Experts call on Governments to Domesticate the Development Agenda.
ECA Press Release No. 35/2009
Lusaka, 24 June 2009 (ECA) – African governments must design and implement policies that trigger a process of capital accumulation in their countries, according to Mr. Emmanuel Ngulube, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning of the Republic of Zambia.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by Mr. David Ndopi, director of national planning, Mr. Ngulube, stressed that no country has ever developed using foreign resources. “Economic development is a domestically driven enterprise. No amount of foreign assistance or investment in its myriad forms can substitute for a coherent, dynamic and domestically driven capital accumulation, intermediation and mobilisation process,” he said.
Mr. Ngulube made these remarks while opening the annual Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Southern Africa Office Tuesday 23 June in Lusaka, Zambia. The theme of this year’s meeting is: Enhancing Domestic Resource Mobilisation: Challenges and Opportunities for Southern Africa.
Mr. Ngulube called on the meeting to focus on mechanisms for strengthening domestic resource mobilization “with a clear focus on the role of different stakeholders and the capacity requirements in the process,” and arrive at recommendation that will guide future policies.
Also speaking at the opening of the ICE meeting, the director of ECA Southern Africa, Ms. Jennifer Kargbo, pointed out that many countries in Southern Africa are already suffering from the global economic crisis. “Countries such as Seychelles and Mauritius that are heavily tourism dependent are reeling as tourist visits continue to plunge,” she said.
Noting that the Southern African sub region is very rich in natural, human and financial resources, Ms. Kargbo called on countries to adopt a “strategic change in vision,” that will enable them to translate this wealth into poverty alleviation and economic and social development.
Calling for speedy action towards regional integration, Ms.
Kargbo said: “The mobilisation and sound management of regional resources for development cannot happen without first having mainstreamed regional integration into national development plans.”
In his opening remarks to the meeting, Professor Omotayo Olaneyan, representative of the African Union Commission to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), commended African countries for carrying out strong macroeconomic reforms leading to growth rates of more than 7% in many countries in the last few years.
However, he noted that the current global economic crisis posed a real threat to all the recent successes, stating that the crisis would lead to a reduction in aid, trade and foreign direct investments. This, he declared, made the theme of this meeting most critical.
Experts attending the meeting come from Southern African countries and are representing Ministries of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; Central Banks in the sub region; the African Union Commission; the African Development Bank;
Development Bank of Southern Africa; Regional Economic Communities; Other United Nations agencies; private sector and civil society organisations.
The three-day meeting is charged with identifying concrete steps that countries in the region should take in order to mobilise domestic resources to replace the falling revenues from external sources.
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