UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA SUBREGIONAL OFFICE - - PDF document

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srowa Abdoulaye Niang Page 1 11/02/2008 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 Niang1 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.

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srowa Abdoulaye Niang Page 2 11/02/2008

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

• n 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

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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

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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

• f 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.

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The ambition is to reposition the subregion of West Africa to help:

• 1. Spearhead the process of harnessing regional resources to meet Africa’s

development priorities;

• 2. Use optimally the most vital natural resources found in the minds and skills

and entreprises of African citizen; and

• 3. Ensure that the creativity of African citizen is the source of economic progress

and the creation of wealth of a nation across West Africa. Your Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen; Time is now to adopt the advocated development and business models that had worked in other regions of the world and are at the heart of the race between all other regions of the world to exploit Africa’s global wealth generating capacity. In no time, with the commitment of Africa’s leadership in government, business communities and civil society groups to the advocated development and business models, Africa will move from retail to manufacturing spearheaded by African investors and expertise. Your Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen; The current development and business models bring growth that does not come often with peace but surely a growth that does not come with prosperity, as we would normally expect. The growth celebrated across Africa does not come with peace and prosperity as expected for the simple reason that the wealth generated out of the growth goes, as it should be, to those who have invested in creating growth. Current development and business models result in privatizing publicly owned wealth creation capacities and transferring to private investors with investment that is largely not owned by African investors. The outcome is further weakening of the wealth retention capacity of Africa. The best indicator to measure the impacts of the current development and business models is the increasing dependency of states across West Africa on development aid that is an unsustained means to ensure sustainable development planning and to achieve sustainable human development. Poverty is deepening in Africa and the risk

• f missing the target under the Millennium Development Goals is increasing.

With the advocated development and business models conducted under the Framework Agreement for Regional and International Public-Private Trade and Investment Partnership, the future for Africa will be brighter. Africa will transform itself from a Home of Issues to a Home of Self-endeavor. Your Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen;

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What we are advocating is to make globalization offer to global citizens far more

• pportunities than risk with Africa contributing optimally to global wealth creation

with just the conditionality that the wealth retention capacity of Africa is enhanced. The entry point to operationalize the advocated development and business models and under the Framework Agreement is suggested to target a set of strategic commodities that are essential for existing GTNCs targeted as “dynamic, technologically advanced, quality driven and reputable.” Under the leadership of ECOWAS, negotiated Public-Private Trade and Investment Partnerships should enable investors across Africa and in the Diaspora to access to new development finance to buy up assets in targeted corporations active in the selected strategic commodities. Let us resolve to give a try to the advocated development and business models and my Office will work with ECOWAS Commission in a seamless relationship to take to you these models. Your Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen; The advocated development and business models will help move Africa towards a Viable and Credible Development with states across West Africa becoming capable, accountable and responsive to African citizen. Africa will retake the ownership and regain the leadership of Africa’s development process as envisioned originally under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Let us see each other within West Africa as partner in trade and investment and not as competitor to “deliver as one” in developing optimally the global wealth generating capacity of Africa for global citizen and the retention capacity of global wealth by Africa to make globalization offer growth with peace and prosperity for African citizen as well. Failure to reshape globalization to offer growth to African citizen as well might result in a Bloody Revolution and the expansion and legitimization of the activities currently

• bserved in the Niger delta. We, at SRO-WA, are working towards a Knowledge

Revolution to harness collective will and determination to move ahead boldly on the road that has been mapped and briefly shared with you through this statement. May the culture of consensus on development and business models prevail again to help harness collective will and determination through the African Union and ECOWAS to move ahead boldly on the road that has been mapped and briefly introduced during this meeting? May God bless this first Business Forum of ECOWAS to be a starting point for businesses to spearhead the process of moving Africa from a source of supply of raw materials and retail to manufacturing to result in continuously enhancing the capacity

• f Africa to retain a larger share of global wealth?

May God help Africa to transform itself from a Home of Issues to a Home of Self- endeavor?

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May God help Africa to see a generation of GREAT African acting as Revolutionaries to spearhead the process of repositioning Africa to harness regional resources to meet Africa’s development priorities? God bless Africa God bless this meeting. Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks for your kind attention.