AfCTA is brainchild of Prof. Adebayo Adedeji – UN Chief
AfCTA
By Kamal Tayo Oropo
Lagos, July 6, 2018 (NAN) Dr Said Adejumobi, Southern Africa Regional Director of UN Economic Commission for Africa, has lauded Late Prof Adebayo Adedeji for laying the foundation for the establishment of African Continental Free Trade Area.
Speaking on the high-level symposium in honour of Adedeji holding in Lagos on Saturday, Adejumobi said that AfCTA was one of the numerous contributions of the late former Executive Secretary of the ECA who died on April 25.
The symposium would be held in Ikeja under the theme; ‘Africa’s Development Agenda: Lessons from the Adebayo Adedeji Years and Policy Options for the 21st Century’.
Adejumobi, who was also facilitator of the symposium, said it was befitting for the UN body to honour late Adedeji who spent 16 years at the helm of the organisation working tirelessly for Africa’s development.
“The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that we are celebrating today is as a result of the hard work and foundation laid by the likes of Adedeji, who committed and worked vigorously for regional economic integration in Africa.
“So, at the ECA we are saying, thank you. The symposium is just one of several ways that the ECA seeks to honour this illustrious son of Africa.
“Prof. Adedeji’s was a foremost pan-Africanist who committed his life to the service of the continent. He served not only the ECA but the continent as a whole in various positions without fear or favour.
“He used his leadership to push for African solutions to African problems as the great thinker that he was,” he said.
Adejumobi said that the symposium would be attended by former and incumbent Heads of State as well as other distinguished personalities.
Adedeji was buried in Ijebu Ode, Ogun on Friday.
Prof. Peter Anyang Nyong’o, a Kenyan senator, former Minister for Medical and Health Services and Governor of Kisumu County in Kenya, will deliver the keynote address at the symposium.
ECA Executive Secretary, Ms Vera Songwe, will deliver opening and closing remarks during which she is expected to speak on the way forward for Africa following the trailblazing efforts of the late Adedeji.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the symposium will reflect on Adedeji’s ideas and notions of development, their relevance in contemporary era, the trajectory and current context of Africa’s development.
It will also dwell on the challenges, opportunities and prospects for the structural transformation of the African countries and their economies.
The symposium was divided into three sessions as follows: ‘Reflections on Africa’s Economic Development Agenda: Hopes, Failures, Opportunities, and Prospects. (From the Lagos Plan of Action to the AfCFTA)’: Adedeji’s ‘Trajectory of Public Administration and Development in Africa: ‘Governance and the Challenges of Economic Transformation in Africa (The Governance Context to Economic Development in Africa).’
Prof. Adedeji was acknowledged by many as one of the most towering intellectual figures and development practitioners in Africa in the late 20th Century. (NAN)
KTO/WOJ
Edited by Wale Ojetimi
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