The Deputy Minister for Finance
Dr.Ashatu Kijaji in discussion with The Deputy Executive Secretary for
Economic Commission for Africa(ECA) Mr.Abdallah Hamdok and The
Permanent Representative of Tanzania to the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Ambassador of Tanzania to Ethiopia
H.E. Naimi Hamza Aziz at ECA Headquarters in Addis Ababa Ethiopia this
evening.
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
From Tanzania Embassy in Addis Ababa
April 4, 2016.
The Deputy Minister for Finance
Dr. Ashatu Kijaji has said that both development Agenda 2063 and Agenda
2030 can facilitate implementation of Africa’s aspirations for
structural transformation insisting that the two must be implemented in a
coherent and integrated fashion.
Dr.Kijaii said this while officiating at the opening ceremony of the 9th
Joint Annual Meeting of the African Union Specialized Technical
Committee on Finance, monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and
Integration and the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African
Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development at ECA
Conference Centre in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for
Finance who is also the outgoing chair of Bureau of African Ministers of
finance, planning and Economic development said that the implementation
of the two development agendas in a coherent and integrated manner
would leverage the synergies and subsequently reinforce relationship
among them avoiding a silo approach that would be counter-productive.
“In the next two days we will
deliberate on precisely these areas and how to develop an integrated
framework that encompasses both agendas because harmonizing the two
agendas and their frameworks not only reduces the burden on national
planning capacities but also vital for coherent implementation”, She
emphasized.
Speaking during the same occasion
the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Dr.Nkosazana Dlamini
Zuma reiterated her call for African countries to mobilize abundant
local resources to fund various development initiatives and that proper
policies should be employed to facilitate that endeavour.
Dr.Zuma insisted that African
counties should formulate sound economic policies that would be
instrumental in facilitating diversification and support agro-processing
paving the way for industrialization in the continent.
The African Union Commission
chairperson further insisted efficient data collection was instrumental
not only in implementing various development projects but most
importantly in measuring and monitoring progress.
Delivering his remarks the UN
Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic
Commission for Africa Dr. Carlos lopes said the current downturn in
commodity prices will affect Africa’s development trajectory but on the
other hand could provide the continent with powerful incentives to
relocate economic resources away from commodity production and into more
sustainable activities.
“The volatility of most
commodities including oil has been high in 2015, but contrary to general
belief not far above historical trends, uranium, coffee, gold coffee ,
cocoa or orange juice exported from Africa are experiencing record
prices,” he said.
Dr. Lopes further said that
African current growth has not generated sufficient jobs and has not
been inclusive enough to significantly curb poverty and that it has been
driven for a third by commodity price boom and government related
spending adding that fluctuation in commodities prices has made such
growth vulnerable.
He said it was thus imperative
for African countries to structurally transform economic policies to
focus more on the potential offered by industrialization including the
expansion of commodities value chains, the positioning for agro-business
to act as the pull factor for agriculture to get out of the doldrums.
Mr. Lopes said Structural
transformation will not happen spontaneously in African countries but
rather as a result of deliberate and coherent policies that are
entrenched into a coherent development strategy, enlightened by a
transformational leadership.
In his welcoming remarks
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn said Agenda 2063 and its
ten year implementation plan complements and reinforces the global
agenda by taking into account region specific and trans-boundary
initiatives such as strengthening Africa’s cultural identity and common
heritage and fostering an integrated and politically united Africa based
the ideals of pan Africanism and the vision of African renaissance.
Deliberations of the conference
of African Ministers for finance, planning and economic Development
will evolve around the transition from the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Objectives (SDGs) and Africa’s
50-year development plan; Agenda 2063.
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