Nigeria will host a meeting of the Committee of Ten African Finance Ministers and Central and Regional Bank Governors, the C10, on Tuesday July 14, 2009 in Abuja, to discuss the prevailing global economic and financial crisis, its impact on African economies and possible mitigation measures.
The Committee of 10 was established at a meeting of African Ministers of Finance and Governors of Central Banks in Tunis in November 2008, under the auspices of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. It role is to monitor the impact of the crisis on Africa, share and assess regional and international responses and make proposals to help African economies mitigate the effects of the global economic and financial crisis.
Nigerian Finance Minister and Chair of the gathering, Mansur Muhtar, said the meeting will make policy recommendations for the G20 process, discuss trade issues, the global financial crisis and related matters. The meeting will provide an opportunity to review the impact of the crisis and emerging regional responses.
“African countries are still grappling with the fallout of the global financial crisis resulting in job losses, falling commodity prices, drying of trade and capital flows, as well as difficulties in accessing the international capital market,” Mr. Muhtar, stated; adding that “though African countries are doing their best to cope with the effects of the downturn, the resources and policy space were severely limited.
According to Mr. Muhtar, “This is an opportune moment for the C10 to continue to engender policy initiatives that will propel African countries on the of recovery path, as well as make a strong case for increased concessional finance that will support economic recovery on the continent, ahead of the G-20 Meeting coming up in Pittsburgh in September, 2009”.
The Abuja gathering will be the third of such meetings. The first two were held in South Africa and Tanzania in January and March 2009 respectively, to prepare a submission from the African delegation during the London G20 Summit, based on a shared and coordinated approach and to ensure that Africa is fully represented in the meeting.
Serving on the Committee are Finance Ministers from South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon and Tanzania, as well as Central Bank Governors representing Botswana, Kenya, Algeria, West African States (BCEAO) and Central African States (BEAC).
