• Stakeholders chart path to effective planning, launch online platform
A PLAN to railroad the ongoing sixth Joint Yearly Meetings of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and African Union (AU) with African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, to approve the draft statute on African Monetary Fund (AMF) at the weekend was halted by key members of the continental "Big Five."
Three members of the five - Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt - which were supported by a majority of member-states at the meeting of experts, based their opposition on lack of inputs into the draft statute, non-availability of copies of the document as well as lack of formal notice of its adoption on order paper of the day.
Also, stakeholders in planning and development have canvassed the need for African countries to stop abandoning national development plans midstream and rather adopt effective strategies for result-oriented development on the continent.
And realising the need for proper co-ordination of development planning as well as the need to exploit the advantages of knowledge-based electronic platform for development, the AU and UNECA Sunday launched an online project called African Development Planners Network.
Now operational and ready for use with the most recommended features in place, invitation would be sent to potential stakeholders to participate on the network and for member-states to nominate focal persons to co-ordinate individual states' participation on the platform.
UNECA and AU top officials had made serious efforts to get the document okayed during the presentation of a report on establishment of a Pan-African Stock Exchange, discussions on African Investment Bank and implementation of the African Charter on Statistics and Strategy for Harmonisation of Statistics, among others.
However, representatives of member-states of South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Chad and Tanzania opposed the move one after another.
One of Nigeria's representatives at the meeting, Mr. Ikpe Audu Obaike, requested that the organisers "should allow consultation among stakeholders in Nigeria for proper inputs to be made into the draft statute and then it can be presented to the meeting of ministers for recommendations and deliberation by the Summit of AU Heads of States."
Obaike, who intimated the meeting of his Minister of Finance's query on what benefits Nigeria stands to gain in contributing huge sum of money as indicated in the draft statute, said he has no power to commit Nigeria to monetary contributions without clarification from the Nigerian government and the minister.
South Africa also took similar position, complaining about the feasibility of the actual capital achieving results since the AMF was designed to take over the responsibilities of International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had relegated Africa to the background in the past.
The AU Director of Department of Economic Affairs, Mr. Rene Kouassi, had observed that the issues raised were not new and had been discussed severally, adding that discussions were held with IMF officials on the AMF statute and the institution okayed the document.
He called for an extra-ordinary meeting of committee of experts for Monday before the beginning of ministerial meeting since there was no fund to organise another conference on the issue.
Nevertheless, following the insistence that copies of the document be taken to their respective governments for consideration and comments, the chairman ruled that feedbacks on the matter should be returned to AU secretariat in three weeks to facilitate its consideration at the AU summit.
The Guardian