I &:Zit
UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Distr.
GENERAL
E/ECA/CM.ll/L.1
28 April 1985 Original: ENGLISH
DRAFT REPORT OF THE TWENTIETH SESSION OF Tilli COMMISSION/ELEVENTH MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 25 to 29 April 1985
,
A. ATIENDANCE ANn ORGANIZATION OF WORKa/ECA/cM.n/L.l
•
f 1. The twentieth session of the CODDllission and eleventh meeting of 'the aCA Conference of Ministers was held at AJdis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 25 to' 29 April 1985. Mr. Wako Yizila, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Zaire to Ethiopia opened the meeting on behalf of the outgoing Chairman of the tenth meeting.
2. Opening addresses were delivered by Comrade Addis Tedla, PMACStandillg l:ommlttee Member, Deputy Chaiman of the National Revolutionary Development
Campaign and Central Planning Supreme Council and Member of the Executive CODDllittee of WPE, Ndugu B. Mkapa, MP, Minister, Foreign Affairs, United Republic of Tanzania, Chairman of the Ministerial Steering Comoittee to prepare the documents for the twenty-first OAU slDDDlit, and the Secretary General a.i. of the Organization of African Unity. The Executive Secretary of ECA read out a messacefrom the Secretary4Generai of the United 'Nations.
3. The mee.ing was attended by representatives of the following States ~mbers
of ,the Commission: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad,-Comoros, the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt;'Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea" Guinea Bissau, the' Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malawi, I·lali, 'Matiritnnia, Morocco, Mozambique, the Niger, Ni~eria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, Togo, 'Tunisia, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zaire, Zambia at)~ Zimbabwe.
4. In accorQance'with paragraph 9 of the CODDllission's terms of reference,
observers were present from the following member States of the United Nations not members of the Commission: Austria, Belgium, BUlgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia"
Finland, France, German Democratic Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Union of Soviet Soci -.list
P.cpublics, Venezuela and Yugoslavia.
E/ECA/Oi.H / L.I Page 2
S. Observers for the Holy See and the Republic of the United liations, were also present.
of Korea, States not Members
,
..
6. TIle African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) and the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) were represented, in accordance with the Commission's rUles of procedure.
7. Representatives of the following United Nations bodies attended the meeting:
Department of International Economic and Social Affairs (DIESA), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Office for Emergency Operations in Africa, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT), Regional
Commissions LiaisQn Office, United· Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Inter-
nation~l Labour Organisation (ILO), Food and Agricultural Organization of· the United Nations (FAD), United Nations BducatIonak, Scientific and Cultural Organ- ization (UNESCO),. International Civil Aviation Organization (IeAO), World Health Organization (WHO), \'!or14 Bank. International Monetary Fund (IMF), World'Meteo- rological Organization (~ro), International Maritime Organization (IMe),World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), United Nations University (UNU),
. ' 1,,"; .j;~..: .
International Fund for AgriCUltural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFPJ, World Food touncil
(WFC)
and'GeneralAgre~ment
on Tqriffs and Trade (GATT).8. .The following .intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations w e r e " ., represented in accordaijce with paragraph 11 of the Commission's terms of reference:' African Development; Bank (ADB), African Institute ·for Higher Technical Training)'"
and Research (AIHTTR), African Regional Centre fotEngineering Design and ·Manu-
facturinf~ (ARCEDEM), African Regional Organization for, Standardization (ARSO), Centre africain d'etudes monetaires (CAEM), Centre on Integrated ~ural .Development for Africa (CIRDAFRICA), Economic Community of the Great Lakes countries (CEPGL), Institute of Economic Development and Planninf CIDEP), Institut de formation et de recherc Et demograpbdques (IFORD), Orgiin,i.zation. of African Unity (OAU) , Pan-African
lI'ome~'
5o~ganizati~n
(RAWO), Regional Cent.re for Services in Surveying, Mapping and' . :
Remote Sensing (RCSSf4RS), Regional Centre for Training in Aerial Surveys (RECTAS)".
Rerional Institute f~r Population Studies (RIPS), South African Development Co-ordination Conference CSADCC), Trans-East African Highway Authority (TEAHA).
West African Development Bank (BOAD), and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).
• •
E/ECA/eM.ll/L.1 Page 3
9. The Conference unanimously elected the following officers:
•
• •
Chairman:
First Vice-Chairman:
Second Vice-Chairman Rapporteur}, .
H.E. Mr.
H.E. Mr.
'a.s .
Mr.,H;E. Mr.
Bernard Chidzero (Zimbabwe)
~) .
Etienne Ntsama (Cameroon)
Aii .
oUbodezar (Algeria)' Cheikh 'Hamidou Kane (Senegal)'... 3. '.'I
B. AGENDA
10. ~ :~::llPril198S, the Confere'n~tl adopted the following agenda:
....~--;..:
Conference theme: African economic and social crisis: Prospects and
~-,-..'.' Introductihn) ,
perspectives
1. Opening of the Meeting -.
2. Minu~~:ofsilent pray~'r or meditation.
3. Election of officers.
( .. ; -. ,)(.'r _ "':-'-.
4. Ac!opUo.n"of the agendatand organiZation of work.
S. General debate on:
(i) .AftiCan econ6mic
·tlie"C:~issionls
and';rici~i
crisis: review of developments.~ , - ' ),.
last session in May 1984;
-.j
since
(li) .Ecc:lnomc {s's~Js co;,;i~g b~f~'~'thetwenty-first summit of the Assembly
.
;'. ' ; ," ...(:.;,: . .of Heads of State and ll.Jvemment of the organization of African Qnity as agreed by the forty-first session of the Council of Ministers of
. G. ~~,~.rgaJ;liza~~JjI, Ad#s' Ababa, 2S February to 4 March 1985;'
(iii),: Jssues. on'the'A'f'rftilh 'cril;is 'coming before the second regular' session of ECOSOC in July 1985 - Priority consideration of the ques~ion;
(iv) Questions coming from subsidiary organs of the Commission;
(v) ECA programme of work and priorities for 1986-1987;
E/ECA/Ot.uiI;,i'
'~,.Page 4 .c."
"1'",
(vi) United Nations Trust;.!: . .'.' Fu~d,. fo~"A;€ricanDevelopment;
(vii) Other r,levant issues that m~mbei States may wish to raise dudns;: the general debate. '
•
•
,,' 6. Report and recollDDendations of the.,Sixth Technical Preparatory CODlDittee
of the Whole on economic issues coming before the twenty-first Summit
of the OrganizatiQli.of.African Uility. ::.
.; ~-.
7. Repqrt ,andr~oIlllllQtlMti~8:,'~f;th'!TechnibalPreparatory COmmittee' of the Whole on issues on the African economic situation coming before the second regular session of ECOSOC (July 1985).
8. Fifth biennial Pledging Conference to the United Nations Trust Fund for African Development.
9. Report .and draft resolutions from the sixth meeti~,of th~ 'fechnical Preparatory Committee of the Whole for adoption'by the Conference of Ministers.
10. Adoption of the report and recoDlDendations of thefiHh'meethig of the Conference of Ministers of African Least'" " . ._, DeveloP~ ~ountries..
11.
. I . .
Date and venue of twenty-first 'session of ~he
meeting of the Conference of ~nisters.,
"...".: ',' " , '..
Commission and 'twelfth
! ' "
12:.
1I;M!!,other ~il\~~".. " ",·v~·
", 13n~doriotithll"Rhpbt't of the twentieth session of the COlIDDissionl elev.mth 1IleetingOf 'the Conference 'of\iinisters of the CDDllllissiou •
, ;
r: .';140') ;Ci08Ure of li&8sion •
. !1('.I'~; . ;:i . .l ,
.~i:'
" ....,
•
,.1'-
C• ACCOU1IIT OF PROCEED INGS _
E!EC·A/CM.ll/L.1 Page 5
· f.::
• ll.LIn a message read by Comrade Addis Tedla. Member of the
~litburo
and Memberof the Central Committee of NPE and Deputy Chairman, ~ational Committee for Central Planning','-COi'trade 'Iengistu Haile !'ariam, Gerieral Secretary of the Workers, '
rartyof Ethiopia, Chairman of the Provisional ~ilitary Administrative CouP9il. ,-.': ,-,
and Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Ethiopia welcomed participants on behalf of the "!orkers Party, the Government and the, p~ple of Ethiopia.
12. The ECA,COnference of Miriisters, the message went on, had" to deliberate, ' on issues of particular importance to Africa: the food crisis, the debt crisis, the problem of least developed countries (LDCs), and the defective world
economic system. About 150 million people in more than 20 African countries faced malnutrition, hunger or famine owing to a steady decline in agricultural
· , ..:' .. '
production aggravated by catastrophic drought. In Ethiopia alone~ 10",? ,million people were affected by food shortages and 7.9 million of those needed assistance.
The steps taken to cope with the problem included resettling drought-affected
· -".
people arid pursuing intensive- water and soil conservation programmes. The results, , '
least,developed,land-locked and island countries which co~~titutedthe
'",Qf those programmes, so far, were encouraging. Immediate action was needed to,.rlleviate the sUffering; medium- and long-term measures were required to
. .\! .
increase food and agricultural production, to combat natural calamities and to reverse the trend of desertification.
13. A, oollective African effort was needed to bring about a solution t? the debt :crisis, which was a serious stUMbling block to development efforts:
. '~r"
Afric!ln countries also needed to manage their individual debt's b~tter. The
,-, .' l .
majOJi~ty .-,;'
..
.of,AfJ:d.can'Sta1:es were in desperate need of financial and technical assistance,
:'.. : -r· . : . : .. -.
but the developed 'countries 'had failed to honour pi edges made at various international gatherings including the 1981 United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries which had adopted th~ S~bstantial ~ew Programme of Action.
- - . . ...11
E/ECA!CM.11/L.1 Page 6
14. The current crisis in 1'Ifrica could be attributed to a defective world economic system with in-bUild imbalances. In the face of declining export prices and earnings, a heavy debt burden, reduced import capacity~ inadequate external assistance, widespread trade protectionism, high interest rates and excessive currency fluctuations, the developing countries must unify their.
efforts to introduce a new internationaL economf,c order. Collective selT- reliance and intra-African co-operation ~~re ,most important. Africa's aim should be to rely entirely upon itself: meanwhile it should mobilize and make effective use ~f all possible external assistance.
15. The Executive Secretary read out a message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations which said that African Governments must take the lead in defining the action and international support required to alleviate their
difficul ties.
16. The Secretary-General was aware that African countries could not, by
themselves, overcome all their problems; sustaired int:ernational co-operation in support of their present efforts was needed. In Dec<;!lIlber 1983, he had taken, the initiative to alert the international cOllll1lul\ity to the rapidly deteriorating
.
'economic and social plight of African countrie~, In DeccmbeIi983, he had
created an office for emergency operations in Afri~ato co-ordinate the flow of assistance to affected countries and provide a frame~rkfor internationl action.
An International Conference on the Emergency Situatio~ in Africa had been held in Geneva in March 1985, to'raise funds to,cover the emergency requirements, estimated at $US 1.7 billion,of seriously affected African countries.,
17. The response had been encouraging. The Secretary-General ,nevertheless.
shared the concern of many African leaders with resources ,for"rehabj.litation, and long-term development, since Africa's economic difficulties had not cOme about only with the recent drought. The World Bank had aspecial',faciiity for Africa which could finance structural adjustment and rehabilitation projects, but
more was needed to satisfy Africa's future fiQancial requi~ements.
•
•
•
•
E/ECA/CM.ll/L.l Page 7
18. The need for close co-ordination of steps to alleviate the emergency with action for the longer term lent importance to the decision by the Economic and' 'Social. Council to examine the immadiate and long-tern: aspects of the
crisis at '::"ts a sc o n d J..:c;.l;f..J.J..d:'" ;'>"=..35.",011 o f IJ0~; ...v 3,'.30 . r e r r t z a I to the decision to devote the twenty-first sur··~··,';'t of OAU to a considf~rat.ion of .apec LaL measuzes for the attainment of the objectives of the Lagos Plan of Action.
19. The Secretary-General was confident that the Conference would contribute constructively to the forthcoming meetings of the Council and OAU.
20. The representative of the united Republic of Tanzania, speaking as Chairman of the Steering Corrmittee established to prepare the documentation for the twenty-first Assembly of Heads of State and Government of OAU, said he was very sorry that
his country had not been in a position to host the Conference. He apologized for the inconvenience caused by his Government's decision Which, he emphasized, had been taken in the interests of ECA and OAU.
21. The QAU Council of Ministers at its forty-first session had called upon the ECA Conference of Ministers to focus on the proposed agenda for
the twenty-first Assemb'y :f :!c:ds ::;fSt"te '.::d Govcr~en1: of OIlU, which -"ould be d<'v:t chiefly to a consideration of economic matters. The decision by the Heads
of State and Government o~ GAD to focus on economic issues bore witness to the concern of African Governments for genuine ~C',..,nC'!1l,(c develoJ:ment. in the region. The Lagos Plan of Action and'Final Act of Lagos had been adopted to guide and expedite t-he. t.r an aEor-ma t.Lon of Af.cic;:".~~ econo"Il2..es and improve the quality of life of Africans. They required collective efforts, regardless ,of political, ideological and economic barriers, tO,chart the immediate and long- term evolution of African economies. African countries must mobilize all
their national resources to produce the goods which they consumed domestically.
Intra-African economic co-operation in programme and project design and implementation must be vigorously pursued, and African States must support existing instruments of intra-African co-operation.
To reverse nresent t rerv's , resume the nrocess
13/E~A/CM.ll/L.l
Page R
22. l''llile e xnress Ino armre ct at i.on to the ,"","hers of the Lrrte rnat iona I comnuai ty who had responded to the anneal for food an0 other ~~teri~1s essential to the millions of Africans affected hy drought and :"awine, he nointed out that :,\+'rioc S mounting ext ernal deht needed a long-term solution. The industrialized count rtos had a lways adrmted a collectiVC' nosi tion on the terms &n,' condi, tions that shout ; armly to their loans; the deve Iotri n« countries had ~.<'o'1te'" in(Hvidual positions, and that had weakened Africa's bargpininq power.
23. The International 'lonetary Conference to deal .rith the disorder in the international monetary sys tom, which had been cal l cd for '~y tho Non-n.li cnod
Movement, would give the international community an om1ortunity torevi~w existing institutions .Lnc ludi nn IHF, and restructure them in oJ:c1r,r to enable them to reS'10E:
e~fectively to the needs 0;' the develoning countries.
24.· The next speaker, the Executive Secretary 0:" 'i0.', srd d that the resnonse 0:°
the .Lnt e rnati onaI community to the n re serrt drought in Africa had been e xt reme Iy positi ve. The response to the nrevious year's Sneci2-l Eel"O·randurn had stren"t:''1nere the belief 0:" most Africans and their Cove rnnent s in the oneness 0:" tee worl d and the ~ssential humanity~o~man. L~rgely as a result of that response he had not found it necessary to convene an emergency session of the Co~ission. He
also exnressed ~is annreciation of the cea~elcss effcrts0ythe Secretary-General of the United Nations to focus attention on the emerrency il' Africa and to
mobilize resources in aid of the affected countries.
25. . The nresent devastati.ne droucht was hoth a consenuence and It cause of Africa's .deve Ionment rrrob Ier-s , It and R. numbe-r of' 0thar ~p.ctors cOV1~~ine(l had debilitated the whole of Africa ..
' " ,:'"
0.£ ..deve Ionmerrt and hrin!' about an tncreasme measure of self-reliance; Africa needed to at tnck its problems ~t the root. That was tt.e obie ct.Ive of.the nresent Conferen ce .
•
•
,., . ..,.
l!/BCAlCM.llll..l
Page 9
'J0','
26. The starting point for any attack on thei'<iiWelopment problems of Africa must be an assessment of the Lagos Plan of',Acti6'll and the Final Act of Lagos.
Action to accelerate the implementation of ·'the"tlagos Plan must be based on a realistic appreciation of the causes of the gulf between the praIIise of April 1980 and Africa's dismal economic performance from 1980 to 1985. The
conclusion o{,tl1e,debate on that issue in the Technical Preparatory coamittee' ,was that l;!1e drastic departure from past socio-economic structuree and
patterns and the internalization of the development process envisaged in the Lagos Plan of Action had yet to take place. Given the disturbing changelil the ' , attitudes and policies of some of the major donor countries toward intet-rlatlonal co-operation, with development aid fatigue having set in and the possibility"
, .' , of humanitarian aid fatigue ~ follow, he was cClDpelled
to
repeat theildvtce he had proffered three years earlier: African Governments and peoples should adopt a siege approach to development. A period of purposeful development-oriented austerity was inevitable. Africa might not have another chance to ,.'(,' "4.,:
save its economies from total collapse.
•
•
27. The Secretary General a.L of the organization of African Unity explained that the eleventh ECA COnference of Ministers was expected to contribute to the pre~.l!:Uonfor the twenty-first summit of the Assembly of Heads of State of the Organization of African Unity; in that context he lauded the excellent co-operation between the QAUand ECA secretariats.
,".,-:.
28. Reviewing. the, acute food situation in Africa, he described the suffering in the drought-affected countries and reported on desertification and the poor ecol1OJl!ip performance of the African countries with their increasing populations.
He welcom«il~,,establ1shmentof an Intergovernmental Authority on Drouqht and
Desertif1cat~",,(J:~)in, Eastern Africa in addition to the existing permanent Inter-State ~tt,eeen' Drought COntrol in the Sahelian cOUntries, and hoped that efforte wo\lld.be intensified at the national level by"instituting co-
ordination unite and measures aimed at the protection of the CCllIIIIIOII
eco:,systWi. """,'
• >r .
E!BCA/CM.ll!L.l
Page 1 0 ,
: • . .! '
29. Further, the lDOunting external debt and the increasing debt servicing burden on African countries were issues of serious concern! he called for
a dialogue between the rich and the poor countries and hoped that the Conference would endorse the proposal of, the forty-first OAU COuncl1 of Ministers for
• a united African position.
-
30. There were over 5 million refugees and·10 million displaced persons in Africaf whlle apartheid in South Africa had resulted in large refugee flows
/1.,(
across the conti~t, the acts of some independent African countries had also led to an increase 1n, their riUlllbers. Solutions had to be found to these problems, the principle Of burdien'~~har1ng'
!lid
to be reconsidered, but abover .
all the root causes of the refugee probl. had to be tackled. In connection with the problem of displaced persons, a"'cCl'"Ord1natiOq body to deal with their
;: ::-s::.','r
problems had to be established.
31. Be then drew the attention of the meeting to the call for a ccmmon plat- form for action at the national, regional and international levels and to the destabilization policies of South Africa vis-a-vis the front-line States.
32. In conclusion he appealed for'a strateqy of African developnent in
accordance with the Lagos Plan of Action and stressed the need to accord priority
to food, drouqh:t, desertification and Africa's lDOunting external debt,
furtherlDOre he expressed the hope that the COnference would recommend concrete _asures to be t4ken by the Beads of State and Government of the organization
0'1:'
African unity~ and'wished the COnference success in its deliberations.33. The representative of Zaire thanked member Stlltes on behalf of the out/Joinq Chairman, who had been unable to attend, for the confidence they had shown in
Zaire in electing i t to preside oVer the tlijlth ECA Conference of M1nisters.
_ Special Memorandum on the Economic and social Crisis 1n Africa adopted during that COnference had been received with unprecedented acclaim on the
1nternatio~scene •.·
, .'
•
•
•
E/ECA/CM.11/L.I Page 11
34. The United Nations G~neral Assembly, at its 39th session, hadacio..pt~':.~.
a Declaration on the Critic~lEconom~cSituation ,in Afr~~a. and the Secretary-General had set up a special office to deal solely with the ~risis in Africa. The
third African Regional Conference of FAO, 'held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in early 1985 had adopted the Harare Declaration which accorded top priority to the agricultural sector. Af~ican States individually had taken action to check the effedts of the crisis, drought, desertification, adverse weather conditions and natural disasters. However, the greatest manifestation of Africa'S will to tackle the crisis which ravaged it had been the decision of its, Heads of State and Government to devote ·the greater part of the deliberations at their twenty-first summit to the economic problems of the continent and' to set up a special fund for drought and famine. Certain countries had already contributed to the fund; he appealed to other countries to contribute as soon as possible.
35. Substantial· efforts were being made by African States to realize the objectives set forth in the Lagos Plan of Action. Co-operation between OAU and ECA was gaining greater strength with the establishment of joint machinery for co-operation and the joint organization of sectoral meetings within the context of the Lagos Plan of Action. Substantial progress had been made with at the subregional level with the establishment and strengthening of such sub- regional groupings as PTA, ECCAS and ECOWAS. A new approach to Africa' s b\lrden- some debts Was now being envisaged: a common platform f~r future negotiations with fUnding agencies on relief measures 'to enable African countries to carry out
their development programmes under the best of conditions.
36. If Africa was ,really determined
!
it would have to ,struggle.. It. wae;. :not bUilci"g,ep,:,ine, solid. development. '
to, lay solid foundations for development, by, hiding .from reality that it would'
37. On behalf of all participants, the respresentative of the Central African Republic proposed a vote of th"nks to the G<:;>vernment •. the workers~ par~ and the people of Ethiopia for the warm welcome given to delegations and all the facilities made available to the Conference.
E/ECA/CH.ll/L.l
Page 12 •
General debate (~genda item 5),
-r: .; :cc"til ,A,friS:~n economi.c and social crisis: review of developments
since the Commission's last session in ~my 1984;
•
(ii) Economic issues corning before the twenty-first summit of the
Assembty cif Heads of State and Government of the Organization • of African Hnityas 'agreedty the forty':'first session of the OAU
Council of Ministers, AddiS Ababa, 25 February - 4 March 1985;
(iii) Issues on the African crisis coming before the second'regular session of the Economic and Social Council in July 1985 - Priority consideration of the questiOn;
'(iv) Questions coming from subsidiary organs of the Commission;
(v) ECA'programme of work and priorities for 1986-1987;
(vi) United Nations Trust Fund for African Development;
(vii) Other relevant issues.
38. The representative ~f the Congo stated 'that the Conference was being held at a til'1e or. crisis in international economic relations, whose effects were being felt severely by the continent and the African peoples, five years after the adcipticin of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of
Lagos for the implementation of the ,~nrovia Strategy for Africa's development.
The fUndamental question was how to translate into facts the objectives set forth in the Lagos Plan of Action for the implementation of the f10nrovia Strategy and to find solutions to the crisis afflicting the continent.
39. As a step in the right direction, relentless efforts were needed to bring about food self-sufficiency, and collective self-reliance; that could be achieved only through firm political commitmen!s to overcome integration difficulties and achieve African co-operation.
I '
40. Inf.conclusi~n,
hef exhtencded.th~
in/vitaltfiohn 'of ' " cOfunhtryctof·host, the ..\ i twenty- 1~St sessIon 0 t e O~1SS10ntwe t meetIng 0_ t e on crenceof African Ministers in,1986.
•
•
.\ .;.
E/ECA/tM~nIL 1
; .~ ,, Page 13 41. The Chaiman thanked the Government of the Congo for the invitation :1
and said that, s,ince
theGovernment.,~~c~ero~n
¥d also~nvited ~?e
_",'CommisSion to iidldits twenty~first'sessfon in its count-ry," an appropriate
.,,, I . '> ' . ' • ' . : ' ' . t
dec1sion would have to be made later.
. L'\:, . . .'f
42. The representative of the ComQ~s thanked the ECA Executive Secre~.-ary
for his indefatigable efforts to make high quality documents available of the Conference,
,);".;n !'i:,
43. The remoteness of Comoros, in particular with regard to communications,.
had cehtrttitiied. ' " .
gr~atly
'toth~
ignorance by other Africanco~trie~
".l,::-r.-:'s~Qfthe.; .';most'a~i1teprob'iems' afflicting his country, namely cyclones, floods, drought and O'the:r~-reiated'natura1 disasters as well as'malnutrition, unden-equfpaerrt .,
-,
and ~der~exploitationof..~"":,r.i''''''....~, " . .,,~. available'. re~o~r~e~",\.~, I . )
44. , .- ",~~,:f~inded tpe; !;onference ~M-!,.JlIIJ!RrtedAfrican econcadc systems were,;
not adapted to the needs of the continent and that, if development plans were to attain'the objective
of'self~sustaihi~g: ~~lf-reliant devel~~ent,
allanal.ysia must "be 'centred' on the,fama&rs' livitlg conditions s:i.'nd~'a clear " " ! "
perceptionl'Ltitei,r di,ff+cU,l,fil~s,,'t\lyj,dprovide a key to solving:many pro~l!!llls.,
45. ~e co~~,luded.by c~H,wg"o~"~ed$Qll,ferE!ncetoa<;lpptan~pprOach ~iDg';;
maximum use of African know-how and learning so as to be independent of those who at.pre~E1r:t;profited' ,11I0s_t,);r~~fri~ll-D,-};rs.ource~to the detlf~ntof,
Africans thems,el:ves, , '" ' . ",,-. ':I - " . . ' , ;i" ; " . , ' I"
46. 'lJ1e~epreseI)t,ative oLmgeria obserVI1~ ~~;"tlte .~C\lUSE!s,.of Af~ica's 'J economic crisis had been identified as poorperformance,in the agricultural ,
, :. f -" il'~' .,' -' ; "{'''''',~'- 1 , , ' , ' " , , ,'''~' . ' , " ) 'i:,':e-.JJ;..:. ':~:'r'l '. :" . .'
sector; ~ign popufation'growth,' drought, desertification, unfavourable terms of trade, ·heavy:eiternal ,dt!lbtv'and ;high debtservicll;'pa)iinents '!in"relation to W;'- for~~JtII llxcha'\lteJ~~p.t~~'~'ntf~);io,n~I,lIIeasures..tQ deal "!~1-Jl.,tbe;;~ p'~pJ>lems,
were quitll of~eJ\ ~lladllq'-!~~:."'!l~t,llW&:~ assistance was
,I¥tll4pP,.
,e ~!¥'IIat~a'~'j'l financial organizations and multilateral donors could playa crucial role'f"" . ji.7.~~"~·. OJ':; , !1';-"','"0:,;', ~)i;" '; !-,'LJ":I:J(-fO
E/ECA/CN.ll/L.l
i i ' , ' - • '
Page ~4
:.-;:
• , .' • lf -: ',;..,
in h~lping tll,stem net capital outflow!, from theregi9ll. ,tie ,en40r~ed,~"., • idea of taking a cot.lect.Ive African approach to th,e cO;J;ltinent's debt probl",lD-t.,
to supplement national measures, and emphasizing specific programmes in order to 8i:hleve the ohjectives of' the Lagos Plan of Action.' "
'.: :1
47. The representative of Ghana referred to efforts his country had made
• :. " . 1~.
in agric;ulture t9 stimulate food product~""il!ldcombat dese~ificati~ ane!
' . ! ' . ' ; . ':.. . . . -' - .'
to its f!ir-reaching measures to equip women:!'~:!ff(y.l; \~'. ,: :-: • .' .•• 1.. .... . " . ,"~(:. • . . . '.. ';to~o"~ril!\lte.. ~ '_ !I/O!:,!:! "~aning:t;ully"'_ .' _
tow~prQduction and'development, it had made'everY effort to strengthen·
~: . ' . ' ,-,' . . . '"
the National Council on Women and'Development wh~ch had draWn up programmes to mobilize:'rurid womeR
for
-income-generating activities; cottage industries'; !." I ( . , . ' " , ' ,':
had been,es~abli.shedand,J;l~C1~8IIlIlIes set up 1:11 raise their status ,through ", ;_, .
• , . ' .', . " , . ' .' . . ; ! ' , • '. .
public educll,tion and reseatcb., In 'that 'context, chis Government had:reilifotdH"
its cOllllllitme'nt to
progressi~e
popurlition policies 'aridi~stitutedmeasure~"
8imed ateUminating inequalitieS- iii edueation, training and empi~nt.
" ,. \i": ': '.~,-
. .
48. However; the scarcity of Tescm:rces, balance-of-payment p~~lh~, ~\i
~.,. ", .. ", ,.!,'I ~'i' , .
SUbstantive foreign exchange leakages constituted impediments' which had
,
.
reduced Ghana's ability to attain the goals set out in the'Lago~Planof .
, .::' I':
Action and at great sacrifice it had adopted monetary and fiscal policies" ...
aimed at surmounting these obstacles;. although some measure of success h&d", .
. , : ' . ' . , : ·"T"·,
been aChieved, such gains had remained fragile. and it was becoming increas- ingly clear that natioriai efforts had to be'supplemented by greater
co-' ; -'"
tT~ . ~ . ,( '," .I.~; i;1
operation at the subregional. regional and intemational levels.
E/ECA/CM.ll/L.l Page 15 49. The representative of Rwanda summed up the conclusions reached during the eighth meeting of the Gisenyi ?4ULPOC. held from 21 to 22 March 19R5, on programmes and priorities inagriclil ture , indiIsti'y; energy.naturair'es6U~ces,
• transport andvcommuni cat Ions , trade and finance'iirid the Tnt.egrat ion of wdrnen in' deve1opment , '
50. He call ed upon the ECA secretariat to
, i
14ULPOC human and material resources, so as
put at the disposal of the Gisenyi to enable it to carry out thej , . programme adopted, especially during the present crisis which required slistained efforts to rehabilitate the econonries 'of the su1Jfegion.
5i~i 'The representative of Uganda emphasi~~d the need for effective
'~echanisms to increase financial transfers to the least developed countries in the African region. He called for collective action to reduce the overall problems connected with'toe transfer of financial resources and technology from the developed to the developing countries'; he also titled for less emphasis to be put on feasibility studies, and for'a reduction in mechanisms ,that retarded project formulation and implementation.
52. Countries striving to achieve food self-sufficiency should take a keen look at the suggestions of the World Bank on the subject: the payment of'ret1mnerative prices and the provision of improved aqricul tura~
tools to farmers were the most expeditious means of stimulating agricultural output. Eisown country was capable of producing surplus food to export;
,but' it required international support fi'rst to help i t attam self-sufficiency in food.
. "',,"
53. The Lagos' Plan of Action had not been very explicit in dealing with,
• . , I · '
population issuesj but the gap had been filled by the Kilimanjaro Programme of Action which mapped out courses allowing African countries'to accord
population a central place in their plans for economic and social 'development.
achieve population growth rates that were compatible with desired'development goa!;siaild reduce their high childhood dependency rates. "le emphasiiedthe , importance of comprehensive population programmes in the nlans of African
E/ECA/CM.11/L.l Page 16
countries and stressed that the Kilimanjaro" piogramJe would imnrove African
"Governments' ability to tackle education, health and employment problems. • He concluded by calling for international assistance in integrating population variables in development planning and stressed the need for 'African Governments to adopt popul at Ion policies that woul<1 accord with the object Ives identified in the Lagos Plan of Action.
54. The representative of Guinea acknowlerlged the soundness of the critical analyses contained in the documents su~mitted "to the Conference and deplored the we~~ness of the economic structures in Africa. based on" primary and mineral products.
55. Taking his country as an example of agricultural production, he pointed to the low production compared to the extent of arable land which was
utilized 'at a rate of only
zo
per cent in spite of a tropical climate and generous hydrological resources. He attributed the disappointing performance to the lack of incentives for agricultural production, the lack of production inputs such as" fertilizers, agricultural credit and extension serVices for farmers, the inadequacy" and obsolescence of transpOrt infrastructures, and the competition from imported products on the domestic market.56. These shortcomings had had an imract on the income of farmers who had not been given assistance. Industry had not fared well either; only extractive
"""'"industries had shown moderate growth in real terms l:-etween 19B1 and ln4 while manufacturing industries had suffered from a quasi chronic under-utilisation of their productive capacity.
"57. That situation, together with a drop in foreign currency earnings and increasing investment needs, had resulted in excessive indebtedness with its subsequent heavy debt service. The gloomy economic situation was compounded by natural disasters such as drought ~1\ich affected 16 of the 33 administrative districts of the country and had compelled Guinea to request the Economic and Social Council in July 19BI in Geneva"for international assistance.
'"
.. _ ·w
E/ECA!CM, ll/L.l Page 17
r, {,', " , '.1- ,'" 1. ',: '
59~
.
,_ , : ' J
, J _ " " !.'c,' ' .
&8,.1 ' ' -He'WaS: happy to 'note' the 'favouraHe reaction from donor councr.ies , doner organizatiorts arid, in pari'1culal', tlidse
~(
theUnit~~:
Nations sys'tem•~. .
.
-. . ' ) " ," " , - ' . ,,:.,: . ,
He-conciuded' by reiterating his firm c01J\ll\itment: to endor-se all
, ~, . " , j _; ; ',,:V •. ... ·<'f':' ..-;~'- '. " '
recommendations contained in the documents tO,be submitted to,th~Heads
, .-, .:. ~, ' , . .
Of 'State andto the Economic and Social Council so that, the intel1lational' community could become aware of the need to assist Africa to emerge from the present crisis.,
','60. The'representative of6uiri'ea
Bi~sau
expressed hisa~~~ciation
tothose fundihg' :l.gencies'which'had part Ictpated in the
roundt~bie'organized
in, ~' , ' • ( " \ 1:" , ;l."- ' ' i'
':'b~s country a~ a follo~~up to 'the Geneva Conference. That meeting had taken
. ' . ' "~~' . ' I
stock of the situation and identified' errors and inadequacies in order to determine the areas which should be strengthened for the support
, ; .' h:I ' . ' ',:,' , ) , : : . i , : J
of,funding':acgenHes to the deve lopment efforts of his country •
. 1L ' "'f:i "i' " , .
' , ' ;
",:~l. The rllPrel>entaU\1e of Si.erra, Le6nelistressed the need'<fnr AfriCan
c0':llltri~sto press on wi,th· those ,initliat'ives and solutions which had been identVie~..asnecessary fQr alleviating suffering in the region.
He appealed .to the> internatiJonal .:,canununity to accelerate its co-operat ion and exercise greater flexibility in~elping Africa attain its' prtortiy' development goals; to win that support, Africa had to demonstrate a preparedness to solve its own prob.lesis, "",
r-.
:";
---~,
,E/EC~/CM.II/L.1
Page 18
62. The representative of the Sudan stated that drought was one of the most
important problems facing the African continent, since it had led to a considerable decline in foodstuffs and animal wealth. In the Sudan, more than 5 million
citizens were affected 'by the 'drought and more than one million children suffered from malnutrition and disease. His country had requested assistance from the international community and friendly,nations, which hadrespond~d favourablY;
he hoped their assistanc,e wouldcontinue,so th<lt the Sl,Idanwould overcome the present crisis and itsside-eff~ts.
) ' , . , f '
63. He also mentioned that the Sudan had received more than one million refugees from the neighbouring African countries and, in reference to Africa's debt and its effects on the implemetltation of development plans; requested OAU and ECA to
continue'their efforts to solve the'problem through nllgotiations between inter- national creditors and African borrowers.
64, The reprasencat.Ive 'of'Sel1ega:1 said that the present'Conference marked a' decisive stage ih'Africa's search for solutions to the crises engulfing't&e'''' continent. The documents before the Conference indicated that if the measures advocated in the Lagos PI~n ~f Action had been implemented 'at 'the'na~ional,
'. , . "t. ': ,.'" ;-,,::. ',' . ' . .
regional and international levels and integrated into the ,programmes ~~d a~tivities
being conducted in various African countries, rehabilitating such an important
sector as food and agricultur~ would nev~r'havebecome an issue.
" ' \ ' c .
65. To date, the only method used'to alleviate the burden of Africa's external
•
debt had been rescheduling.
partial conversion of debts
A proper remedy would have to include the total or contracted under official development assistanc~ into grants. In order to initiate such measures, the most appropriate framework under the current circumstances would be to hold an international conference at which lenders and African debtor countries could discuss the problems involved.
66. The negative attitude of certain developed countries could paralyze certain organizations in the United Nations system if it could not actually call their objectives into question. It was indispensable, he said, for African countries to assist and support those organizations so as to prevent selfish considerations from relegating to the background the problems of development and the role that those organizations could play in coping with them.
E/ECA/CM.ll/L.l Page 19 67. The representative of Egypt emphasized the need for action to stabilize African export eamings through fair and remunerative prices. He recommended
increased efforts to negotiate commodity agre~ts within the framework of the
• Integrated Programme of Commodities. His col1ntry accorded high priority to food, and agriculture and appreciated the rolEiof the Intemational Fund fot Agrieultuul 'Development(!FAD) in financing food security projects in Africa.
68. Major lenders had in the past excluded Africa from the debt renegotiation mechanism established for Latin America and the international COllDDUnity.continued to give low priority to Africa's extemal debt crisis. Yet, considering the
relatively lo~'pet capita in most incoin~ of Africa, which included 26 of the worldIs 36 leastd~v~lop~d'(:ountries, the Afriea'O region was suffering a tbuch more severe
debt crisis than other developing regions. "Developed creditor·countries and.
financial and monetary institutions should give due attention to the general
econo~i~ crlsls, aggravated by drought and desertification in'most African countries.
Ii~"ieferrecralso to the establishment of the African Monetary Fuud as a tool .for·.
ac:bievin'~'collective self-reliance and urged member States to' contribute toits.
capital'once the Fund was formally established.
69. The representative of Zaire said that attaining food self-sufficiency called, for a critical and objective appraisal of food consumption patterns, the
techn~logy imported for farming in Africa, the'-negative implications of food aid for agd,cultural development, and iiriported inplits that destroyed the ecological balance, in particular, soil fertility. To carry out such an appraisal properly, it would be judiciOus to hold a meeting of African experts to cons:idartb:e'vadqu,s issues in practical terms and propose initiatives and activities to reduce.A~~ica's
dependence on the outside world. He believed that local African technologies, once developed, modemized and rationally exploited, would enable the continent .eo
achieve food self-sufficiency in' conformity with the Lagos Plan of Action and .che Final Act of Lagos.
70. In his intervention, the representative of the Libyan Arab.Jamahariya poi~ted
out that economic crisis (aggravated by dtought in recent years) on the African cOntinent was evidence of the inability of the' African economy to cope with the
E/ECA/CM.ll/L.l Page 20
•
Despite problems , of
,
'problems involved b~cause of its unbalanced and undiversified structure.
the availability of a lot of informatio~about the African economy and its the.situation was still deteriorating and the objectives of the Lagos Plan
" • ••• ' . J
Ac,tion were· yet to, be achieved. Indeed, long after political independence Africa
." ..
".stin d~pend~ onext,emal econ,9lIIic \Issistance. The problems of the continent
could not be solved, individually;. they needed collective action. Strategic proj,ects • to promote economic integration should be encouraged, and all extemal assistance should be,dire~ted to achieve that goal and build up the productive capacity of
Af~ic~.count~i~s.
countries, countries 71. He suggested that the Conference.should express thanks to all the
. ' . . ;1.. .:" - .' ~ '1;"- _ ,
intemational organizations and individuals which had assisted African
• ;, '.~' , : • : ' • • ' f •
suffering from ,the exist·ing economic cr~Ms", ,'10; ' " " ,
1.,'
.i' ".-'
,,17.. The rep,resentative of. ~roccosaid that once again the economic and social, , c/:,isia, was the ,wain item ,?n the agenda of the Commission and that a,l1 socio-economic indicators pointed to an ~larming trend for Africa which was faced with the rapid deterioration of the international economic environment,. increasing foreign debt and persistent drought. Even those African countries which had long been spared those scourges were now beginn~ng to be affected.
73., Morocco was conscious of.~he adverse effects of the natural disaster affecting Africa. and had not hesitated to .show its solidarity by contributing the sum of, , • : i~" .
$10 million to the intemational~ommunityeffort. Since 1978 his country had .. practised a cautious investment. pol+cy .and set upasystem to improve the debt
profile using concessionary fi~ncing•
.~,:.
74. He regr~~ted the poor P~FtO~'1Cerecordedover the five initial years of implementing tbe Lagos Plan ofActie;m~dueto internal,:md exrema l constraints with which African economies had had to contend over the period.
75. In. order to promote human resourc~s, his countryhad.adopted a participatory system involving ,local co-operatives, Pfofessionalassociations and trade u~ion~
as well as the Cha!llherof Represent.l!ltiyes and the Higher Council for Planning and. . . . . National Development. His country attached primary importance to the economic
E/ECA/CH.ll/L.1 Page 21
integratioh of Africa but had noted that although intra-l~ricaneconomic co-operation had been pursued with varying degrees of dynamism in the subregions, it had not
developed at the expected pace. Uorocco was determined to work so that, in the very near future genuine integration would be achieved in the l'1aghreb'and real Afro- Arab co-operation instituted, to 'the mutual advantage of. th£ Statescdncerned.
76. The representative of Tunisia said that the twentieth sassion of the Commission was an opportunity to review activities, to evaluate progress made in the long
, search fOT'development and, where necessary, to take the corrective measur.es particularly duririg the present crisis where econcimic growth had been replaced by a subsistence economy. He acknowledged that the crisis 'resulting from the
drought UI Africa and the world recession had spared no African country. Recalling the decision of the OAU Heads of State and Government to devote their next summit t~ 'the economic crisis, he stressed the'continuing relevance'of the Lagos Plan of
.: i,' _ .~', , ,- - .'. ' . .
Action, which must underlie the overall mobilization 'effotts to bring about a
:sustained and durable economic growth despite the intemational economic environment.
71; Autarky, however, did not imply isolationism at a time when interrelations between economic factors required an integrated ~pproach to development problems.
Hence, intra-African co-operation, economic and technical co-operation among developing countries, and co-operation with developed countries should go hand in hand. In that respect, multilateral trade negotiations should be initiated in
order to promote intra-African exchanges in the medium and long term~ since they
still represented a negligible percentage of the foreign trade of African countries.
78. With regard to the economic issues coming between the t.wenty-first OAU summit, he said that the recommendations made by the committee on agricult'lre, food and extemal debt would not produce the expected results unless they were accompanied by support measures in othe. development sectors such as transport and communications,
science and technology, human reSources and trade and finance. Furthermore, there should be a correlation between emergency measures and medium-term solutions.
· .. $ ,-
Page 22
Uith reference to tl,e fcrth:::o!ring session of the Economic and Social Council on.
the c ris Ls in Africa he recommended a campaign to sensitize the international community and the developed countries i~ particular in order to persuade them to ac;- in accordance with the Cb.~rter ~f Economic Rights and Duties of States, the Third International Development Strategy. the New Substantive Programme of Action in favour of the least developed countries and other instruments of international co-operation for development.
79. The observer for France stated that in 1985 his country would increase by about 50 per cent its bilateral food aid to the most-affected countries. It contributed roughly one-quarter of the financing for the food aid provided by the European Economic Community.
80. He observed that emergency aid should be compl~mented by more structurally oriented activities. Accordingly, at the Conference of least developed countries held in Paris, in 1981 France had made a commitment to devote 0.15 per cent of its GNP to those countries in 1985. It had also contributed $150 million to the special fund for Africa and was making diplomatic overtures to mobilize the greatest
possible number of funding agencies.
E/ECAicM.li/L.l Page 23
81. 'The observer for the Union 'of soviet Socialist Republics pointed out that the world at present was strur~lin!, to attain peaceful coexistence; there was 'urgent need to re-establish confidence between States on the basis of equality
",
and security. His country was co-operating with 34 African countries "ffected by the current economic ~risis throuph public sector projects aimed at social and economic prorress for the cou~tries involved. It was also collaborating with ECA in providing fellowships, and or~anizing seminars, workshops and study tours for 'African experts to the USSR;i t had trained about 300,000 Africaii'',~
speciglists and would continue'to assist Africa in aChieving'greater economic independence.
82. The observer for Cuba said that the African crisis had its oririns in a loni ipeiiod of colonial domi.nat.Lon and that ;\frica' s efforts to develop 'had been thwarted by the devastati'ng effects of the international economic ciisis generated in the developed capitalist countries. Natural ~alamities and 'the unrestrained advance of desertification had affected
milli~ns
ofA:fTi:~~ns,
the majority of whom were children, and he affirilled his
count~yls
commitmentto supporting ~fforts by African Govenments to overcom& the crisis.
83. The observer for the Federal RepuLlic of Germany stated that, Africa had long been a focal point for his country's economic co-operation; its development aid COlnllfitmEmt in 1985 amounted to OH 1;6 million, It had also given over
27 per cent of the substantial contributions to Africa made by the European Economic Community and the Getman people had raised 0).1 120 milt"ionfor ",'
emer~ency relief in the current crisis.
84. He em~hasized the importance of rerional co-operation and lauded United Nations efforts to mobilize international assistance for the current African crisis. He affirmed his country's commitment to assistinr African Governments to achieve the priority actions in agriculture outlined in the Harare Declaration;
for the period 1985-1986 it had earmarked OH 1,2 million for the project on reducing post-harvest food losses in Africa which ECA was c~rrying out in
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _• ..,...., I
I;/ECA/CM.ll/L.l Page 24
collaboration with his Government. Furthermore, his country's attachment to mul tilateral development co-operation was also evident in the'Dr" 1.8 million it had spent in 1984 for joint projects with ECA on energy supply, development planning and'the establishment of co~municationsystems.
85. While most African countries would continue to depend on development aid, there 'was a need to develop trade and business co-operation of all"types to tnable,them to integrate into the international division of labour process.
He
-there fore urged African countries to maintain and develop theirt'radethrou~h GATT, which would provide the best chance of promoting their interests vis-a-vis stronger trading partners.
86. The observer for India informed the Conference that in response to the critical food situation in Africa, his Government had donated 100,000 tons of wheat throufh the World Food Programme and was considering bilateral technical co-operation with African countries in the fields of water and soil management.
He informed the Conference of the efforts of the Co-ordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Countries, which had met in New Delhi recently. in mobilizing and sensitiziny its members and the international community to the plight of Africa.
87. He drew attention to his GovernmentIs collaboration with ECA in sa:lll-scale industrial projects in Africa, for which his country had suitable techrtology~
and informed the Conference of the activities of the National Small Industries Corporation and the National Research and Development Corporation, which were active in several African countries and promised further co-operation with EGA in those fields.
