March 18, 2002
Mr Annan will preside over a meeting of the Investment Advisory Council (IAC) - a joint initiative of ICC - the International Chamber of Commerce - and UNCTAD - the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
He will be joined at the meeting by CEOs of major global companies as well as President Obasanjo of Nigeria, President Mbeki of South Africa, President Wade of Senegal, President Bouteflika of Algeria, President Kufuor of Ghana and Prime Minister Ebeid of Egypt. Senior government ministers from 10 other African nations - including Uganda, Sudan, Benin, Zambia and Tanzania - will also be present at the working meeting.
The IAC meeting will take place Wednesday, March 20 in the Crowne Plaza Hotel - followed by a press conference in the Cintermex Complex at 1700. The focus of the meeting will be how companies can work together with governments and the United Nations to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa and realise the aims of the recently established New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD). African nations account for 34 of the world's 49 "least-developed countries" (LDCs).
The IAC meeting is being organized in cooperation with the United Nations Global Compact and the Nepad Steering Committee in association with the governments of Germany and Norway. It will be co-chaired by Mr Annan, UNCTAD Secretary General Rubens Ricupero and ICC Secretary General Maria Livanos Cattaui. A series of projects to be undertaken by companies and the UN are expected to be unveiled at the meeting.
IAC was established by ministers from LDCs and business executives at the Third UN Conference on the LDCs (Brussels, May 2001). The UNCTAD/ICC Investment Advisory Council provides business and government officials with an informal framework to discuss ways of attracting and optimizing FDI.
NEPAD, an integrated programme for the socioeconomic development of Africa, was established by the Organization of African Unity in July 2001. It is the result of the merger of the Millennium Partnership for Africa's Recovery Programme, initiated by Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, Olesegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and the Omega Plan of President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal.
G-8 member States have contacted the UNCTAD secretariat with a view to their possible support for the implementation of the NEPAD, which will be discussed at the next G-8 summit (Kananaskis, Canada, 26-27 June). ICC has spearheaded the creation of a NEPAD Business Group (www.africaplc.com) to feed private sector input into the NEPAD process and will also make a presentation to G8 governments in Kananaskis.
UNCTAD and ICC have jointly published investment guides to five LDCs (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique and Uganda). These guides help governments create conditions conducive to greater FDI flows and also provide potential investors with information about investment opportunities. More investment guides will be published this year.
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