eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
Zimbabwe is ready to host the 56th Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development which the country will be hosting for the first time early next year.
The annual conference falls under the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Speaking at the signing of the host country agreement for the event, which was attended by the UNECA executive secretary, Clever Gatete and other officials from the United Nations in Harare recently, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said:
“As part of our commitment under the Host Country Agreement, we have already transferred US$768 000 to UNECA bank account as part of co-financing to meet your costs related to the undertaking of the conference in Zimbabwe.”
The UNECA conference is slated for Victoria Falls from February 28 to March 5, 2024 under the theme, “Financing the Transition to Inclusive Green Economies in Africa: Imperative, Opportunities, and Policy Options”.
The conference is the main annual event of UNECA, whose purpose is to review the state of economic development in Africa and to consider progress on regional integration.
The specific objectives of the conference are to deliberate on policies and strategies towards fostering commodity-based industrialisation, review economic and social conditions in Africa, provide a high-level platform to deliberate on the theme and to discuss emerging opportunities and challenges.
Prof Ncube said the Government is confident that the upcoming event will be a success with the thematic teams putting in a lot of effort and planning to ensure everything runs smoothly and that all attendees will have a great experience in the country.
Speaking at the same occasion, Gatete commended the Government for showing its capability to host the UNECA conference.
“We believe that with the support of my brother (Prof Ncube) here and the support of the Government, we are going to make it a definite success.
“We have received the best cooperation ever. . . and our team is so excited really for the support and cooperation that we have had from here,” he said.
The UNECA executive secretary said the upcoming conference was taking place at a unique period and the first time in history that the world was dealing with several crises at the same time.
“We just graduated from Covid-19 and before we could even put our house in order, there was climate crisis and as we getting the climate crisis, there is this war in Ukraine that has caused a lot of suffering for most of our countries.
“The prices being up, I am sure you are familiar with the inflation and also the high cost of living and the debt levels, we are counting way more than 20 countries in the African continent that are either in debt distress or they are highly indebted,” said Gatete.
Traditionally, most developing countries have been relying on concessionary loans while the aid from the donor community and multilateral institutions, and foreign direct investment has declined.
Discussions around the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to which Zimbabwe has ratified will also take centre stage.
The AfCFTA aims to eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of goods traded between member States over a 10-year period This means that industries across Africa need to brace for stiff competition and the strengthening of value chains is essential to ensure that Zimbabwean businesses are able to compete.
The AfCFTA is also expected to boost intra-African trade by 53 percent by 2025 with the potential to create up to 30 million jobs and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty.
