African Economic Conference 2013: African leaders, top scholars look at regional integration as key to Africa's continuing growth and development

TUNIS, Tunisia, September 27, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The eighth African Economic Conference (http://www.afdb.org/en/aec) will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from October 28-30, 2013 under the theme “Regional Integration in Africa”. The conference is organized each year by the African Development Bank (AfDB) (http://www.afdb.org), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Logo AfDB: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/african-development-bank-2.png

This year's African Economic Conference will bring together top policy-makers, heads of state, leading researchers and experienced development practitioners from Africa and around the world to discuss issues arising from African countries' efforts to pool resources and integrate their economies for the development of their regional and individual economies. The conference will examine the efforts being made in different sectors and areas, including finance, road transport, power pools, water resource management, fiscal convergence and labour mobility. Discussions will focus on issues specific to middle-income countries and those peculiar to fragile states. The 2013 AEC will also be discussing the constraints effective integration faces – the poorly developed network of regional infrastructure, especially in transport, energy and communications, and the unsuitable array of legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks, all of which cannot be ignored. Finally, delegates will look into solutions to facilitate regional integration.

The AEC will also provide a unique forum for in-depth presentations of policy-oriented research by both established academics and emerging talents from the continent. The conference will be opened by Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa; Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP; Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank; and Abdalla Hamdok, Deputy Executive Secretary of ECA.

Registration is now open. Registration will be essential for entry, please register online http://www.afdb.org/en/aec/online-registration/ before Tuesday, 15 October 2013.*

What:

8th African Economic Conference

When:

Monday, October 28 - Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Where:

Montecasino Entertainment Complex, Johannesburg, South Africa

Who:

Opening: Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa

Helen Clark, Administrator, UNDP

Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank

Abdalla Hamdok, Deputy Executive Secretary, ECA

For media information, please contact:

AfDB: Olivia Ndong Obiang, [email protected], tel. +216 95 99 97 70

ECA: Mercy Wambui, [email protected], tel. +251 92 10 14 767

UNDP: Nicolas Douillet, [email protected], tel. +1 212 906 5937

2013 African Economic Conference website: http://www.afdb.org/en/aec/

* Due to the limited space available, no late registrations will be allowed. Once the maximum media delegate participation has been reached, registration will be closed.

For any queries on registrations, please contact:

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Ms. Lynette Mwaikinda

African Development Bank

Tel +216 71 10 18 20

E-mail : [email protected]

AEC EVENT ORGANISERS

Ntokozo Ndlovu

Stoned Pebble Consulting – Events

Tel: + 27 (0) 11 791 0231

Mobile: + 27 (0) 72 017 8396

Email: [email protected]

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African Development Bank (AfDB).