7th Session of the Committee on Trade, Regional Cooperation and Integration : statement by Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, UN under secretary general and executive secretary of ECA 2 June 2011 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Statement by Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA at the 7th Session of the Committee on Trade, Regional Cooperation and Integration. Mr. Janneh, on his remarks highlighted that; It is now common knowledge that Africa’s economic performance since the turn of the Millennium has been encouraging. Africa’s collective GDP is over one trillion dollars which is comparable to Brazil and India and its population of one billion people is similar to that of India. The theme of this 7th Session of your Committee “Towards an Accelerated Continental Free Trade Area and Customs Union in Africa” has been chosen to give further momentum to this process. Without the absolute commitment to implementation of regional integration obligations, progress will be slow. Addressing these challenges will require political will and commitments by member States and citizens to implement treaties, protocols and programmes through concrete actions. This forum creates yet another opportunity over the next two days, to harness our collective ideas, wisdom and creativity towards advancing Africa’s regional integration.