Workshops around Africa

Three regional workshops were held in preparation for the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III):

• Southern Africa - Pretoria, South Africa, 22-23 May 2003
• East and North Africa - Nairobi, Kenya, 5-6 June 2003
• West and Central Africa - Yaounde, Cameroon 23-24 June 2003

Southern Africa - Pretoria, South Africa, 22-23 May 2003

The Pretoria workshop recommended that TICAD III take fully into account initiatives and priorities identified by the African Union and SADC (the Southern African Development Community), especially the consolidation of peace. On the principle that there can be no development without peace, strong emphasis was placed on addressing the root causes of conflict and assisting the resettlement of internally displaced persons and refugees. In the realm of governance, transparency in national budgets was to be encouraged, and agricultural development was to be promoted as a vital area, including improved use of inputs and other methods of increasing productivity. The workshop identified the private sector, including tourism as having a vital role, especially in partnership with the public sector. Infrastructure, water supply and the application of information and communications technology (ICT) should all be priorities for new investment, and human resource development should not be allowed to lag behind. The pandemic of HIV/AIDS must, the workshop warned, be treated as an emergency, especially in the Southern African region.

South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad told the workshop: "TICAD is a manifestation of the realization within the developed world that our destinies are intertwined, and that you cannot have a few islands of prosperity in a sea of poverty."

East and North Africa - Nairobi, Kenya, 5-6 June 2003

Participants in Nairobi called for TICAD III to focus on consolidating peace in Africa, improving governance — including a wider role for civil society— and promoting agriculture, which was spotlighted as a leading engine of growth for the continent.

Other priorities endorsed by the workshop included support for the private sector, building better national and regional infrastructures, strengthening human resources, mobilization against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, and improving water supplies. Information and communications technology (ICT) was emphasized as a field for productive cooperation between Asia and Africa.

Support for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) was once again stressed as a main theme for Tokyo, as it seeks to promote democratic governance, human rights, private enterprise, access to international markets for African products and investment in key sectors.

Kenya's Minister for Planning and National Development, Peter Anyang Nyong'o, told the workshop: "With the support of the various partners, UNDP and Japan included, Africa's development agenda has been moved beyond the debate stage to roadmaps and concrete plans of action."

West and Central Africa - Yaounde, Cameroon 23-24 June 2003

About 200 delegates representing governments, civil societies, civil society organizations and international organizations attended the two-day Yaounde meeting. They discussed development priorities of the region — and placed emphasis on conflict resolution and peace, as well as infrastructure development, among other vital issues, in the run-up to TICAD III.

UNDP Associate Administrator Zéphirin Diabré expressed gratitude to the Japanese Government for its support in promoting African development. He praised the linkages between the objectives of TICAD and NEPAD, which he described as a welcome development opportunity within the framework of South-South cooperation. Ownership of the development process by Africans was again emphasized.

The Yaounde workshop also presented an opportunity for visitors to see one specific area of TICAD-aided development on the ground. The Information Technology Project at the University of Yaoundé is funded by TICAD with UNDP as the major development facilitator, and is managed by the CISCO Networking Academy Programme.

Students now for the first time enjoy fast access to the Internet via wireless technology, and the project is gaining recognition as a major regional centre providing West and Central Africa with high-level training in networking, web design and office tools technology.

In Cameroon, the TICAD IT Initiative is centred around three main themes: facilitating formulation of a national NTIC policy; strengthening human and institutional capacity building for development; and providing support to the private sector to maximize business opportunities offered by ICT for increased South-South cooperation. The initiative has extended to other countries as well, including Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria. Overall it aims at closing the digital divide and improving the local framework for ICT development.

Participants at all three workshops included representatives of African governments, regional and international agencies and civil society organizations, as well as many Asian delegates from both the public and private sectors.