Africa in the year of ECA golden jubilee: statement by Adebayo Adedeji

Abstract

The statement was made at the Winding up of the General Debate of the 18th session/ninth Meeting of the Conference of Ministers (Silver Jubilee Session) held at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 27 April to 3 May 1983. The speech explored the success of ECA since the inception in 1958 and looked back 25 years when most of our continent was dominated by the force of colonialism 10 and imperialism. The ECA right from the start became a champion to the economic interests of Africa and turned the African from a mere geographical expression into an economically interdependent region. The speaker also prepared and annexed the study entitled “ECA and Africa’s development 1983 – 2008.” It is a preliminary perspective study how ECA reached this historic silver jubilee session.