Addis Ababa, 23 March 2016 (ECA) - The UN economic Commission for Africa will launch twenty comprehensive and analytical country profiles during the inaugural African Development Week scheduled to be held in Ababa on from 31 March to 5th April 2016.
ECA's country profiles provide more than a mere description of economic and social performance but also an analysis of the most pressing transformational issues and policies on the continent.
More than 60 per cent of African populations still work in agriculture. The ECA country profiles highlight the importance of accelerated structural change, focusing on the need to shift resources out of traditional agricultural into higher value-added activities in manufacturing and services, while not neglecting the importance of modernising the agricultural sector itself.
ECA believes that country profiles will assist member states to take more control of their own developmental narratives, placing them in a better position to make evidence-based policy decisions.
Through these profiles, countries will be able to identify niches for transformation on which governments, private sector and civil society organizations should focus their strengths and speed up the economic and social transformation process.
Note to the editors
The profiles to be launched are for countries of different sub-regions of the continent. In Central Africa, there is: Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Congo and São Tomé and Príncipe. In Eastern Africa, there is: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. In northern Africa: Egypt, Morocco, and Sudan. In Southern Africa: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia. In Western Africa: Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Niger and Senegal.
The 20 country profiles to be launched may be consulted and downloaded on the UNECA website after the launch.
"The resolution 917 (XLVII) adopted in the ECA conference of ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Planning in Abuja in 2014 called upon African member states to contribute to the production of the country profiles. Therefore, African countries are part and parcel of the process.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org