Economic forum to open in Mozambique

The World Economic Forum conference on Africa was due to open on Wednesday in Mozambique to work out how a homegrown economic rescue plan could turn the world’s poorest continent into a global player.

A focal point is the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), an amibtious plan to pull the continent out of poverty by encouraging investment and embracing good governance and financial transparency.

At least three heads of state—Mozambican President and African Union chairperson Joaquim Chissano, South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki and Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia—will join more than 600 participants at the three-day conference in Maputo.

Chissano will open the first plenary session while the WEF is expected to release its annual competitiveness report, which ranks 25 African countries in terms of best business practises.

“In Maputo, participants will engage in dialogue aimed at producing results and advancing the cause of Africa’s reintegration into the global economy,” said Haiko Alfeld, the WEF’s Africa director.

Key to this was the state of the economies of 25 African countries, whose profiles are to be released on Wednesday in the WEF’s yearly Africa competitiveness report.

The report maps out the economic progress of the countries, ranking them within Africa as well as 102 nations worldwide.

Also high on the agenda will be the progress made in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), a system under which nations submit themselves to a voluntary evaluation by fellow countries on the continent.

The APRM is seen as one of the pillars of Nepad and the programme’s steering committee met representatives from the G8 group of most industrialised countries in Maputo earlier this month, who stressed its importance and compliance across Africa. - Sapa-AFP