinated, harmonized and/or integrated". While that decision was based on a 1980 decision of the Ministers as well as on the instruction of the Heads of State and Government contained in paragraph 264(i) of the
Lagos Plan of Action, I should like to emphasize that the continued sustain- ment of institutions in Africa can only be ensured by member States them- selves.
In the last report, I did say that the increasingly challenging role which the secretariat has assumed highlighted more than ever the imperative need for increased resources if it was to play this role to the satisfaction of member States. In this context, while I expressed dissatisfaction with the dwindling, in real terms, of resources from the regular budget, I did say that the extrabudgetary resources received from the United Nations
family and other multilateral and bilateral sources outside the African con- tinent increased substantially during the period. In the same vein, I did say that in spite of openly-expressed support by all African Governments for the cause of collective self-reliance, that support was not being demo- nstrated by some of our Governments through cont'ributions to the United Nations Trust Fund for African Development (UNTFAD).
In general, during the period 1982-1983 our financial tide actually ebbed. In particular, we were seriously hit by the decision of the United
Nations Development Programme to stop supporting the core staff of the MULPOCs effective 1 January 1983 and that of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities to stop supporting the "infrastructure" posts for the population programme. Following this unwelcome news, we had no, choice but to turn to the General Assembly of the United Nations. And thanks to the efforts of the African Group in New York and those of the Secretary-General and his other staff at UN Headquarters, the General Assembly was able to decide in December 1982 that the posts of the core staff of the MULPOCs should be financed from the regular budget effective January 1983 and in December 1983 that the "infrastructure" posts for the population programme should be financed from the regular budget effective January 1984, but not without one of the biggest contributors to the regular budget threatening
to deduct that amount from its contribution to the 1984-1985 biennium budget.
The overall result was a great increase in the regular budget resources and a drastic fall in extrabudgetary resources, However, the fall in extra- buagetary resources was not due only to the shortfalls from UNDP and UNFPA, Shortfalls from bilateral resources and from UNTFAD were also responsible.
~bile the difficult economic situation which the international community went through in the period under review was no doubt responsible for the
fall in bilateral resources and in many cases for that in the contributions by member States to ~7FAD, it cannot be claimed as justification for non- pledging to UNTFAD by some member States since the establishment of the Fund
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in 1977. ~bile once again 1 take this opportunity to thank most sincerely those Governments which have pledged and paid, I should like to renew my appeal to all Governments of member States to make collective self-reliance a successful venture in Africa through their financial and other supports.
Inter-agency co-operation and collaboration have always been a feature of our activities. Such co-operation and collaboration have continued dur- ing 1982-1983. Not only have the activities of Joint Divisions and Joint Units been strengthened, as indicated in various sections of this report, many missions, meetings, seminars, and workshops were jointly undertaken.
Despite the shortfalls from financial contributions from UNDP and UNFPA, these agencies were and are still very ·strong backers of our activities.
As far as interregional co-operation was concerned, our relations with ECWA, ECLA. ESCAP and ECE were strengthened.
With particular reference to co-operation and collaboration between the ECA secretariat and the secretariat of the Organization of African Unity, it is gratifying to report that such co-operation and collaboration received a great boost during the biennium through the signing of a ~emora
ndum of understanding by me and the Secretary-General of OAU on general co- operation and collaboration and with special emphasis on co-operation and collaboration in the implementation of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos. In this context, the basic mechanism for nurturing such co-operation and collaboration - the Inter-secretariat Committee on which the Secretary-General of OAU and I serve as leaders and which comprises some of our senior staff members - was established in February 1982 and it has been functioning smoothly since then.' As a result of this renewed collaboration and co-operation, the Secretary-General of OAU and I jointly prepared the first report on the implementation of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos for submission to the nineteenth session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in 1982, although the document was only examin- ed by the Assembly in June 1983. However the version submitted to the Heads of State and government Inccrporated the revisions which the Conference of Ministers of ECA had requested when it examined the original document at its Commission's twenty-fifth anniversary meeting in April/May 1983. Other collaborative activities during the biennium comprised participation in the meetings of the legislative organs of each organization and the joint organ- ization and servicing of the activities which led to the establishment of the Economic Community of Central African States.
As it is, the programme of work and prioritie~ for the biennium 1982- 1983 is the first programme of the secretariat to be based substantially on the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos, even though some of the ideas underlying the Plan and the Act had been guiding principles for our work even before their adoption. Reflecting on our activities over the past two years and on the collaboration that ensued between us and the represent- atives of member States in carrying out t~ese activities, I have no doubt that the future augurs well for the faithful implementation of the goals and objectives of the Plan and the Act. As the proposed programme budget 1984-1985 already indicates. we have sha~ened further our conception of
'~e strategies which we must adopt to aSS1St member States in addressing
!uarely their economic, social and technological problems. I have no doubt '13t the secretariat will continue to deliver the goods.
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Talking about the years 1982 and 1983, I cannot but recall with affect- ion and a high sense of dignity and pride the seventeenth session of the Commission and eighth meeting of the Conference of Ministers, at which the
~llnisters after long and protracted debates on whether or not there was need to adopt a resolution or a declaration on the World Bank report, the Ministers without any dissent finally adopted the declaration; I recall with similar feelings the eighteenth session of the Commission and ninth meeting of the Conference of Ministers on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee Anniversary of the Commission, at Which for the first time in the history of the Commission ten Heads of State and/or of Government participated personal-
ly. The adoption of the Silver Jubilee Declaration was memorable but the presence of such dignitaries was not only memorable but symptomatic of the high esteem in which our Heads of State and Government hold the first co- ntinental intergovernmental institution in Africa. We shall always be grateful to them and their colleagues who could not participate personally but sent their good-will messages.
The chapters that fo~low attest to the breadth and depth of the acti- vities of the secretariat in the years 1982-1983. In spite and probably because of the shortfalls in financial and manpower resources, the account is not a bad one. What I believe is that with more resources, the secre- tariat can deliver more and improved goods and services in the years ahead.
Economic Commission for Africa Addis Ababa
February-19 811
\...~F
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Adebayo Adedej i Executive Secretary
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CHAPTER I
REVIEW OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN AFRICA, 1982-1983 IN THE LIGHT OF DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES, TARGETS AND STRATEGIES Introduction
In the corresponding chapter in the 1979-1980 biennial report. the opportunity was taken to review briefly the steps that led to the adoption of the Lagos Plan of Action and of the Final Act of Lagos and to highlight those aspects of the Plan and the Act against which their implementation would henceforth be assessed. That preoccupation with reorientation in the methods of progress assessment was a reflection of the basic ideas under-
lying the Plan and the Act and their associated goals and objectives. Speci- fically, while the need for continued assessment of progress in terms of the benefits of growth and their distribution was recognized, the necessity to expand such assessment to cover policies adopted in pursuing growth, parti- cularly in relation to the internalization of the supply of all the factors of production, distribution and even consumption, was equally stressed. In other words, emphasis was placed on the need to make development and economic growth the focus of assessment. Thus, one must not only talk about growth but also about the type of growth - its composition; its sources in terms of raw materials and factor and other inputs; how it is organized and managed;
its distribution between domestic and foreign factors and also between dom- estic factors - since all these constitute the context within which meaning- ful questions can be raised and answered on the crucial issues of internally- generated, self-sustaining, and self-reliant economic growth and development.
Unfortunately, this is one of those things that are easily said than done. There are principally two reasons for this. Firstly, the statistical and other information required for such a penetrating assessment is enormous and can only be generated, collected and analyseq over time. Secondly, the little information that is even available is scattered among many different sources reflecting different disciplines and their collection is both tedi- ous and time-consuming; it will also take time to synthesize such informa- tion. In the circumstances, we have no choice bet to use the traditional data on the output of goods and services and the fragmentary information available on the social impact of economic growth and development, while at the same time making every effort to encourage member States to give priority and allocate adequate resources to the generation, collection and analysis of socio-economic data required for the realistic and continuous assessment of the progress made and problems encountered in the implementation of the Lagos Plan of Action and t~3 Final Act of Lagos. The ongoing projects of the Com- mission - the "African household survey capability programme", the "Statistic- al training programme for Africa", the "National accounts capability program- me", Assistance in population Census-taking and analysis, including demogra- phic analysis" and "Social indicators for African development planning" -
are all aimed at assisting member States to get to grips with these thorny problems of data generation, collection and analysis.
Social and economic conditions in Africa in the biennium 1982-1983
For Africa 1982 and 1983 were years of cr1S1S aggregate output of goods and services failed to grow in 1982, and contrary to expectations, in 1~83,
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the growth rate was minimal, estimated to be a mere 0.2 per cent over 1982.
Thus, since 1980, output per head has been declining in constant terms by about 10 per cent per annum.
The agricultural sector, whose fortunes have invariably depended on climatic conditions, had a disturbing record. Indeed, "in 1982, the increase of food production in the developing countries as a whole was well below the 1981 figure, largely as a result of drought. The situation was most dramatic in Africa, where the most affected subregion was southern Africa, and especi- ally Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe" .1/ Similarly, the overall re- sults for 1983 were forecast to be very bad because of drought in southern Africa, parts of the Sahel and even in the coastal areas of the Gulf of
Guinea. In fact, preliminary forecasts indicated that agricultural output in 1983 might be as much as 3 per cent less than in 1982. Indeed, the situation was so bad that emergency programmes had to be introduced to forestall famine.
In the event, "the region now has become the largest recipient of food aid, about half of the total, as compared to 5 to 6 per cent in the 1970s".
y
Moreover, according to FAD, 24 countries of the region were declared "most affected" countries which required immediate food aid at the beginning of 1984.
The poor performance of food and agriculture, due to the drought and the long neglect of the sector, led to further increases in the importation of cereals, estimated to have reached 28.7 million tons in 1983 as compared to 24.6 million tons in 1982, a figure which was somewhat reduced by the fall in cereal prices. Even though a single country, Egypt, imported about 30 per cent of the total, the level of imports was no doubt a proof that the African food and agriculture sector was not able to meet the needs of the countries of the region.
Much has been said about the low productivity of the sector, due among other factors to unremunerative prices for producers, poor and inadequate extension services, lack of usable technical packages, inadequate distribut- ion systems, and deficient or non-existent credit systems. Obviously, all these problems deserve urgent attention. But more important also is the need for concerted international action to address the problems of drought, which at the beginning of 1984 was adversely affecting 34 member States of the Commission. In this context, it is hoped that the recommendations of the Scientific Round Table on the Climatic Situation and Drought in Africa, held in Addis Ababa from 20 to 23 February 1984, will be implemented by African countries themselves, with the strong support of the international community.
Focus on the drought situation should be an integral part of the efforts now being deployed to assist African countries to grapple with fpod and agri- culture problems, such as the preparation of food strategies, the series of
1/ 1983 Review of Development Co-operation - Efforts and Policies of the Members of the Development Assistance Committee, OECD, Paris 1983, p.135.
Y
World Foed Council, quoted in the 1983 Review of Development Co- operation, op. cit., p.14- 2 -
meetings devoted to the food and agriculture problems of Africa (including the African Development Bank's Symposium on the "Food crisis in Africa and the role of ADB", organized as part of the activities connected with its twentieth anniversary celebrations, and the tenth Ministerial Conference of the World Food Council, scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in June 1984, whose main theme will be the food and agriculture problems in Africa), and the ongoing adjustment prograJDDles under the aegis of the World Bank, the greatest component of which is food and agriculture. Much is also expected from the apparent increase in the interest of all agencies, includ- ing bilateral donor agencies, to allocate more resources - human, material and financial - to the food and agriculture sector in Africa, despite the signs that foreign aid in general may be running into deep waters in the years ahead.
However, while aid and technical assistance are crucial, as the DECD secretariat's Development Co-operation Directorate says " ..• although isolat- ed aid projects may have a certain success, in the long run, aid to agricul- ture can be effective only if it can operate in a context of national polic- ies which are themselves conducive to agricultural development and to the effective use of aid". 3/ This means, that, in effect, we would need nation- al policies that would-not only address themselves to the needs of the people, whether in urban or rural areas, but to the type of natural resources avail- able, the skills and the institutions required for developing them effective- ly, and to the problem of how to match resources with skills to meet the re- quired needs.
The mining sector has become as important as agriculture, particularly since the change in oil prices in 1973-1974. In the period under review, mining accounted for about 16 per cent of total output and provided up to 72 per cent of the total value of exports. Given this situation, the depend- ence of the sector on external markets was almost complete.
Most of the oil and other minerals extracted in Africa are sold outside the continent in the markets of the industrial countries, and any fluctuations on these markets have an immediate impact on the mining industry. Such fluctu··
at ions have been particularly prominent in the biennium 1982-1983, with demand falling for both oil and non-oil and non-oil mineral products. In fact, the markets for oil and non-oil commodities of interest to African countries, such as copper, aluminium, lead, cocoa, groundnuts, natural rubber and sugar, were adversely affected in 1982. Indeed, the demand for copper, iron are, aluminium and lead fell sharply, with unhappy consequences for their prices,
except in the case of iron are, whose price actually increased because it is tied to long-term contracts. In general, "the dollar value of non-oil com- modities exported by developing countries fell by 13.2 per cent in 1982, with particularly severe reductions in sugar, rice, and groundnuts, the unit value of which in each case, declined by 35 per cent or more".y Moreover, except for coffee, international agreements did not help in preventing price declin- es. In general, the production of minerals in Africa fell by about 8.1 per cent in 1982, compared with 1981, and declined further, by 2.5 per cent, in 1983.
3/ DECD, op. cit., p.142.
~ World Bank Annual Report 1983, p.27.
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The manufacturing sector was deeply affected by the balance-of-payments problems of the region, with many countries finding themselves unable to import the necessary spare parts and raw material inputs to keep the sector running. In some cases, productive capacity utilization fell to under 20 per cent, with a virtual closure of many firms. In reality, the growth of manufacturing output by only 3.7 per cent in 1982 and 0.4 per cent in 1983 was wholly inadequate, if the objectives set out in the Lagos Plan of Action were ever to be reached. In this sector, as in agriculture, reforms are necessary if growth is to resume. Already, many governments have acted to revive the sector, and particularly, the public manufacturing sector, which is under their direct responsibility. Similarly, this was another sector where adjustment measures were being introduced, particularly with respect to rehabilitation of existing plant. Such rehabilitation should assist not only in the better use of resources but also in laying the foundations for more realistic planning as far as the use of domestic human and material re- sources is concerned.
The investment effort of African countries since the beginning of the decade has been truly impressive if account is taken of the level of income.
In 1983 gross fixed capital formation was 24 per cent for the whole region,
~d, althOUgh it was lower than 1981, becuase of the current diffiCUlties, it was quite high considering that the income level was around $655 per head at 1980 prices. Even in the least developed countries, capital formation reached 17 per cent of total output.
However, as the experience of the last years has showed, it is not so much the absolute level of investment which is decisive as its efficient distribution and use. The rise of capital-output ratios and the low level of capacity utilization are both clear proof that investment was not effi- cient. In fact, there were numerous cases of inappropriate distribution of investment funds, of wrong location of capital projects, of gaps in infrastructure, of poor levels of planning, organization and control, of inappropriate technology and other defects. As a result, the cost of invest- ment in African countries was higher than it should be, even though capital goods had of necessity to be imported from abroad. Clearly, measures are needed for more rational and prudent use of investment funds, particularly since the availability of external resources from both aid and non-concessi on- al sources is becoming tighter for African countries. Indeed, there was a net reduction, in real terms, of development aid for Africa, and aid commitments under ODA from DAC countries have been reduced. The same trend was apparent from OPEC, which was the other important aid source for Africa.
In the foregoing paragraphs, an account has been given of the overall situation of aggregate output of goods and services and of"the role of the food and agriculture sector and of the industrial sector in that situation.
An account has also been given of the share of investment. In all cases, re- ferences have been made to the internal and the external causes of the situ- ation. However, in view of the excessive external dependence of African
economies, the situation in extra-African markets continued to be the dominat- ing factor. Thus, the prolonged recession and the consequent fall in the de- mand for those products for which oil and non-oil commodities were required as inputs, the rise in interest rates as a result of stringent monetary and
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fiscal policies in the leading OECD countries and its effect on stock build-
lOn g
,
and the uncertainty about the future, with its depressing effects on investment commitment, were the major causes of the sharp declines in commod- ity prices in 1982. ~~en the fact that the prices of the products sold by the developed countries did not decline in relation to those of the develop- ing countries is added to the sharp fall in foreign exchange earnings, the continuing causes of the deteriorating external position of the region should not be difficult to identify.Similarly, the steep rise in the costs of borrowing discouraged some member States from borrowing. That rise, coupled with the sharp drop in foreign exchange earnings due to fall in demand for commodities and the dec- line in official development assistance commitments, led to increased borrow- ing by some other countries either to pay for past debts or to buy inevitable goods and services. Overall, the debt service obligations of sub-Saharan African countries rose by 25 per cent in 1982 and were projected to increase by 60 per cent in 1983. As a result, the current account deficit of the re- gion reached $26.4 billion in 1982 or about 41 per cent of the value of expo- rts; debt accumulation amounted to $108 billion; and the associated debt- service ratio rose to 28.3 per cent of the earnings from exports of goods and services, compared to 8.8 per cent in 1980. As OECD summed up the situation,
"for low-income African countries, it is estimated that the decline in their terms of trade, from the peak of 1977 to the trough of 1982, increased their trade deficits by the equivalent of 7 per cent of GNP." In these circumstances, the rapid increase in official development assistance (aDA) flows to African
low-income countries ••• has been filling a large hole rather than adding to a sustained domestically-generated import purchasing power capacity.~
It is fashionable to say that, compared with Latin American countries, the debt problem of Africa is manageable. This may be true for countries like Nigeria, the Ivory Coast and Zaire, which, if given sufficient time by credit- ors, should be able to handle their debt problems, although debt service for these countries in recent years has become an acute problem requiring severe internal policy measures and/or special rescheduling arrangements with credit- ors. ~owever, in 1983, 15 countries of the region had to reschedule their foreign debts formally. But, what is more inconvenient for some countries of the region, especially the low-income countries, is the debt accumulated be- cause of imports of food and other services for which there are no correspond- ing export-generating activities. Hence, the types and the terms of foreign- resource flow are issues for serious consideration in the 1980s.
The fall of overall output and the contraction of foreign trade directly affected the financial situation of governments. Revenue diminished and, to cover the widening deficit, some governments resorted to foreign financing and to money creation. At the same time, others adopted tight budget policies,
w., •. expendi.ture curtailed and efforts made to improve tax collection. The overall result for the region has been quite evident, with a marked declara- tion of money creation, which fell to under 20 per cent a year, and a steady decline in the inflation rate, whose median rate was 13.1 per cent in 1982 com- pared to 14.6 per cent in 1981, and fell to 11.8 per cent in 1983, according to the preliminary estimate.
'ij DEeD, op. cit., p.64.
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The social consequences of the economic cr1S1S facing African countries have been painful. Income per head has been declining almost continuously since 1980 and was 10 per cent less in 1982 than in 1980, being around $655 at 1980 prices. Meanwhile, the population continued to increase at a rate reaching 13 million more people a year and the rural-urban migration intensi- fied. All these things were happening at the same time so that the cities could not cope with the added demands for jobs and for services. Unemployment is difficult to measure, but there was no doubt that urban unemployment was and is taking a heavy toll, especially on school-levers and university gradu- ates, who could no longer find jobs, particularly in the public sector.
The Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos and the current social and economic conditions in Africa
In the introduction to this chapter, we have emphasized that any review of the economic and social situation of Africa subsequent to the adoption of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos should be focused on the issues which the Plan and the Act address. At the same time, however, we indicated that, owing to the non-availability of information on indicators of some of the novel issues and objectives addressed, particularly by the Plan, it has not been possible to undertake the type of penetrating assessment that the Plan and the Act demand. Yet,this situation does not imply that we cannot say anything about the implementation of the Plan and the Act. This is particularly the case with the issue of collective self-reliance, which will be taken up below. But before doing that, it is important to examine further, albeit cursorily, the implications of the present economic and social situation for the ability of Governments to take positive measures for the implementation of the Lagos Plan of Action at the national level.
As far as the information available is concerned, there is no doubt that the economic and social situation in Africa in the biennium 1982-1983 and even in 1984 was not only a repetition of the situation that led to the formulation and the adoption of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act but was even worse: food and agriculture deteriorated, industry remained weak and paralysed by lack of foreign exchange to purchase the necessary inputs, the external environment remained hostile, and the balance of payments and the debt situat- ion worsened. In fact, in the past three years, the issue for an increasing number of African countries has been whether they would survive or sink comple- tely. This situation has led to appeals for rescue, survival or adjustment programmes with a series of externally-imposed pOlicies. Under these circum- stances, one might honestly ask whether the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act are still relevant.
Fortunately, since the present situation is an intensif~cation of that which led to the formulation and adoption of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos, there is no doubt that the requirements of these two seminal decisions of African Heads of State and Government are as valid now as when they were adopted in 1980. Yet, unless the present crisis is success- fully handled, the implementation of the Lagos Plan of Action and of the Final Act of Lagos will be endangered. Therefore, what must we do? The answer lies in the important fact that there is no future without the present, meaning that, whatever we do now will determine to a very large extent the profile for the future. Thus, as we tackle the present crisis through our own efforts and
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the assistance we are receiving and can receive from the international com- munity, we must constantly look for the possibilities of avoiding the crisis in the future through medium-term and long-term programmes oriented towards the pursuit and achievement of the goals and objectives of self-reliant and self-sustaining development and economic growth, which are the central ideas of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos.
The question of whether or not the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos will continue to be relevant to the solution of African develop- ment and economic growth problems has been our preoccupation since the adop- tion of the Plan and the Act in 1980, especially since the economic and soci- al situation of the region has worsened since then. It was in this context that the perspective study entitled "ECA and Africa's development, 1983-2000"
was prepared for consideration by the Conference of Ministers at the Commis- sion's Silver Jubilee session in 1983. On the basis of the ass~ption of continuation of past policies, the study clearly showed that Africa's depend- ence on the other regions of the world for food, capital goods and almost all the other factors of production would increase enormously. Therefore, there was no other way than the design of a "wi lled future" if the conditions were to be reversed, and the strategy for pursuing that "willed future" and achieVing its goals and objectives was given in the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos.
While breakthroughs are yet to be achieved in the initiation and imple- mentation of the basic policies for the implementation of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos, particularly in the strategic sectors of food and agriCUlture, industry and institution-building for production and distribution, progress was made during the biennium in strengthening existing groupings and in creating new economic groupings as required by the Final Act of Lagos.
With regard to the strengthening of existing economic groupings, the secretariat continued to support the technical activities of such groupings as ECOWAS and CEPGL, and with the establishment of the Preferential Trade Area (PTA) for Eastern and Southern African countries in January 1982, the
administrative and technical activities of the Area. In fact, throughout 1982, the secretariat of ECA acted as the interim secretariat of the Area and, with the removal from office of the Secretary-General of the Area at the end of 1983, the secretariat has seconded one of its most senior staff to act as Secretary-General ad interim until a new Secretary-General would be appointed.
As regards the creation of new groupings, the secretariat assisted count- ries of central Africa to create an Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).
In general, the States members of the Commission should congratulate themselves on the achievements so far made in the establishment of institut- ions for collective self-reliance. However, this is only the beginning, since economic groupings are means to an end and until such ends as increase in the production of goods and services, and their effective distribution in the region, thus raising the level of intra-African trade, among others, are achieved, the establishment of economic groupings would not have achieved its noble objectives.
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Still in the area of collective self-reliance, it is encouraging that the region-wide, multi-annual programme of the United Nations Transport and Communications Decade in Africa (UNTACDA) continued to be implemented. Such continuous implementation is particularly important in view of the important goal of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos to integrate the continent physically. Unfortunately, however, member States and donor agen- cies have so far emphasized national projects rather than subregional and re- gional projects. It is our hope that the series of meetings which we have held with donors and the improvements which such meetings have brought into the formulation of the programme for the second phase (1984-1987) will lead to more support for inter-country, subregional and regional projects.
Finally, a lot of work was done on the core and other projects for the Industrial Development Decade for Africa and many meetings were held for government experts to discuss the possibilities of establishing multinational industrial projects. Invariably, these meetings supported such proposals and made recommendations not only for their funding but for the conversion of national projects into multinational ones.
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CHAPTER II
POLICY ORGANS AND ADVISORY BODIES Policy organs
The principal decision-making organ of the Commission is the Conference of Ministers which, since the decision of the fifth meeting of the Conference of Ministers on the issue, now meets annually. The seventeenth session of the Commission and eighth meeting of the Conference of Ministers was held in
Tripoli, Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, from 27 to 30 April 1982.
This was preceded by the third meeting of the Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole which took place at Tripoli from 18 to 24 April 1982.
At this third meeting at Tripoli, the Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole considered the following items among others and made recommenda- tions on them to the eighth meeting of the Conference of Ministers:
(a) Survey of economic and social conditions in Africa 1980-1981;
(b) World Bank report on Accelerated Development in Sub-Saharan Africa:
An agenda for action - Joint comments by ECA, ADB and OAU;
(c) A review of the developing international crisis and it implications for Africa, ete.
The seventeenth session of the Commission and eighth meeting of the Conference of Ministers had before it almost the same agenda as the one adopted by the Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole together with recommendations by that Committee (See document E/1982/21, E/ECA/CM.8/32/
Rev.l) which were adopted by the Conference.
During the period under review, the Technical Preparatory Co~ittee of the Whole also held its fourth meeting at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 14 to 23 April 1983 followed by the eighteenth session of the Commission and ninth meeting of the Conference of Ministers. At its fourth meeting, the Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole considered the following items among others and made recommendations on them to the ninth meeting of the Conference of Ministers:
(a) A review of socio-economic development in Africa,1958-1983;
(b) Implementation of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of
1~~~5: (Joint progress report by the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the ECA Executive Secretary); United Nations Transport and Communications Decade for Africa, 1978-1988; and Industrial Development Decade for Africa, 1980-1990, Progress report; etc. ;
(c) ECA and Africa's development, 1983-3008: A preliminary perspective study;
(d) Africa and current international economic negotiations; and - 9 -
(e) Reports of the subsidiary bodies of the Commission, etc.
The eighteenth session of the Commission and ninth meeting of the Conference of Ministers coinciding with the Silver Jubilee Anniversary of the Commission was held at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 27 April to 2 May 1983. This session was graced by the presence of some African Heads of State and Government who made it a point to attend personally and partic- ipate in the ECA Silver Jubilee Celebrations. During this auspicious moment addresses were delivered by H.E. Comrade Mengistu Haile Mariam, Chairman of the Provisional Military Administrative Council of Socialist Ethiopia; H.E. Daniel Arap Moi, President of the Republic of Kenya and the then current Chairman of the Organization of African Unity; H.E. Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, President of the Republic of Zambia; H.E. General Juvenal Habyarimana, President of the Rwandese Republic; H.E. Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; H.E. Citoyen Nzondomio a'Dokpe Lingo
President of the Legislative Council of the Republic of Zaire; H.R.H. Prince Ben M. Msibandze, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Swaziland; H.E.
Mr. Peter Mmusi, Vice-President of the Republic of Botswana; H.E. Mr. Leon Mebiame, Prime Minister of the Gabonese Republic; H.E. Mr. Oumarol1 Mamane, Prime Minister of the Republic of Niger; Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar Secretary-General of the United Nations; and Mr. Edem Kodjo, the then Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity. Messages were also read out on behalf of a number of Heads of State and Government and inter- national organizations.
The meeting had almost the same agenda as that of the Te~hnical Prepar_
atory Committee of the Whole in addition to reports of sectoral policy-making organs, such as the Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Transport, Communications and Planning, the Conference of African Ministers of Industry, the Conference of ~fTican Ministers Responsible for Manpower Development, Planning and Utilization, the Conference of Ministers of African Least Developed Countries, etc.
The meeting adopted the report and recommendations of the Technical
Preparatory Committee of the Whole together with a Silver Jubilee Commemorative Declaration entitled "Addis Ababa Declaration on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee Anniversary Celebration of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa", a final communique and a series of important resolutions affect- ing the socio-economic development of Africa (See doc. E/1983/44-E/ECA/CM.9/30).
Other policy-making bodies
The policy-making bodies of the Commission which held meetings during the period under review beginning from 1982 were : the Ministerial Follow-up
Committee on International Trade and Finance for African DeVelopment, the Conference of African Ministers of Trade, the Councils of Ministers of the MULPOCs and the Conference of Ministers of African Least Developed Countries.
During the period under review the Ministerial Follow-up Committee on International Trade and Finance for African Development organized its second meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 25 to 28 January 1982 to review and
appraise developments Ulat had taken place in the field of African trade and - 10 -
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finance since its first meeting held from 9 to 11 March 1981. The Committee came up with proposals and recommendations on intra-African trade and finance and on African trade and financial relations with other regions of the world for consideration by the Conference of African Ministers of Trade at its seventh session.
The seventh session of the Conference of Ministers of Trade took place in Addis Ababa from 1 to 3 February 1982 and was jointly organized with OAD.
The Conference changed the initial name of the Ministerial Follow-up Committee on International Trade and Finance for African Development to "the Ministerial Follow-up Committee on Trade and Finance for African Development in the Frame- work of the Lagos Plan of Action". It also made corresponding changes in its terms of reference. It passed recommendations on the implementation of the African Strategy in the field of trade and finance as part of the Lagos Plan of Action. The Conference also took a number of decisions on several issues relating inter alia to trade promotion, least developed countries, all-African trade fairs, etc.
Meetings of the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres (MULPOCs) were organized as follows: (a) For the Gisenyi-based MULPOC: meeting of the Committee of Officials, Bujumbura, 1 to 3 February 1982; and meeting of the Council of Ministers, Bujumbura, 4 and 5 February 1982; (b) For the Niamey- based MULPOC: meeting of the Committee of Officials, Banjul, 8 to 11 February 1982; and meeting of the Council of Ministers, Banjul, 12 and 13 February 1982; (c) For the Yaounde-based MULPOC: meeting of the Committee of Officials, Douala, 8 to 11 March 1982; and meeting of the Council of Ministers, Douala, 12 and 13 March 1982. The "objective of these meetlngs was to design the
MULPOCs' work programme and propose political guidance for its implementation.
As for the Tangiers-based MULPOC: the second meeting of the Council of
Plenipotentiaries was held in Tangiers, Morocco, from 1 to 2 March 1982. The Council considered recommendations of the meeting of experts which took place from 30 November to 3 December 1981. It also drew up and approved the work programme for 1982-1983.
The first meeting of the Inter-governmental Committee of Experts of the African Least Developed Countries took place in Tripoli on 17 and 18 April
1982. It met to prepare for the second meeting of the Conference of Ministers of African Least Developed Countries.
The second meeting of the Conference of Ministers of African Least
Developed Countries was held in Tripoli, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, on 26 and 27 April 1982. The Conference focuss~~on five major topics, namely: a review of current trends and prospects in African least developed countries; evaluation of the Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries (SNPA); implication of SNPA for growth development in the African least developed countries; a review of the country presentation of the African least developed countries in the light of the Lagos Plan of Action; and arrange- ments for implementation, review and monitoring of the SNPA and ECA programme of work for the African least developed countries, 1982-1983.
In 1983, the other pOlicy-making bodies of the Commission which held meet- ings were the following: the Conference of Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning, the Councils of Ministers of the MULPOCs, the Follow-up Committee on Industrialization in Africa, the Conference of Ministers of African Least
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Developed Countries, and the Ministerial Follow-up Committee on Trade and Finance for African Development.
During the period under review the third Inter~governmenta1Meeting of Experts in Transport. Communications and Planning was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. on 14 and 15 January 1983 and its objective was to review the progress of the first phase of the Decade programme. examine the first draft of the second phase programme and the timetable for its implementation and to recommend to the African Ministers of Transport. Communications and Planning the appropriate actions to be taken in the completion of the phase one programme and implementation of the phase two programme.
The third Conference of African Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning took p lace in Cairo. Egypt. from 8 to 11 ~Iarch 1983. The
objective of the meeting was to evaluate the performance of the first phase, examine the programme content of the second phase and other events which were closely related to the development of transport and communications in Africa and the effective implementation of the Decade in accordance with the recommendations drawn up by the meeting of experts.
The Multinational Programming and Operational Centres (MULPOCs)"organ~
ized the following meetings: for the Lusaka-based MULPOC: meeting of the Committee of Officials, Mbabane, Swaziland, 7 to 12 February 1983; meeting of the Council of Ministers, ~fuabane, Swaziland, 14 to 16 February 1983.
Some of the highlights of the meeting of the Council of Ministers include reports and resolutions on trade promotion. For the Yaounde-based MULPOC:
meeting of the Committee of Officials, Libreville, Gabon, 21 to 24 February 1983; meeting of the Council of Ministers, Libreville, Gabon, 2S and 26 February 1983. The main resolutions adopted by the Council of Ministers dealt with the convening of a round-table of businessmen in order to discuss trade opportunities within the subregion. the assistance to be provided to land-locked and island member countries and the studies to be carried out in the field of transport. agriculture and trade, etc. For the Niamey~based
MULPOC: meeting of the West African Inter-governmental Organizations,
Cotonou, Benin, 14 to 19 March 1983; meeting of the Committee of Officials.
Cotonou, Benin, 22 to 26 March 1983; meeting of the Council of Ministers, Cotanou, Benin, 28 to 30 March 1983. The decisions and resolutions adopted by the Council of Ministers related, inter alia to trade and finance;
agriculture; water resources; industry; transport and communications; human resources; integration of women in development strategy and institutional framework for economic co-operation in West Africa. For the Tangiers-based
~ruLPOC: meeting of the Committee of Officials, Tangiers, Morocco, 17 to 22 March 1983; meeting of the Council of Plenipotentiaries, 21 and 22 March 1983.
The Council of Plenipotentiaries adopted several reSOlutions submitted to them by the meeting of experts on trade promotion; Afro-Arab co-operation in trade and finance; the implementation in North Africa of ,the Rkgional Food P1an1 population, migration and development in Maghreb countries, etc.
During the period under review the Follow-up Committee on Industrializa~
tion in Africa convened its seventh meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, from 16 to 19 May 1983. It was jointly organized by ECA, OAU and UNIDO. The objective was to deliberate on important aspects of the preparatory phase of the Ind- ustrial Development Decade for Africa and to consider proposals for effective
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I -.'-1' _oJ 11 • • ,) ·.:...·_.R
-li_ ,,_,
1.1I'" .II'~' 1 • • • L I.. - oj laTI Uri • .,.. 4 • •
preparation by the African region for the fourth General Conference of UNIDO scheduled to take place in 1984 in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting made recomm- endations regarding the management of the African Industrial Development Fund (AIDF), a common African position at UNIDO IV, a review of the imple- mentationof the preparatory phase of the Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA), and the financing of IDDA.
The Inter-governmental Committee of Experts of African Least Developed Countries met at Addis Ababa, for its second meeting from 11 to 13 April 1983. The main objectives of the meeting were to review the socio-economic conditions, major problems and policies in African LDCs in 1981 and 1982;
evaluate the progress achieved in the implementation of the Substantial New Programme of Action (SNPA); consider measures for the effective mobilization of domestic resources in African LDCs; and review ECA activities in 1981- 1982 and the 1984-1985 work programme, in favour of the African LDCs. The meeting submitted resolutions to the Conference of Ministers of African Least Developed Countries for consideration and adoption.
The third meeting of the Conference of Ministers of African Least Developed Countries was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 25 and 26 April 1983. The main task of the Conference was to consider the report and draft resolutions of the Inter-governmental Committee of Experts of African Least Developed Countries. The Conference was of the view that structural adjust- ment measures applied by multilateral institutions in resuscitating the economies of the African LDCs usually had adverse economic and social con- sequences and therefore appealed to those institutions to take full cognizance of the special socio-economic circumstances of each country in making recomm- endations on remedial measures for structural adjustment. On the management of external resources at the disposal of African LDCs, the- Conference decided that emphasis should be placed on the allocation and effective utilization of such resources rather than on their disbursement which is usually under the control of the donor countries and institutions. Other decisions were taken concerning the taxation of agricultural surplus as a source of revenue for development, etc.
Subsidiary bodies
At present the subsidiary bodies of the Commission are the following:
(a) The Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians and Demographers;
(b) the Joint Inter-governmental Regional Committee on Human Settlements and Environment; and
(c) the Inter-governmental Committee of Experts on Technology for Development (IGCESTED).
During the period under review these bodies held the following meetings:
(a) the Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians and Demo~
graphers convened its second session at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 8 to 17 March 1982. The objectives of the Joint Conference included:
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(i) Serving as a forum for considering progress and problems with respect to planning, statistics and population in the African context and tak- ing action to ensure their development of those three areas within the framework of the general principles of self-reliance and technical co-operation among countries of the region;
(ii) Making arrangemerit s for the improvement of all aspects of methodology and practice in the three fields within the African context etc. The Conference also considered the measurement and analysis of poverty in the context of the African Household Survey Capability Programme (AHSCP). It considered the application of some population variables in development planning and various methodologies for inter-sectoral analysis and their uses in selected countries. Common problems in instituti0n-building, in planning, statistics and demography were also
considered.
(b) The Joint Inter-governmental Regional Committee on Human Settlements and Environment 1/ held its first meeting in Addis Ababa from 28 June to 2 July 1982. The Joint-Committee is mandated to set priorities for environmental matters in the African region and adopt policies and strategies for the implem- entation of the environmental programme. Important policy decisions were made through the adoption of resolutions such as the following: strengthening of environmental co-ordination capabilities at the Economic Commission for Africa;
strengthening environmental capabilities in the African region; building
materials and construction industries development. Resolutions were also adopted on human settlements financing mechanisms in relation to the setting l~ of hous- ing finance institutions and on increasing international support for the victims of aparthei d.
(c) The Inter-governmental Committee of Experts on Science and Technology for Development (IGCESTED) organized its second meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 14 to 18 November 1983. The Committee had before it an agenda of various items including matters arising from the report of the first meeting, proposed programme of work and priorities for the biennium 1984-1985, promotion of rural technologies in Africa and science and technology in national development plans.
Decisions and recommendations were taken on each of these and other items.
1/ By resolution 408 (XVI) of 10 April 1981, the Conference of Ministers authorized that the Committee be renamed the Joint Inter-governmental Regional Committee on Human Settlements and Environment.
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CHAPTER III
PROGRESS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE APPROVED WORK PROGRAMME
OF THE COMMISSION (1982-1983)
The following description of activities undertaken to implement the work programme follows the format of the proposed programme budget
!I
approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations. An analytical table- Analysis of actual programme performance at the output level in 1982-1983 in relation to the commitment in the Proposed Programme 8udget for the Biennium 1982-1983'- is presented at the end of this chapter. A report on the Pan-African Docu- mentation and Information System is also provided.DEVELOPMENT ISSUES AND POLICIES
Since the adoption of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos as well as the International Development Strategy for the Third Deve- lopment Decade, the development issues and policies programme has focused on the implementation of the major objectives and priorities of the Plan and the Act. In this respect, the programme of activities during the 1982- 1983 biennium centred around the assessment of the development trends and prospects in the region in the light of the goals and objectives of the
International Development Strategy and the Lagos Plan of Action and direct assistance to member States especially the least developed countries in the field of planning. In this connection, the activities carried out under the programme were performed under the following subprogrammes: (a) socio- economic surveys and reviews; (b) socio-economic planning and projections;
and (c) fiscal, monetary and financial issues at the national level.
§9CiQ-economic surveys ~reviewJ
Three annual surveys of economic and social conditions in Africa were completed in the period under review. Both the surveys covering the periods 1980-1981 and 1981-1982 have been published. The third, covering 1982-1983 will be published in early 1984. In these surveys, the internal and ex- ternal problems encountered by the African countries during the year were analysed along with the policy measures taken to solve them while a fore- cast of aggregate economic performance is made for the following year. The
