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African Economic Conference held in Addis Ababa
The global recession is still headlines news, and Africa is feeling the chill. Economic growth on the continent is down from an average of six percent to a projected 1.9 percent in the sub-Saharan region.
African Economic Conference
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this week, economists and African finance ministers met to discuss the continent's reaction to and actions towards the financial crisis. The collection of more than 300 economists and economic policy makers were there for the African Economic Conference, where the mood was cautious, yet upbeat.
Kaylois Henry had this report.
Designed as a knowledge-sharing meeting between economists and policy makers, the African Economic Conference is expected to generate ideas for improving the quality of economics on the continent.
The agenda was wide-ranging, reflecting the changes in economic realities that many African countries had to face. These include poverty and inequality, foreign investment, fiscal and monetary policy, and remittances.
Mr. Emmanuel Nnadozie, director of the Trade, Finance and Economic Development Division of the United nations Economic Commission for Africa, reflected the conference's optimism, saying the crisis should be looked at as an opportunity rather than a problem. The crisis provides a chance to reexamine development policies and pratices and have the continent move from dependence on commodities to better development of internal trade.
However, key-note speaker, Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, set a more cautious tone. He pointed out that while many re-development strategies are possible, they may not be probable. What Africa needs, he said, is to design strategies that foster development and make the possible, probable.
" We need to design strategies to enable African States to design and implement strategies for economic transformation and to capitalize on the possibilities opened by the current global conjecture."
The conference was sponsored by the UNECA, the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission. It finishes Friday with a round table discussion on policy responses to the financial crisis.
For UN Radio, I'm Kaylois Henry
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