8th Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development : statement by Carlos Lopes UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA 29 March 2015 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Statement by Carlos Lopes UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA at the 8th Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. The Continental Free Trade Area negotiations are not cost free. African governments should take the necessary steps to meet these costs including by ensuring that the negotiating teams from each country are well resourced. Hence we need to make sure that our contribution and concerns are adequately reflected in the determination to alter the current course. The world will not wait for African countries to catch up with industrialization