Statement by Mr. Carlos Lopes at the 22nd ordinary session of the African Union executive council

Abstract

Statement by Mr. Carlos Lopes at the 22nd Ordinary Session of the African Union Executive Council at 22nd Ordinary Session of the African Union Executive Council. Mr. Lopes outlined on his remarks that, It is perhaps trite but useful to restate that the world has changed significantly in the last two decades. During this period, we have witnessed the emergence of a new phase of globalization, accelerated by an ICT revolution. This has made it possible for international financial markets to open for 24 hours and move vast resources across boundaries at the click of a button. It is also characterized by a global knowledge economy and society and pressures for universal democratization. We therefore have a situation in which cross-border capital flows rose from about 5% of the world GDP in the 1990s to over 20% today. The new age of globalization began at the same time as much of Africa was being ushered into a period of prolonged socio-economic crisis that marked the end of the continent’s experimentation with the classic import substitution industrial development approaches and the suspension of the state-led/state interventionist model of economic management. The socio-economic crisis also led, in several cases, to the reinforcement of existing conflicts, the unleashing of new ones, and sustained challenges to the post-colonial nation-state project that was constituted at independence.