UNIDO Director General to address Africa's Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors

PHILADELPHIA (USA)- Africa's finance ministers and central bank governors are expected to meet in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo to attend arguably one of the continent's most important events along with representatives of other international development agencies and financial institutions.

The Africa Caucus Meeting was formed following the Monterrey Convention of 2002 in Mexico. It comprises of African member countries of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seeking to engage other policy makers around the continent in addressing issues relating to Africa's economic transformation.

In an effort to promote transformative economic growth in the continent, discussions at the 2012 meetings will focus on tackling the problems associated with and finding lasting solutions to food security, energy access, job creation particularly for the youth and confronting Africa's endemic poverty.

As keynote speaker, Director General Kandeh K. Yumkella of UNIDO will speak about the boosting agricultural productivity in the continent. As a distinguished agricultural economist, Dr. Yumkella has a wealth of experience in research, teaching and technical expertise in industrial development. He is a strong advocate for pro-poor sustainable industrial and agribusiness development as a means of wealth and job creation and the economic empowerment of the poor.

In his capacity as co-editor of his organization's publication “Agribusiness for Africa's Prosperity,” DG Yumkella argues that a new agricultural development policy is needed to meet the economic and social development needs of the continent. This new approach calls specifically for moving away from subsistence farming to the use of modern technologies and agro-industrials that promote mechanization.

His passion for energy and environment-related issues has enabled him to lead UN Energy and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SE4All). Through his leadership and efforts in meeting with world leaders and their governments, multilateral development banks among others, he was instrumental in securing USD 50B to promote universal access to energy , increasing energy efficiency and enhancing the deployment of renewable sources of energy in support of his boss energy access initiative.

President Joseph Kabila will formally open the Caucus meetings which will take place on August 1-2, 2012.