Statement by Dr. K.Y. Amoako United Nations Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the ECA: South African development community conference

Abstract

Statement BY Dr. K. Y. Amoako United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ECA at the south African Development Community Conference (SADC). Dr. Amoako, on his remarks highlighted that ECA's own research results presented in the 1999 Report on Africa confirms that fully 70 percent of our countries in 1998 enjoyed real economic growth in excess of population growth ant that more than a third of these countries last year recorded growth of 5 percent and above. The continent's economic recovery, while not solid enough, has at least reached the point where policy discretion can be brought to bear on this core topic. HIV/AIDS was a factor for the development of many of our countries even 10 years ago, but was not spoken about in central policy circles in many of the countries affected. The impact of HIVAIDS households, economic sectors and society in general are devastating and well known. Regional integration is as much a political process as it is an economic phenomenon. The history of integration runs parallel to a history of building strong multistate institutions. In the way forward, SADC will still face several challenges. In particular, one of those will be to streamline the relationships between member states in the context of SADC, COMESA and SACU.