Twenty-Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development: Opening speech for Hon. minister of finance, government of the federal republic of Nigeria, dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and the opening of the 39 th session of the ECA and conference of ministers of finance, planning and economic development

Abstract

Opening Speech for Hon. Minister of Finance, Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Opening of the 39th Session of the ECA and Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Mr. Okonjo-lweala, on his remarks highlighted that, this meeting in Abuja, there have been significant developments in the international community that bear directly on our continent's interest: The G-8 commitment at the Gleneagles Summit to cancel the debt of 18 of the world's most resource constrained countries, 14 of those countries are African; the UK Commission for Africa in its report, "Our Common Interest" advocated a large increase in aid to Africa; the re-affirmation by world leaders at their 2005 UN Special Summit of their commitment to pay attention to Africa's special needs; the new proposals for scaling up aid to Africa. This renewed attention to our continent must not be narrowly seen as a response by the international community to our poverty. we applaud ECA's choice of "Meeting the Challenge of Employment in Africa" as the theme of this year's Conference.