ICEA 2017: KABA NIALE AND BABACAR CISSE HAVE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS ACCREDITED TO COTE D’IVOIRE

On Friday, 3 February, the banquet hall of the Conference Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a meeting of exchange between the Minister of Planning and Development, Mrs. Nialé Kaba, the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Babacar Cissé, and the diplomatic corps and representatives of international organizations accredited to Côte d’Ivoire. According to Mrs. Nialé Kaba the meeting aimed to inform the partners of Côte d’Ivoire about the issues of the second edition of the International Conference on the Emergence of Africa (ICEA), which will take place from 28 to 30 March in Abidjan. She invited the ambassadors to serve as intermediaries in their respective countries, in order to facilitate the participation of their authorities at the highest level. For Mrs. Nialé Kaba, this meeting devoted to emergence is intended to be a forum of exchange and experience sharing that can speed up and consolidate the development of African countries.

In his address, the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Babacar Cissé, indicated that the challenge in this meeting is the application and implementation of the various plans for emergence developed by African States, considering thisas "one of the Achilles’ heels of several countries".


More specifically, he said that the second edition will focus on "the governance of institutions" and "structural, inclusive and sustainable transformation".

Bearing this in mind, Mr. Cissé went on to say that the 2017 ICEA will also benefit from contacts with Asian and Latin American countries. To this end, contacts have already been made with Singapore, "whose public administration’s organization and efficiency are a reference around the world".
Babacar Cissé also said that, in addition to Governments, the three partner institutions, the UNDP, the World Bank and the AfDB, will each play a role in guiding the discussions.

Thus, the UNDP will present the lessons learned from Africa’s march to emergence, based on case studies from thirteen (13) countries. As for the World Bank, it will lead discussions on the issue of the governance of public institutions and its importance for the implementation of the emergence process.
The AfDB will focus on the reforms and investments required for the structural transformation of African economies through industrialization.

In the discussions following the introductory remarks by Mrs. Nialé Kaba and Mr. Babacar Cissé, the Ambassadors asked about the participation of the African Union, women and the youth and the issue of security in the emergence process.

On behalf of the diplomats, the Apostolic Nuncio, Joseph Spiteri, wished "full success" to the conference, following in the footsteps of Mr. Babacar Cissé to point out that the populations expect a great deal from the application and implementation of the plans for emergence.
Following the success of the first International Conference on the Emergence of Africa in 2015, the second edition will be attended by more than 400 personalities from governments, international organizations, NGOs and the civil society.