Download: the Conference Program

Download the discussion papers: A Challenge – The Arab Spring

Infrastructure

Peace, Security & Democracy

Trade & Economic Development

Go to the Conference Announcement

2^nd Conference

Africa: 53 Countries, One Union – the New Challenges

Wednesday, 15 June

Ronald Reagan and International Trade Center, Pavilion Room

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Welcome Ceremony – 4.30 PM

Welcome and Introduction

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Andrew Gelfuso, Director of the Office for Trade Promotion, Ronald Reagan Building&International Trade Center

Chair: Jane Harman, President and CEO, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

Greetings

Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador of the African Union to the United States

Antonio De Lecea, Minister, Economic and Financial Affairs, Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America

Opening Remarks

Romano Prodi, President, Foundation for World Wide Cooperation

Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations

Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa

Guijin Liu, Ambassador and Special Representative for African Affairs, People’s Republic of China

Keynote Address

Chris Smith, Chairman, Africa Subcommittee in the House of Representatives

H.E. Ngwazi Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi

Reception – 7.00 PM

Thursday, 16 June

Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

1740 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

9.00 AM – 10.30 AM

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Jessica Einhorn, Dean, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University

New Challenges

Chair: Romano Prodi, President, Foundation for World Wide Cooperation

Co-Chairs: Jessica Einhorn, Dean SAIS, Johns Hopkins University

Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, US State Department

Zachary Muburi-Muita, Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union

Guijin Liu, Ambassador and Special Representative for African Affairs, People’s Republic of China

Obiageli Ezekwesili, Vice President for Africa, World Bank

Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Ambassador of Italy to the U.S.

10.30 AM – 11.00 AM

Coffee Break

Discussion Panels:

The panels will have a chair, a co-chair, a presenter on each framework paper, and three discussion leaders who will respond to each presentation. The framework presentations will be no more than 10 minutes each, and the discussants will speak for no more than 6 minutes. The follow up discussion among all the participants will be along the Aspen Institute model.

Session 1: Peace, Security, Democracy

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11.00 AM -12.00 PM

Introduction

Chair: Mary Yates, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Africa, National Security Council (Invited)

Co-Chair: Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General, Department of Field Support, UN

Framework on Security:

Victoria K. Holt, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of IO Affairs

Framework on New Challenges:

Ahmed Haggag, Secretary-General of the African Society in Cairo

Discussant 1: Margaret Carey, Director, Africa Division, Department of Peacekeeping, United Nations

Discussant 2: Michael Battle, U.S. Ambassador to the African Union.

12.00 PM – 1.00 PM

Discussion : Open floor to all invited participants

1.00 PM – 2.00 PM

Lunch Break

Session 2: Economic Development: Infrastructure and Trade

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2.00 PM – 3.00 PM

Introduction

Chair: Joseph Atta-Mensah, Director, Regional Integration, Infrastructure and Trade Division, UN Economic Commission for Africa

Co-Chair: Abebe Shimeles, Principle Research Economist, Research Department, African Development Bank

Framework on Infrastructural Development:

Peter Lewis, Director African Studies, SAIS, Johns Hopkins

Framework on Trade:

John Sewell, Senior Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

William Krist, Senior Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Discussant 1: Ibrahim Dia, Ambassador and Coordinator, AUC-ADB-UNECA Joint Secretariat Office

Discussant 2: Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization

Discussant 3: Xiaojie Gu, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Ethiopia

3.00 PM – 4.00 PM

Discussion: Open floor to all invited participants

4:00 PM – 4:15 PM

Coffee Break

Round Table and Concluding Remarks

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4:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Moderator: Romano Prodi, President, Foundation for Worldwide Cooperation

Participants: Michael Battle, US Ambassador to the African Union

Guijin Liu, Ambassador and Special Representative for African Affairs, People’s Republic of China

Zachary Muburi-Muita, Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union

Steve McDonald, Director, Africa Program, Woodrow Wilson Center

Peter Lewis, Director, African Studies, SAIS-Johns Hopkins

Jane Harman, President and CEO, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization

5:30 PM

Press Conference

The  new Conference ‘Africa: 53 Countries, One Union – The New Challenges‘ has taken place in Washington, DC on June 15 and 16, 2011.

This was the second in a series of three conferences; the first one was held in Bologna last year, and the last one will be held in Addis Ababa in 2012. The main objective was to offer to senior policy makers and experts the opportunity to discuss the relevance of regional and continental integration in the solution of major African problems, including those generated by recent developments which now challenge our concepts of freedom and democracy.

This year our Foundation for World Wide Cooperation has teamed up with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to organize this series of events.

The Conference has focused on the roles of the United Nations, African Union, European Union and the United States and China governments. International organizations such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, World Trade Organization, and Economic Commission for Africa had also been involved.

The Conference opening on June 15 took place at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (the Ronald Reagan Building) and the working sessions on June 16 were held at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies.

All the participants have had the opportunity to offer their personal contribution and to participate in the discussion on all the issues involved.

Download: the Conference Program

Download the discussion papers: A Challenge – The Arab Spring

Infrastructure

Peace, Security & Democracy

Trade & Economic Development

2^nd Conference

Africa: 53 Countries, One Union – the New Challenges

Wednesday, 15 June

Ronald Reagan and International Trade Center, Pavilion Room

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Welcome Ceremony – 4.30 PM

Welcome and Introduction

Andrew Gelfuso, Director of the Office for Trade Promotion, Ronald Reagan Building&International Trade Center

Chair: Jane Harman, President and CEO, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

Greetings

Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador of the African Union to the United States

Antonio De Lecea, Minister, Economic and Financial Affairs, Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America

Opening Remarks

Romano Prodi, President, Foundation for World Wide Cooperation

Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations

Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa

Guijin Liu, Ambassador and Special Representative for African Affairs, People’s Republic of China

Keynote Address

Chris Smith, Chairman, Africa Subcommittee in the House of Representatives

H.E. Ngwazi Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi

Reception – 7.00 PM

Thursday, 16 June

Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

1740 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

9.00 AM – 10.30 AM

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Jessica Einhorn, Dean, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University

New Challenges

Chair: Romano Prodi, President, Foundation for World Wide Cooperation

Co-Chairs: Jessica Einhorn, Dean SAIS, Johns Hopkins University

Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, US State Department

Zachary Muburi-Muita, Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union

Guijin Liu, Ambassador and Special Representative for African Affairs, People’s Republic of China

Obiageli Ezekwesili, Vice President for Africa, World Bank

Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Ambassador of Italy to the U.S.

10.30 AM – 11.00 AM

Coffee Break

Discussion Panels:

The panels will have a chair, a co-chair, a presenter on each framework paper, and three discussion leaders who will respond to each presentation. The framework presentations will be no more than 10 minutes each, and the discussants will speak for no more than 6 minutes. The follow up discussion among all the participants will be along the Aspen Institute model.

Session 1: Peace, Security, Democracy

11.00 AM -12.00 PM

Introduction

Chair: Mary Yates, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Africa, National Security Council (Invited)

Co-Chair: Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General, Department of Field Support, UN

Framework on Security:

Victoria K. Holt, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of IO Affairs

Framework on New Challenges:

Ahmed Haggag, Secretary-General of the African Society in Cairo

Discussant 1: Margaret Carey, Director, Africa Division, Department of Peacekeeping, United Nations

Discussant 2: Michael Battle, U.S. Ambassador to the African Union.

12.00 PM – 1.00 PM

Discussion : Open floor to all invited participants

1.00 PM – 2.00 PM

Lunch Break

Session 2: Economic Development: Infrastructure and Trade

2.00 PM – 3.00 PM

Introduction

Chair: Joseph Atta-Mensah, Director, Regional Integration, Infrastructure and Trade Division, UN Economic Commission for Africa

Co-Chair: Abebe Shimeles, Principle Research Economist, Research Department, African Development Bank

Framework on Infrastructural Development:

Peter Lewis, Director African Studies, SAIS, Johns Hopkins

Framework on Trade:

John Sewell, Senior Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

William Krist, Senior Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Discussant 1: Ibrahim Dia, Ambassador and Coordinator, AUC-ADB-UNECA Joint Secretariat Office

Discussant 2: Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization

Discussant 3: Xiaojie Gu, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Ethiopia

3.00 PM – 4.00 PM

Discussion: Open floor to all invited participants

4:00 PM – 4:15 PM

Coffee Break

Round Table and Concluding Remarks

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Moderator: Romano Prodi, President, Foundation for Worldwide Cooperation

Participants: Michael Battle, US Ambassador to the African Union

Guijin Liu, Ambassador and Special Representative for African Affairs, People’s Republic of China

Zachary Muburi-Muita, Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union

Steve McDonald, Director, Africa Program, Woodrow Wilson Center

Peter Lewis, Director, African Studies, SAIS-Johns Hopkins

Jane Harman, President and CEO, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization

5:30 PM

Press Conference

The audio-visual documentation of the conference and the final acts

will soon be available here on the Foundation website .

Conference Africa: 53 Countries, One Union-The New Challenges

Washington DC, 15-16 June 2011

In September 2008, Professor Romano Prodi was appointed by the UN Secretary-General to analyze the situation of the African continent with regard to the great theme of peace.  At the end of his appointment, the Foundation for World Wide Cooperation, of which he is chairman, organized a high-level conference on Africa, which was held in Bologna in May 2010.

This year, a similar conference will be held in Washington, DC on 15 and 16 June.  In addition to Professor Prodi’s Foundation, it will be organized by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the SAIS – Johns Hopkins University.

The aim of the conference is to establish how best to help and support the process towards the unity of the African continent; a process that would be a long and gradual one, but which is an imperative condition for a long-lasting peace.  The conference will offer to senior policy makers and experts the opportunity to discuss the relevance of regional and continental integration in the solution of major African problems including those generated by recent developments which now challenge our concepts of freedom and democracy.

The attention of the conference will be focused on three most important points that could promote the unifying process, namely:

1. peace, security and democracy;
2. trade,
3. regional and intercontinental infrastructures.

The Conference will concentrate on the roles of the United Nations, African Union, European Union and the United States and China governments. International organizations such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, World Trade Organization, and Economic Commission for Africa will also be involved.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has expressed her intention to participate in the conference, as well as President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, and other heads of African states and international organizations.

At the end of the Washington Conference, President Prodi will announce the third conference on Africa that his Foundation will organize in 2012, in Addis Ababa.

• The rationale for the Conference is that only by overcoming the present political and economic fragmentation, Africa can move ahead towards further peace, development and prosperity.
• The Conference is organized in two different panels, dedicated respectively to how integration can contribute to solve the problems related to 1) Security, peace and democracy and 2) Infrastructures and Markets.
• African political leaders, representatives of international actors such as China, the EU, the US, and officials from international organizations such as the African Development Bank, the United Nations, the World Trade Oorganization, the World Bank will participate in the discussion.

Foundation for WorldWide Cooperation

SAIS Johns Hopkins University Bologna

Salone del Podestà, Palazzo Re Enzo, Bologna (Italy)

May 21st 2010

High Level Conference on:

“Africa: 53 Countries, One Union”

Patronage:

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Union and European Commission

•

Download Conference Forward

Download Leaflet

Download Briefing Book

Download the Conference Summary

Download the Conference Synthesis by E.R. Spreafico

•

Friday, 21 May

09.00 am Greetings from Ambassador Oliva on behalf of Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

video

09.15 am Opening Remarks

Romano Prodi, Chairman Foundation for World Wide Cooperation

video

text

Asha Rose Migiro, UN Deputy Secretary-General

video

text

Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal

video

Thabo Mbeki, Former President of South Africa

video

Maxwell Mkwezalamba, Commissioner Economic Affairs, AU

video

Andris Piebalgs, Commissioner for Development, EC

video

text

10.45 am Coffee break

11.00 am Session 1. Creating a Political Environment for Stability, Security and Peace – The Key Role of Education

Introduction and Sessione 1 video »

Chairs:

Margaret Carey, UN Department of Peacekeeping

video

Abdul Mohammed, Darfur Dialogue and Consultation

Speakers:

Thabo Mbeki, Former President of South Africa

video

Michael A. Battle, US Ambassador to the African Union

video

Discussants:

Winrich Kühne, SAIS Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center

video

Steve McDonald, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

video

El Ghassim Wane, Acting Director for Peace and Security of the AU Commission

video : Comments & Questions (Massahel, Zie, Monservisi) video : Comments & Questions (Siala, Plummer, Vines, Rushdy) video : Conclusions (Carey)

12.30 am “AfricaNews24”

video: Presentation “AfricaNews24” video: Comments on the the presentation (Malesani, Cayla) video: Award to Romano Prodi

An African all News Project presented by Euronews

01.00 pm Lunch Break

02.00 pm Session 2 Economic Community Building for Markets and Trade

Session 2 video »

Chairs:

Michael Plummer OECD and Johns Hopkins University, Bologna

Joshua Setipa, Africa Expert WTO

video: Session opening (Plummer, Setipa)

Speaker:

Abdelkader Messahel, Minister of African and Maghreb Affairs, Algeria

video

Discussants:

Masuka Godefroid Mwenda Bantu Munongo, Forum of Central Africa

Bankole Adeoye, Chief of Staff & Coordinator for Partnerships and External Relations, Nepad

video: Comments & Questions (Munongo, Adeoye) video: Conclusions & Discussion (Plummer, Atta-Mensah, Setipa, Anyanwu) video: Discussion (Anderson, Zie, Siala, Koyara) video: Discussion (Vines, Setipa, Messahel, Mkwezalamba, Mbeki, Prodi, Rushdy, Haddou, Anyanwu, Plummer)

03.30 pm Session 3 Infrastructure and Investment: Energy, Transportation, Communication

Session 3 video »

Chairs:

Stefano Manservisi, Director-General DG Development, EC

video : Session opening

Mohammed Al-Madani Al-Zahari, Secretary General, CEN-SAD

Speakers:

Shantayanan Devarajan, Chief Economist Africa Regional Office, World Bank

Moussa Dosso, Minister, Ivory Coast

Samuel Sam-Sumana, Vice President, Sierra Leone

Discussants:

John C. Anyanwu, Lead Research Economist, ADB

Abdoulie Janneh, UN Commission for Africa

video: Comment (Siala) video: Comments (Dosso, Devarajan) video: Comments (Anyanwu, Zhan Shu) video: Discussion (Zie, Devarajan, Manservisi)

05.00 pm Concluding Round Table

A Road Map: Towards African integration for Peace and Development

Announcement of follow-up conferences in Washington DC (2011) and Addis Ababa (2012)

Chair:

Romano Prodi, Chairman Foundation for World Wide Cooperation

video

Round Table Discussants:

Asha Rose Migiro, UN Deputy Secretary General

video

Maxwell Mkwezalamba, Commissioner Economic Affairs, AU

video

Stefano Manservisi, Director-General DG Development, EC

video

Michael A. Battle, US Ambassador to the African Union

video

Zhan Shu, Ambassador at the Department of African Affairs, China Ministry of Foreign Affairs

video

Thabo Mbeki, Former President of South Africa

video

Conclusion by Romano Prodi, President of the Foundation for World Wide Cooperation

video

Conference Final Document

•

Summary

“Africa: 53 Countries, One Union“

The Bologna Conference on ‘Africa 53 Countries, One Union’, had a great attendance both in level and number of participants. Over 50 political leaders and experts on African issues from all over the world were able to offer their contribution to the discussion, and about 350 attended as observers.

This document summarizes the background of the Conference, the main items presented, and the conclusions with plans for future work within a largely agreed roadmap.

Background

African states face great challenges to their stability and security.

In response to them, African leaders have built important common institutions. In particular, they have emphasized an approach predicated on building blocks – starting at the sub-regional and moving into regional levels, and then gradually moving towards a continental structure.

Nonetheless there is still significant room for improvement. It has become very clear that only by overcoming the present political and economic fragmentation, Africa can move ahead towards further peace, development and prosperity.

Most developed countries have a great responsibility for the current situation, having always dealt with African states on strictly bilateral basis with no attention for any continental approach. Now it is the time to develop a more meaningful strategic relationship with African Institutions, (African Union ‘in primis’) starting from the European Union, the United States, emerging powers like China , and the United Nations.

Achieving this objective requires improved coordination and depends from the strengthening and deepening of the existing mechanisms. This is Africa’s own vision and it should be supported.

Remarkable progress has been made along this line in the recent past, but as the participants of the Conference underlined, many challenges remain in Security, Trade, Infrastructure and their tight connection with Investments and Development.

Security

The priority must be active conflict management to create a stable and secure environment at the national, regional, and continental levels. The African Security and Peace Architecture is being established including important contributions from the African Union, ECOWAS, SADC, and other organizations. Nevertheless, it lacks resources. It also lacks coherent external support.

Moreover, conflict prevention through Early Warning system should be strengthened since it can avoid military confrontation altogether.

The nexus between peace and development is very clear.

Conflict management to create a secure environment is important and yet by itself is not enough. Indeed without development there will be no stability. As the Prodi Report underlined, peace on the African continent cannot be achieved through the deployment of military force alone.

A second tier of interest encompasses, therefore, economic concerns related to trade, investment, infrastructures.

Trade

Although in the future Africa will have to reduce its dependence upon development aid, it is important to remember that we need to embrace policies that do not harm African development. The key is to have open markets and to avoid market distortions that would impede development in the future. Here integration might be a potential solution. Africa has a long history of integration and regional initiatives. Indeed, most countries in Africa are engaged in more than one regional initiative. There are also multiple initiatives. What is striking is that despite this long history, trade flows remain very low in comparison with other examples of intra-regional trade. If you look at the period from 2005-2008, you will find that intra-Africa trade is low in aggregate. So what steps have to be put into place to increase intra-African trade across the boards?

From this point of view, if you think of the cost of non-Europe, the costs of non-Africa are very high. It is a worthy goal to try to implement African integration because the economic barriers are very high. We need to keep in mind the economic motives for integration – not only within Africa, but with the rest of the world as well. We need to increase market access. This is the key to competitiveness and productivity growth.

The question of intra-African trade is very important. But what are the constraints? One of the problems is the cross-border movement of people and goods. We need to address these cross-border movements because they increase the cost of doing business and trade.

Infrastructure and Investments

There will be non sustainable development in Africa in the absence of infrastructure. Infrastructure is not a target; it is a means of reducing the costs of production and attract investments. We know that Africa is rich in energy resources and other capacities. Geography is not the real problem. The real issue is that Africa’s infrastructures suffer from a governance problem. Even compared to other low income countries, Africa has a huge infrastructure deficit in terms of Insufficient supply of electricity , low road and rails density. Moreover, this infrastructure gap is widening. If you compare it with South Asia, you can see how Africa is falling behind in almost every dimension.

There are three things that we can do about infrastructure.

1. First, you need clear priorities, which should be decided according to the principle of African ownership. There is a plan that has been set by the African Union to create trans-African networks and this needs to be followed.
2. Second, money is important but good government is even more important. If you do not have security of transaction or protection of property, you cannot benefit from infrastructural investment. We need to improve policy and regulations. According to a variety of studies of the four major transport corridors in Africa, if you look at the costs, you will find that vehicle operating costs are no higher than anywhere else. The transport prices, however, are the highest in the world. The explanation is the high profit margins that are protected by barriers to market entry. The one country that did deregulate – Rwanda – saw a 75% drop in the price of transport.
3. Third, we need to combine targeted aid and private resources together. This involves a high level of planning, understanding, and certainty. Here is where regional integration or coordinated policies might play an important role in the development and stability of the African continent.

Finally, education is key for human, social and economic development. On this topic there is already agreement among African leaders on what needs to be done. Now it is time to implement it.

Conclusions and Follow up

In order to face these challenging issues, the participants to the conference have agreed that we need to accelerate and strengthen the ongoing process of African integration.

The Foundation for World Wide Cooperation is fully aware of the relevant work carried on by of the African Union and by African regional organizations. This important work should, however, benefit from a sort of ‘pentagonal dialogue’ among the UN, AU, EU, USA, China, which was agreed at the conference in Bologna.

In view of the future conferences, already planned in Washington in 2011 and Addis Abeba in 2012, the Foundation proposes to organize a general preparatory meeting of high level representatives of the five parties involved (possibly in Addis Ababa) in the fall of 2010. This should help in launching, before the 2011 Washington conference, more technical workshops related to each issues highlighted during the conference in Bologna. Because this line of action has raised significant interests among the five parties involved, the Foundation for World Wide Cooperation will work to implement it.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.