Economic Commission for Africa in the 1990s: Facing Africa's Development Challenges

-t:'lITEH NATIONS

ECONO';\,lIC AND SOCIAL COL1NCIL

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA IN THE 1990S:

FACING AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

NOTE BY THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

This Paper has been prepared for the Task Force on Review and Appraisal of the Policy, Programmes and Management Capacity of the Economic Commission for Africa

In the life of an organization, as of an individual, a time comes when it must pause to reflect on its past and anticipate the challenges ahead. Such an exercise is commonly referred to as

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stock-taking. The need for institutional adaptation, the desire to rectify major lapses, or the need to remain competitive are some of the reasons for periodic stock-taking ; both in business, public and international organizations.

For ECA, having emerged as a major player in the development dialogue on Africa, the time for stock-taking has come. The purpose of such an exercise can be no other than to build on its past accomplishments and respond imaginatively to Africa's challenges in the socio- economic fields and changes in the international scene.

This stock-taking would need to encompass both issues of policy orientation and management capacity, consistent with the Commission's mandates as legislated by ECOSOC and the United Nations General Assembly.

The first part of the paper examines, very briefly. Africa's development challenges, while the second part draws a sketch of the changes in the international scene and in Africa and their likely implications for Africa's socio-economic development. Part three discusses ECA's mandate and its responses to Africa's development challenges. Drawing upon the major ECA's documents, part four sets out the policy issues to which increased attention should be given in the next few years. Given that the wide-ranging consultations at ECA have pointed to the need for enhancing and refocussing the capacity of ECA so as to respond to the identified challenges, part five details proposals for establishment of a task force to examine

and make recommendations on specificc policy orientations and their implications on programme implementation, as well as on necessary organizational adjustment in ECA.

AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

For many years, vanous publications and research papers by the staff of the Economic Commission for Africa have clearly spelt out Africa's development problematic. Essentially.

African economies are characterized by weak and narrow production structures; heavy reliance on external factors including particularly factor inputs and dependence on exports of primary commodities; weak physical and institutional infrastructures; and inadequate attention to the development of appropriate human resources, especially technical skills.

A number of development in the 1980s hampered the process of development and transformation of the African economy. Two were most prominent. First. the emergence of the external debt crisis meant that African nations not only transferred substantial resources to the developed nations and some multilateral financial institutions through increased debt service payments; but also there was virtual drying up of certain sources of external finance for development. Second. the collapse in the prices of and the reduction of the demand for many primary commodities also reduced the resources available to African nations to finance their development.

The economic crisis of the 1980s produced several adverse side-effects in the African region.

Many countries had to change priorities and focus mostly on mere economic survival resulting in the neglect of essential development requirements such as the provision of adequate

education, training and basic health care; the deterioration of productive asset and, more generally the shifting from long-term development plans to short-term adjustment

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programmes. Also, the crisis of the 1980s has led to increased search for self-interest by individual African countries and, consequently, to insufficient attention given to subregional and regional economic cooperation and integration.

CHANGES IN THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE AND AFRICA

The changes that have taken place in the past two years both at global level and within Africa are still evolving and are so wide-ranging that they amount to a revolution. Indeed, they already have been seen as paving the way for a new world order.

At a global level, the main features of these changes include the collapse of communism, marking the end of the cold war; the collapse of the institutional pillars of socialist economic solidarity and defence, namely the Warsaw Pact and the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance; the spread of free-markets as the dominant approach of economic organization and management; the revival of nationalism in Europe; and the rise of multiparty system as a vibrant force for political organization.

Alongside, there has been the formation of regional trading blocs in various parts of the world: the move by EEC towards a single community is gathering pace and many European nations wait in the wings to join; the North American Free Trade Area which will bring together U. S. A, Canada and Mexico is in the embryonic stage; the Association for Pacific Economic Co-operation - the GECD for the Pacific rim is gathering momentum. Meanwhile,

there is a proposal for an East Asian Economic group that will bring together the countries of East Asia including Japan. At the same time, groups like the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and non-ANDEAN states of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay are building free trade arrangements.

These remarkable transformations of the international landscape have had certain important repercussions in the conduct and management of world affairs. Principal among these are greater emphasis on the use of the _U~,i.!t?~_Nations for international co-operative action particularly in matters of peace; the rise of the U. N. Security Council as a key forum for

decision~ngon international political questions, consistent with the vision of the founders

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of the Untied Nations; the supply of significant amount of resources to the reforming economies of eastern Europe; the diminution ofmilila!):.:,~iI1edpower in international affairs;

and, more generally, the end of the cold war. While the UN is being recognized as an essential instrument for promoting peace and for resolving regional conflicts, it should now demonstrate its unique role ^In promoting international economic co-operation, especially in narrowing the gap between developed and developing countries.

Partly because of the changes on the international scene and partly because of the internal dynamics in individual countnex. Africa has also witnessed some changes as well. Among the most prominent are the winding dqwn of a number of confl~ts; the rise of multiparty system; the growing role.of indigenous non-governmental organizations in national initiatives

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for economic and social empowerment; the gradual collapse of Apartheid in South Africa;

and, most fortunately, the growing recognition of the need for intensified intra-African co-

operation and integration of which the signing of the Treaty Estahlishing the African Economic Community is the most eloquent proof.

A preliminary assessment of these changes leads to the following implications for Africa's development challenges:

External financial resources may be harder to obtain partly because they will be based less on political or ideological affinities than sound _e~onomic and management criteria including economic and political reforms: and partly

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because of the increasing number of countries seeking financial assistance (e.g.

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Eastern Europe) from major bilateral and multilateral funding sources:

The need for intensified efforts at mobilizing and utilizing effectively domestic financial resources including the reduction of military and other non essential administrative expenditures;

The winding down of African conflicts, would also help to promote development; but viable national and reg~)!1!!Lil1$!itutiQllsJ!1at mediate and manage disputes would have to be created.

Intensified economic co-operation

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I Increased competitiveness in the international economy will require enhanced human resources development and increased productivity, through, inter-alia, the acquisittion and mastery of appropriate technology;

In view of the above, it is incumbent to the Economic Commission for Africa, as a multidisciplinary and multisectoral organ of the United Nations entrusted with the promotion of economic development of the region to devise appropriate ways and means for assisting African countries in meeting the present and emerging challenges. Without departing from its basic mandate and ongoing plans and programmes of work, it must adjust so as to respond to various specific requirements from member States, individually and collectively.

ECA'S RESPONSES TO AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

It should be recalled that ECA's mandate is rooted in the legal instrument establishing the Commission. By resolution 6l7A (XXV) of April, 1958, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established ECA with terms of reference which, among other

things. entrusted the Commission with the responsibility to initiate and participate in measures, for facilitating concerted action to relieve the economic and technological problems of Africa;

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to make or sponsor investigations into economic and technological problems and development within the countries of Africa; to undertake or sponsor the collection, evaluation and

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dissemination of appropriateeconomic, technological, and statistical information; to provide advisory services as request~d or required by African countries, individually or collectively;

and to assist in the develop,~ent otco~rdinated policies for promoting economic cooperation in Africa.

To fulfil the above mandate; ECA's activities have mainly been the following: organizing conferences, meetings and seminars to exchange views and experiences to resolve Africa's

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socio-economic problems; providing advisory services on a wide-range of global and sectoral

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issues; organizing training programmes; and promotiag.sahregional and regional institutions in various fields. As indicated earlier, ECA has produced several valuable seminal policy documents that have both clarified and defined Africa's development issues and strategies.

The above types of activities remain valid and need not be drastically changed. However, in the light of the changes that have taken place, both within and outside Africa, and which have been briefly outlined earlier, there is need to ensure that, in carrying out the above types of activities. in the future. the5hallenges facing Africa especially in the 1990s. must he fully taken into account.

ECA's mandate, as is the case with other U. N. regional econorruc Commissions, is multisectoral in orientation. As such. ECA faces stiff competition in the areas of authority,

funding, technical assistance from other agencies and organizations of the U. N. System operating in Africa.

The institutional challenges for ECA, therefore, are two fold: it has to be competitive in the formulation and delivery of programmes, while striving to make its impact on African socio- economic development and transformation. This would imply the need for ECA to sharply define its priorities. At the same time, ECA should endeavour to create conducive working environment and condijions for recruiting, retaining and motivating high calibre staff ; including upgrading their skills to enable it design and deliver programmes to realize Africa's development objectives.

THE PRIORITIES

The priorities of ECA's work programme must necessarily flow from the challenges ahead for the African region, and from assets that Africa has. These priorities should particularly aim at (i) fostering human-centered development through, inter-alia, the development of

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entrepreneurial skills, the acquisition of scientific and technological capacity to engineer and sustain the structural transformation of the main productive sectors of agriculture and industry, and overall socio-economic development; (ii) mobilizing financial resources (both domestic and external) and directing them towards growth and development oriented activities; and promoting economic co-operation among African countries.

The above objectives could be translated into five priority areas, which ECA should focus on with a view to providing tangible results that could he clearly identified, especially by the

beneficiaries (i.e. the African countries and people). Focusing on the five priority areas will not necessarily mean the neglect of other. On the contrary, each of them constitutes a nucleus around which other areas could be easily linked.

The five priority areas which are of equal importance are:

Increased dissemination and application of SCience and technology for development;

Widening the scope of and concretising regional economic cooperation and integration;

~ring a more efficient role of the public sector in growth, and development as well as poverty reduction;

promoting economic

Strengthening the social, cultural and human dimensions of development;

Promoting a sound environment for sustainable development.

Application of science and technology for development

A common observation is that Africa has abundant natural resources. For example, it is estimated that Africa has 97 % of world reserve of chrome, 85 % of platinum, 64 % of manganese, 25% of uranium, 20% of hydro-electric power, 13% of copper and 6% of oil resources. In addition Africa has sizeable quantities of lead, zinc, bauxite, diamond and gold. Still, African are among the poorest people in the world in spite of such dazzling concentration of natural resources. This is due largely to its inability to exploit them effectively and efficiently, stemming mainly from its weak scientific and technological capacity.

The main tasks for ECA are therefore to assist in developing the necessary scientific and

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technical skills for increased and more efficient processing

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Africa's natural resources in increasing opportunities for the greater involvement of the people in economic activities; and in improving productivity. Science and technology development and dissemination is essential for the above efforts to have significant impact.

It is to be realized that the focus on science and technology for increased and more efficient use of natural resources, is strongly related to the objectives of strengthening and diversifying the production sectors, especially agriculture and industry. For example, the increase in agricultural production, particularly food production, lies mainly in the improvement of the productivity of the sector through more use of improved seeds, modern equipment and inputs.

Indeed, expanding arable lands is no longer an option in many countries, either because additional land is not available, or because of the threat to the environment by increasing

desertification through deforestation. Similarly, science and technology mastery and systematic application is a prerequisite for the industrial take off of the region. This has been clearly spelt out in the programme for the second industrial development decade.

It should also be realized that technology mastery will not necessarily require automatically the transfer of technology from industrialized countries. In the past African countries seem to have put too much emphasis on the concept of transfer of technology rather than technology acquisition and mastery through both formal and on-the-job training. The international environment in the 1990s will even make the latter option more imperative.

Regional economic cooperation and integration

Economic cooperation and integration have featured prominently among the objectives of African countries since their independence, in particular since the formation of the OA U.

The desire to realize these goals have found expression in the establishment of several intergovernmental organizations, including the four major sub-regional econormc communities, namely; ECOWAS, ECCAS, PTA, and the MAGHREB ARAB UNION.

Yet, progress towards integration has been less than impressive as most of the commitments were not concretized, partly because of the economic crisis of the 1980s which, as indicated earlier, forced many countries to focus exclusively on economic survival, partly because of lack of political will.

There are, however, two good signs of renewed commitment to objectives of the Final Act of Lagos. First the treaty establishing an African Economic Community (AEC) has been

signed, thus evoking high hopes that at last African countries would enlarge economic space for trading and production among themselves; quite apart from enabling them to rise to the challenge of an emerging world economy dominated by regional economic blocs. Secondly, all African countries have now realized that their long-term survival, could only be realized through economic cooperation and integration, leading to the emergence of large political and territorial entities.

ECA, in conjunction with the OAU and the ADB, has a major responsibility for accelerating Africa's integration.

ECA's efforts in this regard should be directed to the following areas:

resources mobilization for accelerated implementation of cooperation and integration programmes and projects;

sensitization of Africa's political leadership for enhanced support lor the AEC;

formulation of common policies for priority sectors, especially the productive

ones;

harmonization of macro-economic policies with a view to enhancing economic cooperation and integration;

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promotion of initiatives such as the Conference on Security Stability Development and Cooperation in Africa (CSSDCA) to foster adherence to some common basic principles for enhanced mutual confidence-building measures among African countries;

extending existing intergovernmental mechanisms of cooperation and integration to cover the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and all economic actors.

The role of the public sector in socio economic development and transformation

That an efficient and effective public sector is very crucial to socio-economic development and transformation is now widely recognized. In the main, the public sector plays three major roles: as an operator of rubhe !!Q"llr, utilities and other services, as regulator and enforcer of business transactions, and as facilitator of an enabling environment for socio-

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economic development, including the promotion of a strong private sector. For national governments to fulfil these functions satisfactorily, the quality ofits puhlic sector is of vital importance.

There is a strong link hetween the growing and almost irreversihle trend towards genuine popular participation in governance of African countries, and the fulfilment of the three major roles of the public sector. Political pluralism, with its stress on open debate. and the growing

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trend towards market economy, will increase the demand for improved public sector roductivity and transparency in puhlic policy-making as well as public accountability. ECA,

through its programmes in public sector management, can assist African governments to meet these various challenges.

ECA should do this by:

providing high quality professional advice to African governments. either

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d ireCtly on an Ad-hoc basis, or through well focused technical publications.

to enable their public sector fulfil their major roles;

support African countries in implementing specific measures for improvement of performances of public enterprises. civil services as well as Ventrepreneurship development support services.

assist in the training of public sector employees to increase their productivity

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- : through seminars and workshop as well in the design of' curriculum of the

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national colleges or institutes of public of administration and management.

support African countries in formulating and implementing poverty reduction v strategies including in particular strategies for the provision of income-

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Strengthening the social cultural and human dimensions of development

Increasingly, the social dimension of development is being recognized as an essential component of economic transformation. Indeed, the strategy of human - centred development that is advocated by ECA warrant that social policy management be accorded major importance. ECA should assist African countries in res-ponding coherently and imaginatively to the myriad of Africa's growing social problems (crime, drugs, health, unemployment, and other humanitarian issues). Indeed, economic recovery and sustained growth and development cannot materialize without providing basic social services aimed at improving human conditions. Similarly, ECA should also endeavour to initiate measures and activities aimed at restoring the self-confidence of the African people, through the enhancement of cultural values.

Environment for Sustainable development

For the countries of Africa, environmental degradation is a direct result of underdevelopment.

Population pressure, the need for cooking fuel, lack of alternatives to working the land and the consequent encroachment on fragile ecosystems, have led to the destruction of forests and their associated reservoirs of bio-diversity, and the loss of soil in massive quantities.

Desertification is spreading fast all over Africa.

External factors contribute to this situation. Unfavourable terms of trade force countries to produce more and more primary commodities in a vain attempt to stay at the same economic

level. The pressure on the environment is intensified. The tlow of technology which comes with a vibrant trading system, and which could provide solutions for such problems. remains absent in Africa.

The path to saving the African environment thus lies in sound development. Job creation, development of alternatives to firewood as an energy source, installation of technologically advanced agricultural practices, intelligent migration strategies, and creation of sustainable trading systems, arc all objectives for ECA, and will require multi-divisional action hy the secretariat.

An overview of linkages between the programmes and the priority areas

It should he stressed that the above five priority areas are not meant to represent specific programmes or suhprogrammes as contained in the 1992-1997 Medium-term plan, or in the 1990/91 and 1992/93 work programmes. But there are strong linkages between them. For example, trade and finance, as well as transport and communications are as essential as science and technology for the strengthening and diversification of production structures and for intensified economic cooperation and integration. The main objective is to ensure that existing programmes are formulated and implemented taking into account th~

countries present problems and concerns.

Greater Focus on Multidisciplinary Policy Analysis and Advisory Services.

The present orientation to policy analysis in ECA is mostly sector based. It is essential,

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however, in the course of programme implementation to give increased attention to analysis of policy issues in an inter-related manner. This implies the need for a multidisciplinary

ap~roach to policy analysis of programme issues. Thus far this has proved elusive because of the preoccupations with day to day management of programmes. Multidisciplinary policy analysis should go alongside with multidisciplinary advisory services. These issues require

in-depth consideration with a view to proposing recommendations for implementation

TASK FORCE ON REVIEW AND APPRAISAL 01' ORIENT ATION, PROGRAMME AND MANAGEMENT CAPACITY OF ECA

The work of the task force shall be carried on two rrackx as follows:

Terms of Reference for:

(A) Policy and Programme Orientation

(i) To review ECA's strategy, approaches and methods for promoting socio-economic development in africa and recommend modalities of increasing its impact:

(ii) To identify specific ways of accelerating the implementation of action plans and programmes for agreed major priorities;

(iii) To identify some key challenges in the socio-economic fields in the next few years and propose initiatives and actions ECA should take to respond;

(iv) To critically assess ECA's relationships with member States, and relevant inter governmental organizations and recommend measures for further strengthening them:

(v) To make proposals on the implementation of already programmed outputs and operational activities, taking into account the priority areas outlined earlier.

(vi) To examine any issues deemed by the task force to be connected with questions of ECA policy orientation.

(vii) To suggest ways of striking the right balance between research and operational activities of the ECA so as to make them mutually supportive.

(B) Management needs Assessment and Reform

The ability of ECA to fulfil its present mandate and to respond imaginatively to emerging challenges will depend crucially on the quality and quantity of the staff, including their morale and motivation: its organizational structure: and orientation at the leadership levels (senior managers). Accordingly, the second component will:

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(i) Review the internal organization, structure and functioning of ECA secretariat with a "(lew to proposing changes that respond to the present and emerging challenges. and reinforce the credibility of the organization;

(ii) Assess the current profile of skills and numerical staff strength in ECA, in relation to its tasks, particularly at the senior management levels and make recommendations with regard to enhancing productivity and performance;

(iii) Evaluate ECA's links with its field agencies, particularly the MULPOCs and other ECA sponsored institutions and propose and necessary improvements;

(iv) To examine and recommend ways of concentrating, in future work programmes, ECA's financial and personnel resources on agreed priorities with a view to making an impact on regional economic transformation;

(v) Ascertain the pressing concerns of the staff with respect to their job satisfaction, advancement prospects and career development to morale and motivation;

(vi) Examine any related issues and make recommendations as appropriate.

COMPOSITION OF THE TASK FORCE

The task force should consist of eight persons. A chairman and a secretary should be appointed from among the members. Of the eight, three must come from ECA: one of

whom will be the secretary of the task force. The Chairman and the other four members of the task force will come from outside ECA. The five outside members could be composed sucb that there will be two economists, one specialist in administration and management, one expert in monitoring and evaluation and one person with diplomatic or political experience.

METHOD OF WORK

A composite of measures should be relied on for collecting evidence for preparing the reports. These would include mandatory testimonies by all Chiefs of divisions/offices/centres: heads of MULPOCs: and chiefs of sections. In addition the task force can call on any member of ECA staff to testify or make written presentation. Verbal testimony is recommended. The task force should examine all previous relevant reports/recommendations both in ECA and any other department or agency of the UN that have bearing on its terms of reference.

DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT

The task force would be given a maximum of one month Within which to submit its report.