UNECA Conference - Seychelles elected chair of Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa

Seychelles, last week, hosted the 26th joint meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Senior Officials and Experts (ICSOE) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca) Sub-Regional Offices for Eastern and Central Africa.

 

The three-day meeting was held under the theme ‘Pursuing resilience, economic growth and diversification in the context of instability and shocks: Role of Special Economic Zones, Innovative Finance and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).’

 

The conference was officially opened by the Minister for Finance, National Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan.

 

Minister Hassan noted that the countries represented at the three day conference, have been negatively impacted by the current world crisis, such as the pandemic COVID 19 and the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.

"Our continent is facing multiple crises-food and energy insecurity and increased governmental fiscal pressure as a result of this conflict. In some countries, these shocks have exacerbated inequalities, poverty and violence. They have also deepened national debt vulnerabilities and reversed several years of progress achieved towards a stable macroeconomic environment. None of our countries have been spared, and this should motivate us to among others, look for local solutions to these challenges."

He challenged participants to come up with innovative solutions to create a more resilient continent.

"Let us work together on strengthening our economies, exchanging best practices and experiences in support of strengthening resilience, economic growth and diversification. Let us come with evidence-based solutions and policy recommendations that would help the region to build back better and stronger."

During the conference, Seychelles was elected as chair of the Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa. The chairmanship is for one year.