World Bank to Livestream Africa-Related Events During Annual Meetings

Posted by Staff Writer on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 8:35pm.

The World Bank will livestream two Africa-related events during this week’s Annual Meetings: ‘Eliminating the Budget Execution Deficit’ and ‘Can Africa Trade with Africa?’ On Thursday, October 7th (1:00pm-3:00pm EST) (Execution Deficit) and Friday, October 8th (12:00pm-1:30pm EST) (Trade), the events can be watched LIVE on www.livestream.com/WorldBankAfrica.

‘Eliminating the Budget Execution Deficit’ will examine how African governments can tap non-concessional sources of financing. Invited speakers include: Professor Benno Ndulu, Governor, Bank of Tanzania; Nawai Gebre-Ab, Chief Economic Advisor, Office of the Prime Minister, Ethiopia; Min Tang, Deputy Secretary General, China Development and Reform Foundation; Nguyen Xuan Tu, Director, Department for Investment Appraisal and Supervision, Vietnam; and James Brumby, PREM Public Sector and Governance, The World Bank.

‘Can Africa Trade with Africa?’ will explore the barriers preventing intra-African trade. Despite the introduction of free trade areas, customs unions, and common markets, this level of trade remains among the lowest in the world – only about 10% of African trade is within the continent, compared to about 40% in North America and about 60% in Western Europe. Invited speakers include: Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Finance, South Africa; Maxwell Mkwezalamba, Commissioner for Economic Affairs, African Union Commission; Tony Elumelu, Former Chief Executive, United Bank of Africa; Paul Collier, Director, Centre for African Economies, Oxford University; Rosa Whitaker, President, The Whitaker Group; and William Egbe, President of Coca-Cola, South Africa.