On the 17th of December 2018, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has celebrated 60 years of promoting the continent’s economic and social development.
Established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) in 1958 as one of the UN’s five regional commissions, ECA has over the past 60 years made notable landmark contributions to the development agenda in Africa and beyond and continues to have an important role to play as new challenges emerge on the continent.
The Ethiopian Herald has recently spent few hours with Eskedar Nega, head of program evaluation at the Strategic Planning Department of the Commission. She is currently conducting an external review of the Commission’s efficiency and effectiveness since its establishment.
Herald: How do you evaluate the journey of ECA over the last 60 years?
Eskedar: When we look back in 1958, there were only eight African countries at that time that were full members of the ECOSOC at the United Nations as most of the African countries at that time were not independent.
The creation of ECA was not a simple process. It took four years for the world to accept that Africa needed a UN based commission that deals with the economic and social problems and challenges. But it only took one year to establish similar institutions in Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
The Commission has accompanied member states in the quest for freedom. It was there at the origin of the creation of the then Organization for African Union (OAU). It was here at ECA that the African Development Bank (ADB) was created. It was here that regional economic communities like the ECOWAS, SADEC, IGAD and others have been created. So, ECA is a kind of collaborator for the creation, and implementation of a regional development agenda.
There is a lot of Agenda setting here based on the research that we do. We also provide a lot of background and technical input, for instance, the African free common trade area/ agenda. A lot of works have been done in terms of promoting technology, innovation, health, education, and digital economy And because of the fact that this commission is based here in Ethiopia, we also provide a lot of opportunity for the country. Because, when we come up with research findings, we do pilot studies, test them and we see how the options are working for the country like Ethiopia.
Along the years, I think we can trace the impact in terms of the policy space, as well as economic and social development. What was the role of Ethiopia in strengthening ECA? Well, Ethiopia has played a major role. At first, Ethiopia was the only African country at that time that had full membership at ECOSOC. Ethiopia has been at the forefront in the political agenda pushing for African member states to be independent.
Ethiopia and the whole political space and the leadership at that time have played a tremendous role for whether in the context of SDC, the African union creation and other economic institutions. Ethiopia is always at the forefront when it comes to strong regional development framework. What do you expect from this giant institution in terms of transforming Africa’s economy? When we look at in terms of an integrated approach for development, in the past years, the focus was either on politics and governance, economic and social issues as well as climate and environment.
All of these pieces have come together so that the growth that is now registered in most of African countries and Ethiopia in particular is sustainable, inclusive and based on equality that brings on board particularly the African youth by creating jobs. And the way to do that is an integrated approach and investment in the human capital which is an asset for countries like Ethiopia.
This also requires promoting entrepreneurship. What was the major challenge observed over the past 60 years? The major challenge I think is the issue of cost of governance and providing political space for citizens across Africa. Of course, at the early stage, freedom and independence have also been issues of concern. And again as we move towards the more recent years, it is the technological gap that has been created that is not always allowing countries in Africa to leapfrog on development and catch up.
Globalization, multilateralism and all of those movements underpinned by the technology are also something that I would flag as challenges. But of course, the political and legal environments for the creation of business and the promotion of private sector have also been challenges for all countries in Africa. What is your suggestion Africa should do to address all these challenges? For the future, bridging the gap between the policy framework and the implementation on the ground is imperative.
There are a number of very good ideas, varied databases and the evidence base that we produced. But we have to link that to the reality on the ground and help countries translate those policy options into concrete policy actions that at the end of the day would help us to create jobs on the continent
Herald December 27/2018
BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
