Press Conference by H.E. Anthony Mothae Maruping Commissioner for Economic Affairs African Union Commission

H.E Dr Anthony Mothae Maruping Commissioner for Economic Affairs of the AUC at a press conference in the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on the Ninth (9TH) Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development briefed the media under the theme “towards an integrated and Coherent Approach to Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs”. The Commissioner stated that there are sustainable development goals and Agenda 2063, Agenda 2063 is broader and the African blue-print for economic transformation. He added that SDG's are already embedded in Agenda 2063.

H.E. Dr. Anthony Mothae Maruping stated that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are in line with the Agenda 2063 because the parameters both consist of social, economic & political sustainability issues faced in Africa. However Agenda 2063 is broader which makes SDG's a subset of the Agenda 2063 in terms of meeting the global expectations. He further underscored that in preparations for Agenda 2063 and SDG's ,Africa has formulated a written, well articulated proposal on how post 2015 Agenda should look like which influenced the formal inter-governmental negotiations.

The Commissioner emphasized that as long as the contents of the SDG's and Agenda 2063 are assimilated into national and Regional Economic Committees (REC) action plans, then implementation, monitoring and evaluation will run smoothly. He went ahead and called upon African Union member states to formulate a transformative blueprint of the economy to prevent their economies from being subjected to the illicit financial flows like running on a deficit budget. He further stated that the Regional coordination mechanism is a place where all UN Agencies come together to see how they can support the African Union Commission (AUC) in several activities around the continent. It is where all decisions are made and integrated, decisions on implementation and evaluation, so that there is one periodic report. He added that this meeting is the most rational for transformation and development as it simplifies things for Member States. The single joint or combined periodic progress report from monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 2063 and SDG's is to be produced and this increases the chance of implementation.

Moreover, he spoke about the Domestication process of Agenda 2063 and stated it is ongoing and implanting or infusing into national and regional plans. Agenda 2063 will also guide transformation of African economies by increasing productive capacities. Capacity has been assessed to prove gaps and manage risks, financing has also been given a lot of thought, communication strategy is being considered to give the people an idea of what is being done. The Agenda 2063 is a document of the people which is people's Centre and takes the bottom-down approach inclusive of social, economic, sustainability and economic development of the continent, the commissioner emphasized.

Furthermore, the commissioner welcomed all Ministers, Press, civil societies, private and public sector to a roundtable discussion scheduled for the 3rd April 2016 at the ECA on the current financial and economic challenges under the theme: Addressing the impact of Drought, Floods and Declining Commodity prices in Africa: what coping strategies and capacities are required?”. .