Janneh urges Africa to develop capacity needed for its transformation

Abstract

Africa must have a clear vision of where it is headed to and build the capacity needed to attain its development and transformation processes, the United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa said in Addis Ababa. Mr. Abdoulie Janneh who was addressing the committee of African economic, finance and planning experts said that for Africa to jumpstart its development and become a global development pole, “it must rise to meet its domestic, regional and global challenges and undertake carefully calibrated policy responses and actions”. The experts are meeting to kick-start the 5th Joint Annual Meetings of the AU Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. He stressed the need for an African pool of experts capable of leading this process, and said this has guided ECA’s work over the past one year, especially as its African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP) has been working to rapidly scale-up capacity needs, planning and development management. He announced with appreciation the decision of the UN General Assembly to signal “strong support for our efforts by tripling the statutory allocation to the Institute in these austere times."