PRESS RELEASE

HIGH-LEVEL AFRICAN REGIONAL ECONOMIC COMMUNITIES MEETING WITH EUROPEAN UNION ADOPTS HISTORIC “LUSAKA DECLARATION” ON AID EFFECTIVENESS AND DELIVERY OF CONCRETE RESULTS

– EU and African regional organizations set brisk pace of implementation of regional integration and development programmes –

From Magaga Alot, Corporate Communications Expert, EAC in Lusaka, Zambia, 15th September, 2009: Five African regional economic communities – East African Community (EAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa ( COMESA), Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) – have concluded a two-day meeting (14-15 September, 2009) in Lusaka, Zambia with a bold declaration of commitment to efficient and effective programme management and closer co-ordination among them, reducing costs of doing business in Africa and enhancing good governance to usher a new era of peace, security and development across the region.

Meeting attended by high-level executives and senior officials

The High-Level Meeting of the Inter-Regional Co-ordinating Committee (IRCC) of the Eastern and Southern Africa – Indian Ocean Commission (ESA-IO) Region and the European Union (EU), held under the theme, “Enhancing delivery on the ESA-IO regional integration agenda” was officially opened by H.E. George Kunda, Vice President and Minister of Justice, Zambia and was also addressed by Ministers: Hon Felix Mutati, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Zambia; Hon. Amos Kimunya, Minister of Trade, Kenya; Hon. Rukiya Chekamondo, Minister of State for Finance in charge of Privatization, Uganda; Hon. Arvin Booleil, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Co-operation, Mauritius; and Mr. Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

The Meeting, which was co-chaired by Eng. Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary of IGAD who is also the Chairman of the IRCC and Mr. Stefano Manservisi, Director General for Development, European Commission, was also attended by Ambassador Juma V. Mwapachu, Secretary General of the East African Community who is also the Chairman of the EAC-COMESA-SADC Tripartite Task Force; Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya, Secretary General of COMESA; Ambassador Callixte d’Offay, Secretary General of IOC; Dr. Tomazo Salomao, Secretary General of SADC; and Senior officials of the EU and African regional organizations.

Zambia Vice President commends EAC-SADC-COMESA Tripartite

The Vice President and Minister of Justice of Zambia, Mr. George Kunda said the ESA-IO has made good progress with the launching in June 2009 of the COMESA Customs Union following the launching of the EAC Customs Union in January, 2005; the progress towards establishment of the EAC Common Market by 2010; and the ongoing preparations towards the establishment of a larger free trade area comprising of a membership of the EAC-SADC and COMESA regional economic communities. He said the EAC-SADC-COMESA Tripartite process would address the challenges of overlapping membership currently faced by the African countries; and provide stimulus to private sector participation in the sustainable development of the region. The private sector would benefit from harmonized rules and procedures and simplification of requirements and guidelines to trade in the region. These developments would dovetail into overall effectiveness of regional integration in Africa. The Vice President said that under the EAC-SADC-COMESA Tripartite arrangement, streamlining of Aid for Trade (AfT) strategies would lead to “ additional resources and more predictability of funds provided” to address Africa’s priority needs in the critical areas of regional infrastructure development and other trade facilitation.

Delegates emphasize effective aid and trade linkage

The Director-General for Development, European Commission, Mr. Stefano Manservisi said there was need to give practical and concrete expression to EU-ESA/IOC co-operation and inclusive search for solutions for the global economic system following the global economic and financial crisis. He said it was within this context that the pursuits of the EAC-COMESA-SADC free trade area and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with Europe should be viewed. “We want concrete results to support regional integration, we need road maps to set out what we will do to get results …… we do not need further policy papers, now we need to implement programmes,” he said.

The Vice Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mr. Erastus Mwencha said that integration in Africa was not an option but a matter of survival, noting that integration called for great sacrifices in the short term which would, however, pay off handsomely in the long term. He said the first stage of African integration, involving the strengthening of institutional frameworks of existing regional economic communities; and the second stage, of co-ordination and harmonization of activities, in particular, the gradual elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers, have been achieved. He said the stage was set for the third and most definitive phase of the establishment of a continental customs union followed by a common market. In moving forward, the African countries faced both structural and normative challenges, among which were resource constraints, poor state of infrastructure, reluctance to cede nationalism and sovereignty for the common good, inadequate integration of regional and continental initiatives into national development plans as well as peace and security challenges.

The Secretary General of the East African Community, Ambassador Juma V. Mwapachu said regional integration in the ESA-IO region was experiencing major positive transformations, at both the levels of the individual regional economic communities and of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite arrangement. He said challenges were experienced with regard to the persistent problem of non-tariff barriers to trade among the Member or Partner States of the regional economic communities, in infrastructure deficiencies, especially in roads, railways, energy, and inland waterways transportation which demanded huge outlays. The region also faced Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs) largely anchored on the negative mindsets of public officials and administrative impediments that could be quickly solved without much financial cost. He said EAC is putting emphasis, under its Trade and Transport Facilitation Project supported by the World Bank, ADB and Japan, on the planned introduction of one-stop border posts across the common borders and administrative measures which include recent introduction of 24-hour operations of the port of Mombasa and reduction of weigh bridges and road blocks along the East African highways from the ports of Dar-es-Salaam and Mombasa to the hinterlands of Kigali, Kampala and Bujumbura.

The Secretary General of the Common market for Eastern and Southern Africa Mr Sindiso Ngwenya called for a systematic approach to aid effectiveness to adapt aid delivery mechanisms to specific regional integration needs. Consideration should be given to the inter-linkages of regional integration needs and programmes implemented to shape regional market , boost trade and attract investment. He said the programmes should address deficient infrastructure networks, inefficient financial markets and inadequate support structures to small to medium scale industries. There is need to improve existing delivery instruments as well as design new ones in order to achieve more effective results under the EU-ESA/IOC co-operation. He said lessons should be drawn from the Marshall Aid Plan and some of its relevant features adapted to the EU-ESA/IOC co-operation. He called for setting up of an EU-ESA/IOC Aid Effectiveness Task Force to intensify and structure ongoing work on aid delivery instruments, specifically target regional integration and development , including leveraging the role of the private sector to achieve sustainable development and ultimately provide exit strategy from aid dependency.

Lusaka Declaration sets brisk pace of regional programme delivery

In their Lusaka Declaration, the High Level Meeting of the executives and senior officials of the Eastern and Southern Africa/Indian Ocean Region and the European Commission outline specific and time-lined measures for effective, reliable resource mobilization, efficient utilization and delivery of concrete, quantifiable results of regional integration and development. The Lusaka Declaration stresses aid effectiveness through streamlined procedures, instruments and measures for programming and timely delivery of EU support to regional integration.

The High-Level Meeting discussed at length the Regional Strategy and Indicative Programme (2008-2013) agreed between the EU and the ESA/IO Region in November 2008 in Strasbourg under which the EU pledged EUR 645 million over the five-year period. The issue of aid effectiveness is expected to loom large at the mid term review of the Regional Strategy and Indicative Programme in March next year. The EAC Secretary General, Ambassador Mwapachu told the Lusaka meeting that “quicker funding delivery is critical in implementing projects on time and producing benefits early…. We should avoid the bad experience we went through in the 9th EDF delivery process”.

Similar concerns were expressed by the Kenya Minister of Trade Mr Amos Kimunya who observed that delays in aid disbursements for investment projects led to escalation of costs and significant opportunity costs to the extent it was apparently more prudent to go for commercial loans in financing the projects. “The issue of aid effectiveness should be addressed noting that for aid to be effective, it has to be timely and predictable… delayed aid disbursements is as good as no investment”, Mr Kimunya said.

The Lusaka meeting highlighted the issue of insufficiency of Aid for Trade and ODA and the need to ensure that funding pledges and disbursements represent not only speedy disbursement but also “truly new and additional funds” with respect to ongoing projects as well as response to the emerging challenges of food security, global financial and economic crisis and global climate change.

The Lusaka Declaration indicates steady approach to a common ground between the EU and the African regional organizations on the issues of aid effectiveness with its bold restatement of the commitment under EU Aid for Trade Strategy to achieve a target of EUR 2 billion per year by 2010 and focus on harnessing new resources on a sustainable and predictable basis for development and efficient utilization of assets and resources.

The Lusaka Declaration requires the regional economic communities to intensify the development and harmonization of the Aid for trade (AfT) strategies, ensure coherence and alignment at national and regional levels to cover the wide AfT agenda. The declaration places emphasis on the mobilization of private capital in order to leverage private sector participation to secure additional financing for sustainable infrastructure investments through the regional investment initiatives – the COMESA Infrastructure Fund, EAC Development Fund and the Tripartite Trust Account that are being supported by the EU.

Setting a brisk pace for the implementation of the practical-oriented provisions of the Lusaka Declaration, the High-level Meeting established an IRCC Aid Effectiveness Task Force to intensify and structure the ongoing work on aid and programme delivery. The meeting scheduled a follow-up Resource Seminar for 5th and 6th October, 2009 in Addis Ababa with participation of the regional economic communities to clarify and assess financial needs and resources. The Addis Ababa seminar will be followed up by the regional economic communities presentation to the European Commission by the end of November, 2009 of a concrete and complete schedule of the priority actions to be taken to implement the indicative needs for regional integration and co-operation, including issues related to the conclusion of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between EU and the African regional organizations.

Directorate of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs

EAC Secretariat

Arusha

September 2009

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From: Magaga Alot
Subject: RE: PRESS RELEASE EU -AFRICAN REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS LUSAKA DECLARATION
Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 2:25 AM