Heads of the African Union Commission, the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank Group, have met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss the integration and coordination of activities of the institutions for the continent’s development.
Dr Nkosana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Dr Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) discussed the roles and responsibilities of the three institutions for Africa's development, and the need to coordinate their activities in setting the agenda to support Africa's socio-economic transformation.
The heads reaffirmed the spirit of Pan Africanism and African solidarity, which inspired the political evolution of the continent in the last 50 years, and was now critical for realizing Africa’s socio-economic transformation.
In a communique, the heads said recognising the progress the continent had made in several areas, including peace, and security, good governance, economic growth, regional integration, and attracting investments, they reflected on the key challenges, opportunities and priorities facing Africa drawing on the experience of the last 50 years.
The heads welcomed the continent's resilience in the face of the recent global financial and economic crises but committed to further action with all relevant stakeholders to enhance Africa's economic independence, reduce vulnerability and diversify its relations within the global economy.
They noted that Africa's economic growth needed to focus on equity, inclusiveness, the preservation of natural capital and creation of decent jobs, especially for the youth and women.
The heads firmly believed that the time was ripe for a paradigm shift and a change in mindset towards realising the vision of a continent that was integrated, prosperous and peaceful, and a dynamic force in the global arena.
The communiqué emphasised that Africa's challenge was economic transformation, whose agenda should be led by Africans, pointing out that "To achieve this objective, we commit to explore all avenues for mobilizing sources of finance including tapping into Africa's own resources and global financial opportunities".
The communiqué also acknowledged that external partners had contributed to Africa's progress through instruments such as the Africa Development Fund (ADF) to which the institutions remained committed and gave the assurance that the institutions would actively explore Africa's participation in those financial mechanisms.
The heads also supported the vision of Africa's leaders to transform the continent over the next 50 years, and reaffirmed the commitment by the three pan-African institutions to collaborate closely with Regional Economic Communities and other partners to foster the agenda of an integrated and prosperous continent.
The heads agreed to engage with Africa's leaders and peoples in articulating and preparing such an African led transformation agenda for the next 50 years.
They would also pursue "this discussion in the upcoming African Union meetings and through consultations with Regional Economic Communities, partners and other stakeholders to realize the vision of the African Renaissance".