CAIRO WRAPUP PRESS RELEASE

Press Release
World Summit on Sustainable Development
Johannesburg, 2-11 September 2002

Roundtable: Globalization is a key to sustainable development in Africa

(New York, 6 July 2001) - A meeting of African eminent persons concluded last week that Africa can meet the challenges of globalization and move to a more sustainable future if concerted action is taken, both domestically and tapping into international financial resources for development.

"Africa has hope", the experts concluded, " Africa has clearly realized that it has to take its destiny into its own hands". But some resources and actions available for Africa are still beyond the region’s reach and innovative ways and enhanced measures for international cooperation will continue to be required.

The Eminent Persons Roundtable for Africa was held in Cairo, from 25 – 27 June under the Chairmanship of Dr Mostafa Tolba, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. The Roundtable was the third in a regional series being organized by the United Nations Division of Sustainable Development in order to gather independent views on regional and global issues for the World Summit on Sustainable Development which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002. Eminent persons, with a wide range of backgrounds and from all parts of Africa, participated in the Roundtable. ( A list of participants is attached.)

The Roundtable gave particular attention to the impact of globalization on Africa. The continent has benefited, to only a small degree, to this phenomenon. Currently almost 95 per cent of the financial resources used in Africa are from domestic sources. However, the Roundtable agreed that the region cannot afford to disengage from the globalization process. Indeed, the Roundtable concluded that globalization offers the main opportunity for Africa to achieve a path towards sustainable development. However, ambitious but achievable time-bound goals to uplift Africa will require much more than the resources available domestically. The Roundtable identified a number of actions to increase the amount of development funding for Africa, from both domestic as well as external sources, especially by establishing an attractive enabling environment. This would include striving to maintain political stability, creating fiscal incentives, and providing adequate communications, transportation and skilled labour.

The Roundtable also agreed that the top priority for Africa is to consolidate and sustain development achievements since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Participants concluded that, above all, real leadership on sustainable development needs to be shown by the region’s heads of government. The Report of the African Roundtable of Eminent Persons will be submitted to Ministers at the African Regional Intergovernmental Meeting to be held in Nairobi on 15 - 18 October.

The dates and locations for the other regional Roundtables to be held in 2001 are as follows:

REGION	VENUE	DATES
East Asia and the Pacific	Kuala Lumpur Malaysia	9-11 July
Central and South Asia	Kyrgyzstan	30 July - 1 August

To stay informed and engaged in this global effort, please go to www.johannesburgsummit.org.

For media inquiries, please contact: Pragati Pascale at telephone: 212-963-6870, email: pascale@un.org, or Klomjit Chandrapanya at 212-963-9495, email: chandrapanya@un.org.

For further information on the Regional Roundtables please contact Rod Holesgrove, United Nations Secretariat of the Johannesburg Summit, tel: (212) 963-5104, fax: (212) 963-4260, or e-mail: holesgrove@un.org

REGIONAL ROUNDTABLE FOR AFRICA

Cairo, 25-27 June, 2001

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

No.	Name	Country	Background
1	Dr. Mostafa Tolba Chairman	Egypt	President of International Center for Environment and Development (ICED), Chairman of the fifth session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
2	Mr. Kwasi Abeasi	Ghana	Director-General of Private Enterprise Foundation, former Managing Director of Ghana Oil Co. Ltd.
3	Dr. Ismail Sabry Abdalla	Egypt	Former Minister of Planning, Chairman of Third World Forum
4	Prof. Adebayo Adedeji	Nigeria	Executive Director, African Center for Development and Strategic Studies, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, former Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, former Federal Minister for Economic Development and Reconstruction.
5	Mr. Francis Antonio	Malawi	General Secretary of the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU)
6	Dr. Hassan Osman Abdel Nour	Sudan	Former Minister of Agriculture, International Forestry Consultant
7	Prof. Adel Bishay	Egypt	Professor of Economics, American University, Cairo.
8	Ms. Mary Chinery-Hesse	Ghana	Former Deputy Director-General of International Labour Organization (ILO), former UNDP Resident Representative.
9	Dr. Bakary Dabo	Gambia	Former Vice President, former Minister of Finance
10	Prof. Mohamed El Kassas	Egypt	Professor at Cairo University, former President of the World Conservation Union (IUCN)
11	Mr. Mersie Ejigu	Ethiopia	Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of Partnership for African Environmental Sustainability (PAES), former Assistant Director-General of (IUCN), former Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, former Minister of Planning and Development
12	Adm. Lamine Fadika	Cote d'Ivoire	Vice President of the National Assembly of Cote d'Ivoire. Former Minister: Marine; International Transport and Ports; Environment; Mines; Petroleum Resources.
13	Dr. Abdel Aziz Hegazy	Egypt	Former Prime Minister, former Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Foreign Trade, former Visiting Professor of Cairo University, former Dean of Faculty of Commerce, Ain Shams University.
14	Dr. Calestous Juma	Kenya	Director of Science, Technology and Innovation Program, Center for International Development of Harvard University. Former Executive Secretary of Convention on Biological Diversity, founding Executive Director, African Center for Technology Studies, Member of the Board of Directors of the World Resources Institute. Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences.
15	Mr. Djamel-Eddine Khene	Algeria	Vice-President Exploration & Production, SONATRACH
16	Dr. Wangari Maathai	Kenya	Founder, Greenbelt Movement, Kenya. former Chairman of the National Council of Women of Kenya, former Chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy of Nairobi University.
17	Hon. Amos Masondo	South Africa	Executive Mayor of Johannesburg.
18	Mr. Patrice Motsepe	South Africa	Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals, Vice President/Chamber of Mines
19	Ms. Gertrude Mongela	Tanzania	President of Advocacy for Women in Africa (AWA), Secretary-General of Beijing World Conference on Women, MP
20	Mr. Babacar N'diaye	Senegal	Honorary President of the African Development Bank, Ambassador-at-large
21	Mr. Robert N'Dow	Mali	Former Minister of Natural Resources, former Assistant Director General of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
22	Prof. G.O.P. Obasi	Nigeria	Director General of World Meteorological Organization (WMO)- (in his personal capacity); Vice President, Third World Academy of Sciences
23	Ms. Elizabeth Ntaenga Ngatchou Tankeu	Cameroon	Former Minister of Planning and Territorial Management.
24	Prof. Iba Der Thiam	Senegal	Former Member of the Executive Council of UNESCO, former Minister of National Education and Higher Education.
25	Amb. Anatole G. Tiendrebeogo	Burkina Faso	Former Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization for African Unity (OAU), former Minister of Environment and Tourism
26	Hon. Joseph Warioba	Tanzania	Former Prime Minister