THE Strategic Partners’ Dialogue on Africa’s Development has made significant strides in the area of results-based management as well as the establishment of joint financing arrangements between the Africa Union Commission (AUC) and its partners in support of AUC’s priority projects.

A joint statement issued in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and made available to The Guardian by the Information and Communication Service of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) states that members were unanimous in their support for Africa to continue to take the lead in driving its own development, which include reshaping the relationship with its development partners.

“In this regard, assistance from development partners would need to be aligned and coherent with the priorities set by Africa at all levels, in line with the new paradigm shift in development cooperation.”

Members noted with satisfaction the progress made by Dialogue members in “terms of improvement in the collaboration of pan-African institutions, with the joint organisation of this forum as well as the operationalisation of the Joint Secretariat AUC-ECA-AfDB, though serious challenges remain to be addressed in a good number of strategic areas.”

The statement identifies these areas as comprising the promotion of trade and investment in Africa; resource mobilisation; promotion of regional and continental infrastructure; and the consolidation of strategic partnerships for Africa’s development.

The Strategic Partners’ Dialogue on Africa’s development that was meeting for the second time since its launch in December 2009 is arguably one of the most influential meetings on the continent, observers stressed.

It brings together high-ranking representatives from development institutions such as the AUC, the ECA, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) present - EAC, ECCAS, ECOWAS, COMESA and IGAD.





Other partners present were diplomats and development economists from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, League of Arab States, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and United Kingdom as well as from the United States of America.

According to the statement, participants reaffirmed the “usefulness of this forum as a platform for policy makers from partner capitals to engage with the leadership of pan African institutions to foster better understanding of the strategic interests of all parties”.

Within the framework of the Paris and Accra principles on aid effectiveness, the communiqué states that a framework for AUC and AU Partners’ Budget Cooperation and Mutual Accountability as well as for Joint Programme Arrangements to reduce transaction costs has also been developed.

In the area of promotion of trade and investment in Africa, they expressed concern at the lack of progress in achieving sustainable results, particularly for African countries in the ongoing Doha Round of trade negotiations.

In this regard, members underscored the need to exert efforts to address the outstanding issues that are making it difficult to conclude an ambitious and development-friendly Doha Round while exploring other trade-related initiatives such as EPAs and AGOA and their impact on regional integration.

Regarding mobilisation of resources of Pan African institutions to finance development and growth, it was noted that there is a “need to rethink external development finance by providing a sustainable and efficient solution to the debt of poor countries, reinstate productive capital and promote innovative financing mechanisms, including exploring options linked to international financial transactions.”

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