55th session of the Economic Commission for Africa | Events | United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

55th session of the Economic Commission for Africa | Events | United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
55th session of the Economic Commission for Africa
Fostering recovery and transformation in Africa to reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities
15 March, 2023
21 March, 2023
Addis Ababa
African ministers voice need for a reformed global financial architecture
Without good governance, development in Africa is dead on arrival, says Mohamed Ibn Chambas
Addis Ababa, 21 March 2023 (ECA) - Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the African Union High Representative for Silencing the Guns…
Closing Remarks by Chair of Bureau (Ministerial Committee - Uganda) HE Mr. Henry Musasizi Ariganyira
Africa must urgently invest in economic recovery, Finance Ministers Urge
Addis Ababa, 21 March 2023 (ECA) - Africa should deploy innovative resource mobilization and accelerate economic…
CoM 2023 - Closing Remarks by Chair of Bureau (Ministerial Committee - Uganda)
Closing Remarks by Chair of Bureau (Ministerial Committee - Uganda)
Fifty-fifth session of the Conference of African…
More investment in data and statistics needed in Africa
Addis Ababa, 21 March 2023 (ECA) - Africa is set to miss most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to…
Rising poverty, inequalities threaten Sustainable Development Goals
Addis Ababa, 21 March 2023 (ECA) - Development experts have warned that persistent poverty and inequality are likely to…
African Ministers call for a reformed global debt architecture
Addis Ababa, 20 March 2023 (ECA) - African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development have called for…
#COM2023 Opening Remarks by ECA Acting Executive Secretary Antonio Pedro
#COM2023 Opening Remarks by Ethiopian Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide
Financing climate resilience and a just transition in Africa
Addis Ababa, 20 March 2023 (ECA) - Innovative and collaborative financing models are required to urgently finance…
COM2023 calls on member States to harness AfCFTA for Economic Resilience and Inclusion
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 20 March 2023 (ECA) – Panelists at a High-level round-table discussion at the 55th Session of…
Africa should invest in people-centered strategies to accelerate economic recovery
Addis Ababa, 20 March 2023 (ECA) - Africa - pummeled by a combination of crises - should swiftly invest in and…
Achieving the Vienna, Doha Programme of Action through structural transformation in Africa
Addis Ababa, 17 March 2023 - Practical and innovative ways to accelerate inclusive economic transformation in Africa…
Intergovernmental Committees of Senior Officials and Experts: A forum to discuss Africa's challenges
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 16 March 2023 - As part of the Experts meeting of the 55th Conference of African Ministers of…
Risk Management: A Necessity in IDEP's Training Programs
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 16, 2023 - As part of the Experts meeting of the 55th Conference of African Ministers of…
Africa needs to deepen its regional integration to see economic benefits: ECA Report
Addis Ababa, 15 March 2023 (ECA) - African countries have made commendable progress in implementing the regional…
Addressing multiple shocks can turn around Africa’s economic growth
Addis Ababa, 15 March 2023 (ECA) - Africa’s economic growth is projected to rise slightly to 3.9% after a considerable…
Africa needs to curb poverty and social inequality to meet development goals
Addis Ababa 15 March 2023 (ECA) - With slower economic growth and high inflation, many African countries are struggling…
Africa must lead the charge on tackling poverty
Addis Ababa, 15 March 2023 (ECA) - Africa must lead the charge in mobilizing domestic resources to recover from…
Opening Statement by Mr. Antonio Pedro at the Forty-first meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Conference of African…
Check against Delivery

Forty-first meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Conference of African Ministers of…
The Africa we want: a roadmap out of poly-crises for policy makers
By Antonio M.A Pedro

The confluence of shocks – the cascading impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and…
What to expect from CoM2023 – ECA’s Acting Chief, Antonio Pedro
Fostering recovery and transformation in Africa to reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities
Addis Ababa, 2 February 2023 (ECA) - The 55th Session of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Conference of African…
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Report of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on its work during the fifty-fifth session of the Economic Commission for Africa
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Report of the Committee of Experts on its forty-first meeting
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Report of the Committee of Experts on its forty-first meeting - Note by the secretariat
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Conference overview
The fifty-fifth session of the Economic Commission for Africa consists of a preparatory meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, followed by the ministerial segment of the Conference. In addition to considering the statutory matters of the Commission, the Conference is one of the premier forums on the continent for dialogue and exchanges of views among African ministers responsible for finance, planning and economic development and governors of central banks on issues pertinent to the development agenda of Africa.
Theme of the fifty-fifth session
The theme of the fifty-fifth session of the Commission will be “Fostering recovery and transformation in Africa to reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities”.
High rates of growth in the past two decades have resulted in reduced poverty levels in Africa, with the share of the population living in extreme poverty decreasing from 55 to 35 per cent between 2000 and 2019. Nonetheless, a staggering 546 million people still live in extreme poverty in 2022. Alarmingly, global shocks are turning millions of vulnerable people into the continent’s new poor, reversing decades of progress. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed an additional 55 million Africans below the poverty line, and the impact of the war in Ukraine is expected to further compound the challenge.
Even when growth rates were high in Africa, everyone did not benefit equally. For example, between 2004 and 2019, the top 10 per cent of wage earners received about 75 per cent of total income. High inequality, along with high levels of poverty, creates a vicious cycle in which structural bottlenecks persist, rendering the population in Africa perennially vulnerable to both economic and non-economic shocks.
The ability of African countries to effectively tackle poverty and inequality is now severely constrained given declining economic growth, narrowing fiscal space, rising debt, commodity shocks and tightening global financial conditions. The risk of missing the poverty and inequality targets set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, of the African Union, is higher than it has ever been before.
The aim of the fifty-fifth session of the Commission is thus to renew focus and action on reducing poverty, inequality and other factors that leave the African population continuously vulnerable to these scourges.
Recovery efforts must be pro-poor and inclusive, with a view to fostering a new social contract that offers equal opportunity for all. Considerable opportunities to reach these goals exist on the continent and beyond, including through activities carried out under the African Continental Free Trade Area, green investments, digital transformation and reforms to the global financial architecture.
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20 March, 2023
Breakfast meeting of the high-level working group on the global financial architecture
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15 March, 2023
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In their Own Words
“We need to address climate change and its impact on the poor. We need to look at climate action and design instruments to have a positive impact on Africa’s most vulnerable communities.”
Antonio Pedro
Acting Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
“We need to address climate change and its impact on the poor. We need to look at climate action and design instruments to have a positive impact on Africa’s most vulnerable communities.”
Antonio Pedro
Acting Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
“The private sector contributes less than 14% of climate finance in Africa. Whereas in countries like the US, it contributes about 90%”
Hanan Morsy
Deputy Executive Secretary (Programme) and Chief Economist, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
“The private sector contributes less than 14% of climate finance in Africa. Whereas in countries like the US, it contributes about 90%”
Hanan Morsy
Deputy Executive Secretary (Programme) and Chief Economist, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
“Growing poverty and inequality are Africa’s most pressing challenges. In 2022, Africa has more than half of the world’s poor which is more than 50% of the total population.
Alarmingly more than half of Africa’s population, 546 million people were living in poverty last year alone. This is a 75% increase since 1990.”
H.E. Dr. Nemera Gebeyehu
State Minister for Planning and Development, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
“Growing poverty and inequality are Africa’s most pressing challenges. In 2022, Africa has more than half of the world’s poor which is more than 50% of the total population.
Alarmingly more than half of Africa’s population, 546 million people were living in poverty last year alone. This is a 75% increase since 1990.”
H.E. Dr. Nemera Gebeyehu
State Minister for Planning and Development, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia