Sunday, January 17, 2021
  • About Us
  • ImagiNATION
  • Adverts
  • Rate Card
  • Contact Us
The Nation Online
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home Feature Environment

Forum for good governance of resources

by Johnny Kasalika
30/10/2012
in Environment
3 min read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare on LinkedinLinkedinShare via Email

The Eighth African Development Forum (ADFVIII) concluded three days of intense debate and discussions among stakeholders with a consensus statement that outlined actions and commitments that will see Africa gain more from its land, mineral, forestry and fishery resources.

RelatedHeadlines

No giant poached at Majete

Propagating clean energy concept

Mango trees burn as forests wane

The Forum’s theme, Governing Africa’s natural resources for Africa’s development, attracted over 800 representatives from government, private sector, academia, development partners and non-governmental organizations.

 The forum was co-organized by the Economic Commission for Africa, (ECA) the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank.

Speaking at the closing, Abdalla Hamdok, ECA Deputy Executive Secretary, highlighted areas in which the stakeholders made progress on, in particular on issues to do with equity, implementation of policies, and building requisite capacities. Across all the four natural resources sectors, the need to address equity and sharing of benefits in light of the exclusion of large sections of society emerged as needing the most urgent attention.

“Transformation is simply not possible if it excludes the large majority of our population from the economic and social benefits of their own asset; Thus the key challenge in going forward is creating the policy and institutional space to provide for equity in the distribution of benefits from natural resources,” stressed Hamdok.

‘Better policies’

Furthermore, the discussions on natural resource policy drew attention to the fact that they are often fragmented and not rooted in a long-term transformation strategy. “We need to link natural resources policies to infrastructure development; these policies should also optimize available economic and social opportunities, especially those offered by agriculture, forestry and fisheries,” he said.

With regard to the current investment trends, the forum decried the tendency to excessively focus on large-scale investments at the expense of small and medium scale enterprises, which, according to Hamdok, create more jobs per invested dollar.

“Such small investments have the potential to kick-start our rural economies, which currently are subsistence, and hence represent a quick way of bringing the greater majority of our people into gainful economic activity and improve their livelihoods,” he added.

Hamdok informed the forum that despite the “wonderful continental blueprints for transformation, Africa continues to suffer from a lack of implementation across all the natural resource sectors.”

He called for domestication and implementation of such blueprints as the Africa Mining Vision and the Land Policy Framework to kick-start Africa’s transformation. He also added, that underscored the need for transformative leadership, “not only at government and political levels, but in corporate boardrooms, in our parliaments and among our civil society groups.”

‘inadquate transformation’

In this regard, Hamdok, however, pointed out that current levels of capacity are “totally inadequate and unsuited to a transformative agenda and that as vital as increasing the numbers of engineers and scientists would be, Africa’s natural resources sector also needs social skills and economic expertise.

 “These skills will help us understand how economic and social value is created as this is where we are weakest,” he said.

Furthermore, a key area of concern that permeated the discussions was the lack of knowledge of the Continent’s economic assets. The net

worth of both the economic and social benefits, said Hamdok, is a first step towards meaningful negotiations.  Participants, noted

Hamdok, agreed on the need to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of policy implementation and track the depletion rates of Africa’s resources.

“The management and use of natural resources for our transformation is a shared responsibility,” concluded the Deputy Executive Secretary.

The conclusion of the forum was also marked by an extended separate BBC Africa debate, on the issues emerging from ADFVIII.

The 2-hour debate was attended by over 150 experts and members of the public, who underscored transparency, value-added manufacturing of Africa’s natural resources, smarter investments and negotiations; as well as better spending strategies.

The need for stabilization funds, increased savings and diversification of economies also framed the discussions—Uneca- ICS

Previous Post

$10bn at stake if FCTC is implemented

Next Post

MBC retrenched staff get their pension, pen JB

Related Posts

Rhinos roam Majete Wildlife Reserve
Environment

No giant poached at Majete

August 27, 2020
Charcoal business has become 1 | The Nation Online
Environment

Propagating clean energy concept

December 5, 2019
Environment | The Nation Online
Environment

Mango trees burn as forests wane

October 10, 2019
Next Post

MBC retrenched staff get their pension, pen JB

Trending Stories

  • covid death | The Nation Online

    Tonse owes ‘ife tonse’ an apology

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nocma in race against time

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Imbibers defy Covid-19 guidelines

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Covid-19 mars cabinet review

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Locked with hubby’s brother

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Opinions and Columns

Bottom Up

For 20 Pounds John Chilembwe was betrayed

January 16, 2021
My Diary

Tonse owes ‘ife tonse’ an apology

January 16, 2021
Off the Shelf

Accomplices in genocide

January 16, 2021
Back Bencher

On verge of collapse due to Covid-19

January 16, 2021
  • Values
  • Our Philosophy
  • Editorial policy
  • Advertising Policy
  • Code of Conduct
  • Plagiarism disclaimer
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use

© 2021 Nation Publications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation

© 2020 Nation Publications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

WhatsApp us

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.