African Development Week: Towards a new Transformative and People-Centred Development Trajectory

AU Headquarters - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Source UNECA

For the past nine years, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) have held joint annual conference to discuss statutory issues of relevance to the African continent. This years event took place at the Ethiopian capital - Addis Ababa from the 31st March to 5th April, 2016 under the theme: “Towards an integrated and coherent approach to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals” .

An African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration together with experts from the Economic Commission for Africa and other institutions, dilated on a framework that could possibly led to transition towards a new transformative and people-centred development trajectory that combines economic, social, environmental and other developmental considerations.

In her keynote address, the AUC chairperson - Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma remarked “We've had a week packed with meetings, all focused on the central question of our time: how to achieve economic transformation in order to change the lives of African men, women, children, young and old, urban and rural for the better.” Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the ECA - Dr Carlos Lopes warned that transformation will not happen spontaneously, but rather as a result of deliberate and coherent policies that are entrenched into a harmonised development strategy and enlightened by transformational leadership.

While considerable progress towards social outcomes has been recorded in various regions in the continent, the delegates recognised that; inequalities still persist in regards to income, gender, youth, people with disability, access to opportunities and geographical location. They also recognize that multiple development frameworks have not met Africa’s imperative for accelerated, inclusive and sustainable growth, thus weakening the continent’s prospects for structural transformation.

However, the experts at the conference acknowledged that Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offer a unique opportunity for Africa to achieve inclusive and transformative development with equity. Underscoring the importance for Africa to adopt a coherent strategy for the effective and coordinated implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda, they agreed on a single monitoring and evaluation framework, and a common reporting architecture that will produce a single periodic performance report accommodating both agendas.

On the key issue of regional integration, the Finance and Economic experts called upon the  UN to continue its support for Africa’s transformative agenda by aligning itself with, and supporting the priorities of the African Union, particularly the aspirations for a continental free trade agreement. They also agreed that strong continental and sub-regional financial institutions, along with multiple funding sources are essential for the successful implementation of the continent’s transformation agenda.