ADF III Consensus Statement Sets Tough Integration Agenda for AU

Abstract

A Consensus Statement issued at the Third African Development Forum (ADF III), which ended today, lays out a tough agenda for the continent's policymakers to follow if they are to realize the dream of African unity. The document articulates agreements reached by more than 1,000 participants after five days of deliberations, details the challenges Africa faces in its bid to integrate, and proposes a number of concrete steps that need to be taken to accelerate integration and make it more effective as an engine for Africa's development. The Consensus will be transmitted to African Foreign Ministers meeting here Monday under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and thereafter to the Summit of Heads of State in Pretoria, South Africa in July that will usher in the African Union.