ECA’s Conference of Ministers kicks off in Senegal

Addis Ababa, May 12, 2022(Walta) – The 54th session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (CoM2022), taking place from 11 to 17 May 2022, has kicked off in Dakar, Senegal.

The hybrid event is jointly hosted by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of Senegal on the theme “Financing Africa’s Recovery: Breaking New Ground.:

Senegal’s President and current Chairperson of the African Union, Macky Sall officially opened the conference. The event will draw seasoned and high-level panelists from governments, academia, the private sector, as well as central bank governors from within and outside Africa.

A committee of experts will meet for technical deliberations on the CoM2022 theme and some statutory matters of the ECA while a number of side events will also be held on 14 and 15 May to address issues relating to health, infrastructure, education, climate action, and resource mobilization in support of an inclusive and sustainable recovery for African countries.

The ministerial segment will take place on 16 and 17 May, it was learned.

CoM2022 will also feature the launch of ECA’s flagship Economic Report on Africa (ERA); the ECA Annual Adebayo Adedji Lecture, which will focus this year on the role of higher education and human capital development in Africa’s transformation; and a series of discussions and status updates on regional integration, trade, and the AfCFTA.

The choice of theme for CoM2022 was largely influenced by the fact that development financing gaps have widened significantly since the outbreak of the pandemic.

According to IMF estimation, annual expenditures related to the goals for Africa will rise by 154 billion USD annually, due to the pandemic, and by an additional 285 billion USD for the next five years to ensure an adequate response to COVID-19.

ECA emphasized that reducing the cost of commercial credit will be vital to mitigate debt vulnerabilities while scaling up financing will require measures that build synergies between domestic and external financing from both public and private sources, according to ENA.