Official launch of the 2nd Edition of the International Conference on the Emergence of Africa

19 days before the event: The national and international press in Côte d’Ivoire mobilized for the media coverage of the second edition of the International Conference on the Emergence of Africa, which will be held in Abidjan from 28 to 30 March 2017.


Abidjan, March 09th : The second edition of the International Conference on the Emergence of Africa, which will be held in Abidjan from 28 to 30 March 2017, has been officially launched during a press conference held by Mrs. Kaba Nialé, Ivorian Minister of Planning and Development and Mr. Babacar Cissé,
United Nations Resident Coordinator / UNDP Resident Representative in Côte d’Ivoire. According to the Minister and the Resident Coordinator, all African


countries engaged in the process of emergence have structured plans, but it is in the implementation that difficulties arise. This is the reason why, they said, implementation of plans for emergence of African countries will be at the center of discussions during the second edition of the ICEA.

Hence, they urged the journalists become an integral part of this event to meet the development challenges, especially when it comes to the mobilization of the actors and information of the populations;


because, Mrs. Nialé Kaba noted, very often, the populations are not informed about the plans for emergence and their implementation. In this development
work, the role of the media is important in informing the public about what is being done at the highest level of the State, on the basis of the needs of the populations which, in her eyes, constitute the foundation of development plans.

To allay any doubts and address the concerns of journalists about the capacity of African countries to become emergent, Nialé Kaba and Babacar Cissé assured that some countries are already on the way to becoming emergent and others should follow their example.
Hence, the importance of the ICEA, the leitmotiv of which is the sharing of experiences.

Designed as a platform of exchange to stimulate debate on the conditions for the emergence of African countries in the light of the process of structural transformation in emerging countries, the ICEA is organized by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in partnership with the World Bank (WB) and the Group of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The central theme of this second edition "The implementation of plans for emergence in Africa" and the two sub-themes "Governance of Public Institutions" and "Structural, inclusive and sustainable transformation" will be discussed during a high-level panel, in workshops and side-events in the presence of Heads of State and Government, civil society organizations, research institutions (some 400 experts and State and non-State representatives) from 54 African, Asian, European and American countries.

The UNDP, the World Bank and the African Development Bank, will be presenting studies during the sessions,

as well as the lessons learned from the processes of emergence, the governance of public institutions and structural, inclusive and sustainable transformation. In addition to these main themes, thirteen case studies based on the experiences of African countries will be discussed during the panels.

The concept framework of the organization of the ICEA, the key objectives and innovations of the ICEA 2017 were therefore presented to the media, in order to mobilize them.

It should be noted that the first edition of the ICEA in 2015 ended with the adoption of the "Abidjan Declaration on the Emergence of Africa", which recommended three important points, namely, the setting up of a Strategic Monitoring Center, the organization, every two years, of a forum on good practices when it comes to emergence and the establishment of a High-Level Committee to ensure the political follow-up of the said declaration, as well as the creation of an Executive Secretariat.