Africa sets sights on millennium goals
May 14, 2005
Abuja - African finance ministers gathered in Abuja on Saturday for a two-day meeting to hammer out ways of achieving the Millennium development Goals (MDGs) on fighting poverty in Africa.
Some 20 ministers and five governors of central banks in Africa were among the delegates participating in the 38th session of the United Nations Commission for Africa which began here Saturday.
The annual session of the commission has become a key ministerial forum for the articulation of Africa's common position on major issues.
The current session is focused on achieving the millennium development goals in Africa, which aim to halve extreme poverty by 2015.
"This meeting can make a crucial contribution to the formulation of a consensus on what Africa needs to do to achieve the MDGs and also highlight the ways in which the international community can assist us," the commission's executive secretary Kingsley Amoako said in opening remarks.
Amoako said the meeting was also an opportunity for Africa's finance ministers to present a united voice on the UN Millennium project report and the British Commission for Africa report.
"Both reports present a comprehensive analysis of the resources Africa needs, whether financial, institutional or for developing capacity in order to achieve the MDGs", Amaoko added.
Declaring the meeting open, Nigeria's senate speaker Ken Nnamani urged the conference to add its voice in support of debt cancellation for Africa and innovative use of resources to finance key development goals. - AFP
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