Addis Ababa declaration on UNCTAD IX

Abstract

Among the development challenges facing many African countries, the most pressing are eradication of poverty, human resource development and the transformation of the productive structures of their economies, including the horizontal and vertical diversification of the commodity sector. African countries have demonstrated their determination to overcome the problems of underdevelopment and many of them have undertaken far reaching political and economic reforms in the context of structural adjustment programmes under difficult conditions. Thus far, Africa has been largely by-passed by the positive effects of the globalization process and the risk of further marginalization of this continent looms large. 3Therefore, a major challenge for the ninth session of UNCTADs to take urgent actions which would rapidly integrate Africa in the mainstream of the world economy.