Economic Commission for Africa
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
E/2018/38 E/ECA/CM/51/5 ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA ANNUAL REPORT 2018 Economic and Social Council Official Records, 2018 Supplement No. 18 UNITED NATIONS E/2018/38 E/ECA/CM/51/5 Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 I. Matters brought to the attention of the Economic and Social Council ............ 1 II. Work of the Commission since its fiftieth session .............................................. 3 Highlights of results achieved .......................................................................................... 3 A. Executive direction and management ........................................................................ 3 B. Programme of work ................................................................................................... 6 1. Macroeconomic policy .................................................................................................. 6 2. Regional integration and trade ...................................................................................... 7 3. Innovations, technologies and the management of Africa’s natural resources ............. 8 4. Statistics ....................................................................................................................... 10 5. Capacity development .................................................................................................. 11 6. Gender and women in development ............................................................................. 11 7. Subregional activities for development ....................................................................... 12 8. Development planning and administration ................................................................. 16 9. Social development policy ........................................................................................... 17 C. Technical cooperation .............................................................................................. 18 1. Regular programme of technical cooperation ............................................................. 18 2. NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency .............................................................. 21 3. United Nations Development Account ......................................................................... 21 D. Programme support .................................................................................................. 25 E. Challenges .................................................................................................................... 25 III. Reports of the meetings of the subsidiary bodies of the Commission, including intergovernmental committees of experts of the subregional offices .................................................................................................................... 26 IV. Report of the Conference of Ministers on the work of its fifty- first session ………………………………………………………………………… Annex I Ministerial statement ......................................................................................... 1 Annex II Resolutions ........................................................................................................... Annex III Report of the Committee of Experts ............................................................ 15 Annex IV Reports of the meetings of the subsidiary bodies of the Commission, including intergovernmental committees of experts of the subregional offices . i E/2018/38 E/ECA/CM/51/5 Introduction 1. The present annual report of the Economic Commission for Africa covers the period from 31 March 2017 to 15 May 2018, and has been prepared in accordance with paragraph 18 of the Commission’s terms of reference. The report was adopted at the fifty-first session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, which was held in Addis Ababa on 14 and 15 May 2018. I. Matters brought to the attention of the Economic and Social Council 2. At its fifty-first session, the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development adopted six resolutions and a ministerial statement addressing various topics on the theme, “African Continental Free Trade Area: creating fiscal space for jobs and economic diversification”. The Commission brings these resolutions to the attention of the Economic and Social Council in view of their significance to the work of the Commission and requests the Council’s endorsement. The resolutions are summarized as follows: (a) 956 (LI) African Institute for Economic Development and Planning By this resolution, the Conference endorsed the updated statutes of the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning and requested the Executive Secretary of the Commission to transmit the statutes to the Economic and Social Council for consideration and adoption and for the subsequent issuance of the appropriate directive to ensure their implementation. It also endorsed the reconstituted membership of the Governing Council of the Institute and requested the Commission, in collaboration with the Institute, to take all steps necessary to request the General Assembly to increase the regular grant to the Institute from $2.6 million to 5 million per biennium in support of the Institute’s programme; (b) 957 (LI) Review of the intergovernmental structure of the Economic Commission for Africa By its resolution, the Conference decided to grant additional time to the Commission to conduct further review and analysis of the intergovernmental structure of the Commission, and requested the Executive Secretary to report to the Conference at its next session on restructuring the conference structure and subsidiary bodies of the Commission, including the intergovernmental committees of experts; (c) 958 (LI) Implementation of international migration programmes in Africa By its resolution, the Conference requested the Commission, in partnership with the African Union, to continue to provide support and advice to member States on mainstreaming migration policies into their national development plans and strategies and to track and monitor the progress made in implementing migration programmes in Africa through various means, including by convening periodic conferences. The Conference also called upon the Commission, through its regional and subregional offices, to address the critical areas concerning migration, including sustainable development, thereby providing frameworks for action by member States, the private sector and civil society; E/2018/38 E/ECA/CM/51/4 (d) 959 (LI) Revised strategic framework and biennial programme plan of the Economic Commission for Africa for the biennium 2018–2019 By its resolution, the Conference acknowledged the new strategic focus of the Commission on supporting the sustainable development of Africa through a growth-enabling macroeconomic and microeconomic environment with, as its key priorities, eradicating poverty and addressing inequality; achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women; accelerating economic integration and trade through increased diversification, stronger institutions, better governance and closer engagement with the private sector and between the public and private sectors; promoting green and blue economic development paths through energy, natural resources and climate change adaptation and mitigation; expanding domestic resource mobilization as a long-term path to sustainable development finance; and forging a data-informed policy architecture; (e) 960 (LI) Harnessing the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area and creating fiscal space for jobs and economic diversification By its resolution, the Conference requested the Commission to work in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the African Union Commission Specialized Agency for Capacity Development to support the States members of the African Union in developing national strategies to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area that complement the broader trade policy of each State party to the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area and in identifying the key trade opportunities, current constraints and steps required to take full advantage of the African market. It also requested the Commission to support the States members of the African Union in enhancing their fiscal space and mobilizing additional domestic resources through strengthening tax administration, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending, tapping into private financing and improving the sustainability of borrowing. Furthermore, the Conference requested the Commission and other development partners to support the mobilization of resources and promote investment to facilitate the harnessing of the full benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area; (f) 961 (LI) Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development By its resolution, the Conference decided formally to establish the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development under the auspices of the Commission to follow up on and review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to act as a multi-stakeholder forum at which matters relating to sustainable development and the structural transformation priorities of Africa could be discussed. It also decided that the Regional Forum would be convened annually by the Chair of the Bureau of the Regional Forum, with