C:\Documents and Settings\xxx\Bureau\ecobizf\doc eng\un-eca Statement ECOWAS Business Forum finaloct28.doc12ppt.doc UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA SUBREGIONAL OFFICE FOR WEST AFRICA Remarks ECOWAS First Business Forum Harnessing Public-Private Partnerships in Trade and Investment- New Initiatives in Enhancing the Wealth Retention Capacity of Africa Abdoulaye Niang 1 Director, Subregional Office for West Africa United Nations Economic Commission for Africa October 29, 2007 1 Author: Towards a Viable and Credible Development in Africa: The Push Factors . May 2006. www.ivyhousebooks.com, www.amazon.com. Globalization: The Key to Peace and Prosperity for Africa (forthcoming, May 2008). www.ivyhousebooks.com. srowa Abdoulaye Niang Page 1 11/02/2008
C:\Documents and Settings\xxx\Bureau\ecobizf\doc eng\un-eca Statement ECOWAS Business Forum finaloct28.doc12ppt.doc The Chairperson, HE Mandé Sidibé, Former Prime Minister, Mali and Chairman, ETI; His Excellency, Alhaji Alui Mahama, Vice President, Republic of Ghana; Honorable Ministers and Heads of Delegations; The Chairman, African Business Roundtable; The Representative of the African Union Commission; The Representative of the African Development Bank; H.E. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, President of the ECOWAS Commission; The Chairman of the Planning Committee, and Chairman, National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ghana; Excellencies Ambassadors, and Heads of Mission; Representatives of Intergovernmental Organizations and International Organizations and UN Colleagues Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen: I am standing here today within the framework of the Partnership Agreement signed on August 17, 2007 between the ECOWAS Commission and the Subregional Office for West Africa (SRO-WA) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to serve West Africa better. My Office is mandated and the staff members are committed to work in a seamless relationship with the ECOWAS Commission to advancing regional integration in West Africa and to repositioning the subregion of West Africa to spearhead the process of harnessing regional resources to meet Africa’s development priorities. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the launch of the Business Forum with my Office as a true partner of ECOWAS Commission under the leadership of our esteemed President of the Commission, H.E Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas. I wish to extend to you all the greetings of Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for AFrica, who is fully committed to advance regional integration in West Africa. I am delighted that the Vice-President is able to join us and to bless this important forum. Your Excellency, please convey to the President of the Republic, the Government of Ghana and the People of Ghana the greetings of a citizen of Ghana- Guinea-Mali who still remember in the 60s wearing clothing made out of materials srowa Abdoulaye Niang Page 2 11/02/2008
C:\Documents and Settings\xxx\Bureau\ecobizf\doc eng\un-eca Statement ECOWAS Business Forum finaloct28.doc12ppt.doc made in Ghana. Thank you for your hospitality. We are proud of Mohamed Ibn Chambas, a gift of Ghana to all West Africa. Your Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen; We would like to begin our remarks at this First ECOWAS Business Forum to state that Africa has a huge wealth generating capacity that is being exploited to contribute to global wealth creation. Africa over the last several years has been an economic growth area of over 6 percent per annum with an increasing consumer class and investors that are essentially in retail as opposed to manufacturing. The exploitation of Africa’s markets, investment opportunities and human and natural resources is contributing immensely to the wealth of a large number of multinational companies and for an increasing number of strategic commodities. The paradox is that the contribution of Africa to global wealth creation is increasingly leading to a weakening of the capacity of Africa to retain a larger and fairer share of global wealth generated from Africa’s wealth creation capacity. The fact is that the growth celebrated over years and across states in West Africa does not come with peace and prosperity. The reason is that the investment that generates growth belongs to foreign investors and if the wealth is estimated as the returns on investment then it is normal that the wealth generated from the exploitation of Africa’s wealth generating capacity is retained by those who took advantage of the investment opportunities to exploit Africa’s markets and human and natural resources. We need to address that paradox and correct the anomalies in the integration of Africa into global economy. We at SRO-WA developed and are advocating a Framework Agreement for Public-Private Trade and Investment Partnership designed to ensure that the partnership in trade and investment is smarter at regional level and strategic at international level. This Framework Agreement is developed and advocated to harness Public-Private Trade and Investment Partnership and enhance the wealth creation and retention capacities of Africa. Your Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen; Through the Global Partnership for Africa’s Development (GPAD), a culture of consensus around a single development model across Africa took root starting with the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and now the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Since Africa is likely to miss the targets under the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), we submit to this august assembly that there is need for alternative development and business models. We hope that the culture of consensus will help spread across the continent as bush fire the advocated development and business models under the Framework Agreement for Regional and International Public-Private Trade and Investment Partnerships. The srowa Abdoulaye Niang Page 3 11/02/2008
C:\Documents and Settings\xxx\Bureau\ecobizf\doc eng\un-eca Statement ECOWAS Business Forum finaloct28.doc12ppt.doc partnership will be smarter and strategic at regional and international levels respectively when the partnership in trade and investment result in making: 1. States across the subregion of West Africa effective that is to become capable, responsive, and accountable; 2. Regionalization to offer each participating state the opportunities to develop from Africa’s own economic and fiscal bootstraps, and 3. Globalization to offer African citizens broad-based economic growth with food security (MDG1), poverty reduction (MDG1), equity (MDG2-6) and better environmental management (MDG7) based on a global partnership for development (MDG8) inspired by the shared vision of Africa as union of nations networked into a unified continental economy and markets (MDG8). Your Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen; Africa is said to have a commodity-based economy and we argued at SRO-WA that Africa’s future lies in better integrating Africa into global economy pursuing a commodity-based approach to regionalization and globalization inspired by a Wealth Creation and Retention Strategy (WCRS). The commodity-based approach to regionalization and globalization should allow the emergence (fabrication) of new generation of Africa’s investors including Africa private equity investors who will help in partnership with their counterparts in other regions of the world to help: 1. Build the wealth-generating capacity of Africa with an enhanced capacity to retain a larger and fairer share of global wealth generated from the exploitation of regional markets, investment opportunities and human and natural resources; 2. Invest in value adding activities in the global commodity chain including in more lucrative activities that are currently carried out outside of Africa; and 3. Access to new development finance including wealth held outside of Africa by African wealth holders estimated at over US$400 billion, savings of small holders, migrantdollars estimated in 2005 at over US$8 billion, soft loans from China, India and reputable capital markets across the world. The ambition under the advocated development and business models is to help Africa’s investors to: 1. Create African Transnational Corporations around strategic commodities like ECOBANK; 2. Take control of the ownership and leadership structures of the Africa’s branches of targeted Global Transnational Corporations (GTNCs) that are “dynamic, technologically advanced, quality driven and reputable”; and 3. Hold a voting right in the mother company of the targeted GTNCs. srowa Abdoulaye Niang Page 4 11/02/2008
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