Ethiopia is gearing up for a three-day regional 4th Annual Africa Economic Conference (AEC) starting on Wednesday in Addis Ababa in the presence of African economists and policy makers.
The regional 4th Annual Africa Economic Conference (AEC) is hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB),which is a regional financial institution undertaking billions of dollars worth development projects across Africa.
According to the organizers, UNECA and AfDB, the regional conference to be held under the theme, “Fostering Development in an Era of Financial Crisis” is expected to bring together close to 400 policymakers, development experts, and economists across Africa and other countries.
The joint regional economic conference was called as the world and Africa is facing an economic crisis due to the recent global financial and economic crisis, which is affecting many countries worldwide.
According to available information, Africa is reported to have been affected seriously by the global economic crisis as its export trade has been hardly hit for the past two years, following the recession in the USA and European countries.
The scheduled program says that Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will give the keynote address to the conference.
“The conference aims at fostering the exchange of ideas between economists and policymakers in order to improve the sound and feasibility of economic policies designed within the region as well as dynamic and sustained growth necessary to reduce poverty,” said the organizers in a joint statement.
The conference is also expected to be an opportunity for experts, scholars and policymakers to come together and find ways of addressing the challenges that Africa is facing because of the global financial and economic crisis.
Source African Press Agency
