Dec 28, 2015 | News

UN Deputy Secretary General Commends NEPAD’s Regional Coordination efforts

The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Mr Jan Eliasson has said that the NEPAD Agency is well positioned to support Africa’s transformation. Mr Eliasson said that NEPAD’s comparative advantage is that it is very close to the ground and the reputation to achieve results lies on how much the Agency will translate the differences on the ground

Mr Eliasson was speaking in New York when the Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki paid his a courtesy call. The Deputy UN Chief emphasised the vital role of the regional perspective. “From the beginning we need to bring in the regional perspective be it in peace and security or in the development sphere. This perspective has to be taken in from the beginning and not as an afterthought,” he said.

Dr Mayaki said that 50 years ago when the OAU was created its focus was on the liberation of the continent. The next 50 years are about economic transformation. He said that Africa has grown in the last ten years although the rest of the world has not grown that much, stressing that the next ten years will be extremely critical for .Africa to succeed.

Industrialisation has to take place with Agriculture at the centre of it. Small scale farers will play a big role in this aspect of transformation. We cannot afford to fail,” said Dr Mayaki.

The last AU Summit in Malabo shaped a clear-cut strategy for the Comprehensive Agriculture Programme (CAADP), with a result framework that looks infrastructure in rural areas and boosting inter- regional trade among others. The fact that the UN is enhancing the regional dimension is a huge boost for the development of African countries.

Dr Mayaki said that sustainability is seen as a priority by most African leaders and many countries are inserting aspects of the green economy and renewals in their national planning. He requested support in the knowledge sector to help translate operational aspects into sustainability.

On infrastructure, they agreed that proper project preparation of bankable projects was important to wooing private and public investment. Mr Eliasson suggested a seminar of key players to discuss how to narrow the gaps in financing as well as clarify the risks, benefits, and preparation of bankable projects.

The Deputy UN Chief said that Official Development Assistance (ODA) was still expected to support development although it was now only part of a larger financing model. He said that there are so many elements to be brought to the development dynamic such as education, children and women’s rights, institutions and the rule of law.

Mr Eliasson gave an example of how his country Sweden rose from being one of the poorest countries in the word in the 1920’s to one of the world’s wealthiest today.

Emphasis was placed on Infrastructure, good education and good institutions. Investment was placed in these such that the population were happy to pay taxes because they knew that these well-functioning sectors worked well for the country.

On the post 2015 Agenda the UN Deputy Secretary-General said that poverty eradication will still be the number one priority, but it has to be made clear that we cannot have a long term eradication strategies without bringing in the sustainability dimension.

He urged an inclusive approach saying it was vital to engage more than just the ministers of foreign affairs in discussions and planning.

We mostly have people from foreign ministries but if we are to make our next generation goals more effective, we should involve other sectors such as finance, agriculture, energy and health. There’s need for broad inclusiveness… even among civil society, and academia,” he said.