

Coordination committees needed for NEPAD's priority sectors

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Some 900 African leaders and managers from all the regions of the world have recommended the setting up of a continental coordination committee for each priority sector in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiative, based on the five major regions of the African continent.

The recommendation was made Tuesday in Dakar at the end of a two-day conference on the financing of NEPAD, the closing ceremony of which was chaired by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo.

Participants also recommended a concerted effort to harmonise the business environment in Africa and quickly develop operational tools to finance new information and communication technologies.

Rapporteurs for the five workshops, who presented their conclusions at the closing plenary, stressed the urgent need to provide the major regions of the continent with the common infrastructure necessary for the free movement of people, goods and ideas.

They called for awareness about the rapid degradation of the continent's natural and environmental resources, and warned that significant initiatives be taken to reverse the trend before it is too late.

The workshop on basic infrastructure, chaired by Niger President Tandja Mamadou, attracted the most interest and recorded the largest number of participants.

It called on the World Bank to help set up funds at country level in order to enable the rapid completion of all the necessary studies for the initiation of major national projects selected under NEPAD, in all the areas of transport (air, rail, sea, road) and digital communication.

Participants also recommended the harmonisation of budgetary and financial procedures to develop a single reference framework for every major region.

They asked bilateral, multilateral, private and public partners to harmonise their procedures for funding and field operation.

Meanwhile, the workshop on new technologies, chaired by Cape Verdean President Pedro Pires, recommended to the Steering Committee to make new technologies the backbone of NEPAD.

It called for the setting up of sub-regional Intranet networks, the harmonisation of the regulatory framework for impact studies and centres to monitor the evolution and introduction of new technologies.

To mobilise the required financial resources, participants suggested that, at internal levels, part of national military expenditures be earmarked for new technologies in partnership with international financial institutions, while a bank should be established to support new technologies.

However, the figures announced for the financing of energy projects scared private investors who attended the Energy workshop, chaired by Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano.

The workshop recommended that NEPAD set as a priority in this area for the collection and presentation of more reliable data so as to ensure real visibility in that sector.

There are huge resources at international level to finance the energy sector, but they would be more easily mobilised if the sector provided better visibility at international level, the workshop noted.

The workshop on agriculture, chaired by Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, called for the preservation of seeds and genetic resources.

Participants urged the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to develop legislation to protect intellectual property and the continent's genetic heritage.

They regretted the negative impact, on African markets, of the daily average of one billion dollars in subsidies provided by rich countries to their farmers.

They called for the establishment of guarantee and insurance systems against economic risks and natural disasters.

The workshop said there should be better access to markets, land and credit, without discrimination and with equal opportunities for all the segments of African society.

Finally, the environment workshop, chaired by Mauritanian President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, drew attention to marine erosion and major risks caused by urban pressure on the 40,000 km of African coasts where the bulk of the continent's industries, services and human settlements are concentrated.

The workshop, which noted the negative effects of water and air pollution on public health, called for massive and quality participation by Africans at the "Rio+10" conference.

The conference is slated for later this year in Durban, South Africa to assess the progress made since the first Earth Summit held ten years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dakar - 17/04/2002