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United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

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United Nations Economic Commission for Africa[1]
AbbreviationUNECA/ECA
Formation1958; 67 years ago (1958)
TypePrimary Organ - Regional Branch
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersAfrica Hall, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Head
Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa
Claver Gatete
Parent organization
United Nations Economic and Social Council
Websitewww.uneca.org
icon Politics portal

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA or ECA; French: Commission économique pour l'Afrique,[2] CEA) was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states (the nations of the African continent)[3] following a recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly.[4] It is one of five regional commissions.

The ECA has 54 member states, corresponding to the 54 member states of the United Nations that lie within the continent of Africa or in oceans nearby the continent. The ECA's mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member states, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development.[5]

On October 6, 2023, the UN Secretary-General appointed Claver Gatete of Rwanda as the Executive Secretary of UNECA, replacing the Cameroonian Vera Songwe.[6]

Programs

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The commission's work is structured into seven program divisions:

  • African Centre for Statistics
  • Macroeconomic Policy
  • Social development Policy
  • Innovation and Technology
  • Regional integration and Trade
  • Capacity Development

Implementing Sustainable Development Goals

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The ECA seeks to balance the global Sustainable Development Goals with prior regional agendas that are supported by governments. Notably this is done for Agenda 2063, which was agreed on by the African Union a few months before the launch of the SDGs in 2015. To better integrate the two agendas in country plans and activities, UNECA has developed an online tool indicating synergies and trade-offs and an integrated planning and reporting toolkit. In terms of gaps, three of twenty Agenda 2063 goals do not align with any SDG (notably the goals on the establishment of continental financial and monetary institutions and on regional peace and stability, although perhaps these can be caught in a broad definition of SDG 17).[7]

The Regional Fora for Sustainable Development work as a coordination mechanism and resemble a “mini-High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)” in the region. The Seventh African Forum on Sustainable Development, for example, was followed by efforts to seek more funding for the Congo Basin by taking the conference outcomes to both the COP26 (the 26th conference of the parties to the UN climate convention) in Glasgow in 2021 and to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.[7]

Climate finance

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The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in more debts for many countries and sparked a global discussion on new financial mechanisms.[7] All of the Regional Commissions—except for the one for Europe, given the prevalence of high-income countries in its membership—launched new initiatives, many linked to climate finance. The ECA launched the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility in 2021 to mobilize (private sector) capital, supported by an asset management firm and a collateral management provider.[8] Its objectives are to support the liquidity of African sovereign eurobonds and incentivize SDG-related investments on the continent.[7]

Locations

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The headquarters, Africa Hall, is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and opened 1961.[9]

There are five subregional headquarters:

Member States

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Map showing the subregions of the ECA:
  North Africa
  West Africa
  Central Africa
  Eastern Africa
  Southern Africa
Map showing the Member States of the ECA.

Executive Secretaries

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The commission's headquarters in Addis Ababa.
Name Country Years
Claver Gatete  Rwanda 2023 - Present
Vera Songwe  Cameroon 2017 - 2023
Carlos Lopes  Guinea-Bissau 2012 - 2016
Abdoulie Janneh  Gambia 2005 - 2012
K. Y. Amoako  Ghana 1995 - 2005
Layashi Yaker  Algeria 1992 - 1995
Issa Diallo  Guinea 1991 - 1992
Adebayo Adedeji  Nigeria 1975 - 1991
Robert K. A. Gardiner  Ghana 1961 - 1975
Mekki Abbas  Sudan 1959 - 1961

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Staff writer (2024). "United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)". UIA Global Civil Society Database. uia.org. Brussels, Belgium: Union of International Associations. Yearbook of International Organizations Online. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Commission économique pour l'Afrique". April 3, 2020.
  3. ^ "Overview of the ECA". UNECA. Archived from the original on 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  4. ^ United Nations General Assembly Session 12 Resolution 1155. Proposed Economic Commission for Africa A/RES/1155(XII) 26 November 1957. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  5. ^ "About | United Nations Economic Commission for Africa". www.uneca.org. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  6. ^ "Secretary-General Appoints Claver Gatete of Rwanda Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa | UN Press". press.un.org. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  7. ^ a b c d van Driel, Melanie; Biermann, Frank; Kim, Rakhyun E.; Vijge, Marjanneke J. (2023). "The UN Regional Commissions as Orchestrators for the Sustainable Development Goals". Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations. 29 (4): 561–590. doi:10.1163/19426720-02904006. ISSN 1075-2846. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  8. ^ United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (19 May 2022). "The United Nations ECA outlines path for African sovereign debt liquidity and sustainability at the Conference of African Ministers of Finance thanks to the Liquidity & Sustainability Facility it established and with the support of BNY Mellon and Amundi". www.uneca.org. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  9. ^ Africa Hall, published by the Administration and Liaison Office, Addis Ababa (May 1963)
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