PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME OF WORK

Transcription

1 UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA Office for North Africa Original: FRENCH Ad hoc Expert Meeting Financing for Development in North Africa Rabat, Morocco October 2010 Tuesday 19 October :30-9:00 Registration of participants 9:00-9:30 Opening of the meeting PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME OF WORK 9:30-11:00 Session 1: Public funding: To mobilize more domestic resources Distr.: LIMITED CEA-AN/AH/FD/10/1/Add.1 July 2010 ENGLISH 11:30-13:00 Session 2: External funding: For resources more relevant to sustainable development and more effectively used 2:30-4:00 Session 3: Funding of the private sector: For a better contribution of the private sector 4:30-6:00 Session 4: Coordination of the different sources of financement Wednesday 20 October 2010 Sectoral Sessions Session 5 : Agriculture 8:30-10:30 Session 5.1: Public intervention: Financing and business environment 11:00-1:00 Session 5.2: How to promote financial sector banking: opportunities, constraints and agricultural risk management 2:00-4:00 Session 5.3 : The role of PPP in the financing of agriculture: challenges and opportunities Session 6 : New and Renewable Energies Session 6.1 : Policy instruments with a special focus on financial mechanisms : strengths and weaknesses Session 6.2 : Legal and financial framework: conditions for investment security Session 6.3 : The PPP, a tool for development : conditions for success and risk factors 4:30-6:30 Session 7: Plenary session: Reports of the parallel sessions Thursday 21 October :00-10:30 Session 8: Better governance for achieving the objectives of the financing for development 11:00-12:30 Session 9: Round table on Regional cooperation to improve financing for development 3:00-4:30 Recommendations Closure of the meeting

2 CEA-AN/AH/FD/10/2 United Nations Economic commission for Africa Office for North Africa Experts meeting Developmental financing in North Africa Rabat, Morocco, October 19-21, 2010 Conceptual note Background All over the world, strategies of economic and social development target a sustainable development whose profits are equitably distributed. Strong growth is among the main components of this goal. It helps create jobs, reduce poverty and thus improve population well being. According to the United Nations, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including halving the percentage of people living in poverty and reducing unemployment by 2015 requires a 7% economic growth at least in African countries. Any economic growth is yet dependent on the increase in both material and human capital, which in turn allows to increase in the us of the workforce. However, Capital formation is linked to a significant and main constraint, namely financing. Other aspects of sustainable development also require financial resources even if they are not directly related to growth. This is in particular, pertaining to ʺsafety netsʺ in the fight against poverty, environment protection, improved standards of living and education and training of the youth. These aspects which are also components of sustainable development require financing that needs to be found and wisely to be used) Some countries in North Africa are indeed confronted with a lack of domestic financing which is especially explained by low savings rate. Thus, with an overall investment rate of 24% at the regional level, it is to be noted that 3 out of 7 countries have rates below 20% and only one, Morocco, is recording a rate above 30%. Even when countries have sufficient internal resources such as hydrocarbon producing countries, we notice that absorption capacities remain low. The region is also experiencing capital flight, as it is still suffering from the failure to implement systematically and rigorously the rules of good governance and especially those of banking institutions. This hampers the access to FDIs and to adequate funding of development projects. Thus, after reaching the level of 24 billion U.S. $ in 2007, FDIs in the region fell to 19 billion in These levels remain low as they represent only 14% of GFCF or 3% of GDP. Other contributions of FDIs in technology and job creation remain low as well. Many production sectors that are particularly, important for development strategies, such as the agricultural and the new and renewable energy sectors, find it difficult to mobilize sufficient and or adequate financing.

3 The question of developmental financing has been addressed in 2002, in Monterrey. The Monterrey Consensus was made around commitments which were in six components or chapters: domestic resource mobilization; International resource mobilization (especially foreign direct resources); trade as the driving force for development; international cooperation; debt; the systemic links between finance and the previous components. The Monterrey Consensus acknowledges, especially for middle income countries (MICs), that The aid has a limited weight as regards the financing of MICs. Its effectiveness will therefore depend on its ability to mobilize national resources or to attract other sources of international financing. Much of the aid to MICs is focused in the area of consulting and technical assistance, support to policy development, creation and strengthening of institutions and experience sharing. It is appropriate, as part of this effort, to make the most of national capacities and experiences from developing countries themselves. This therefore represents MICs specific commitments regarding the Official Development Assistance (ODA). The Doha Follow up Conference on Financing for Development (Qatar, 2008) took place at a time when the world economy was facing unprecedented challenges, as the global financial crisis has indeed had a negative impact on developmental financing. Today, besides answering the crucial question which is still on the agenda, to know how to meet challenges with limited resources and therefore, how to direct financing options and policies to optimize financial resources at best. It is necessary to work on the design of specific development strategies adapted to the crisis and its resulting economic environment which is different from that of the pre crisis. Countries have generally responded to the crisis by boosting demand, especially by increasing public expenditures, with increased debt as a risk. Though they were able to preserve balances in the short term, these reactions carry with them the seeds of the crisis return in the form of scarce state resources, as illustrated so well in some European countries. Therefore, the crucial concern is about choosing strategies that adopt sustainability and viability of financial balances, while allowing sustainable development. In this context, North Africa is therefore in need for developing new strategies in order to increase its economic growth and fight against unemployment and poverty. These strategies should: make an arbitration between consumption and the various investment types, the point being to tend to determine the share of GDP to be consumed and the one to be invested both by sector and by agent; Take account of constraints on acceptable deficit or debt sustainability levels; Take into account the new after crisis context that includes, among others, the variable risk management, lower and unsteady external funding sources and a new international regulatory framework to be followed. In terms of challenges, the point is for countries in the region to develop the resources resulting from the various financing sources, to optimize the financing structure by source, to attract more external funding, to receive profitable FDIs in terms of sustainable human development, to ensure optimum Experts Meeting on Developmental Financing in North Africa: Conceptual Note Page 2

4 management of ODA, to improve economic governance and that of banking institutions and to democratize bank financial services granted to the private sector, while minimizing the cost prices of these funding. Taking up these challenges requires assessing the monitoring tools such as the Solidarity Fund (Tunisia, Morocco) or regulating tools (Algeria), diversifying the financing sources of private investment which are currently almost exclusively borne by banks, creating proactive banking institutions which are key to development and managing the dualism between formal / informal financial sector. The general issue In view of such an unprecedented background, the issue of developmental financing in North Africa remains primarily the development of resources resulting from different financing sources, be they internal or external. The relative weakness of the ODA and the provisions of the Monterrey Consensus impose constraints on the use of this financing source and therefore on the structure of external financing. Additionally, it is important to be aware of the relative significance of each source as well as of the types of sectors and priorities these resources will be destined to. Similarly, the preconditions for attracting external financing and FDIs should be reviewed and taken into consideration. The themes of governance at the macroeconomic level as well as that of banking institutions are therefore, closely related to the issue of developmental financing. The cost prices of these financing are also significant components to be considered. These costs vary depending on whether the financing sources are internal or external (debt and FDI). Thus, the point is to know what safeguards to be adopted to prevent financing that jeopardize the future financial balances and endanger next generations. Given that countries in the region have all adopted in the past tools for monitoring or reacting to the vicissitudes of cyclical conjunctures such as the Solidarity Fund (Tunisia, Morocco) or regulating (Algeria), the following questions arise: what assessments can be made on the way these funds operate, especially with regard to the test of the last crisis? Are these tools suitable for mutual coordination and assistance? Is it possible to develop at the regional level, a regional fund of this nature and what would the required conditions be? What connections would this fond have with the Maghreb Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade (BMCI)? While governments in the region have most often resorted to money markets to finance their needs, capital markets whose main component is the financial market, are still rudimentary or even nonexistent except in Egypt. Responsibility for private investment financing is therefore, almost exclusively borne by banks. However, in order to limit risks, banks do not always lend to the most profitable projects, but rather to projects whose initiators have sufficient collateral and endorsement, which already creates a bias affecting the marginal returns on these investments. Funding systems in the region also face difficulties relating to rising costs of financial transactions and to the burdens relating to the ʺfinancial dualismʺ which expresses the coexistence of a formal financial sector and an informal financial sector or micro finance. However, microfinance could be a solution to a number of social problems despite its difficulty in using resources optimally. Indeed, it increasingly appears as a viable financial solution for the poorest, especially women and rural populations. Experiences of countries in the region in this area are lessons to be learnt from. Experts Meeting on Developmental Financing in North Africa: Conceptual Note Page 3

5 Several questions thus arise and challenge decision makers, monetary authorities, investors and analysts. This experts meeting will try to answer them and propose recommendations likely to improve and facilitate the adoption of national, and whenever possible, regional policies in the field of developmental financing. Sectoral issue Many sectors are at the heart of sustainable development and their financing needs to be addressed during the outline of social projects and strategic and prospective choices for development. The financing issue is therefore still relevant for sectors such as agriculture; energy; education and training; research and development and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Developmental financing however differs from one sector to another, at both the national and supranational level. Some sectors can become driving forces for regional integration in North Africa. The financing logic also, differs between production sectors and social sectors especially, when the timeframe of the expected outcome (short / mid term for production sectors, long term for social sectors) has to be taken into account. Some of these sectors have been covered in depth by the UN and ECA at various conferences, seminars and experts meetings. Thus, ICT financing was subjected to open Consultations on the financing mechanisms enabling to meet the challenge posed by ICT application in support of development (Geneva, Switzerland, October 8 9, 2009). The ECA / NA office has in turn addressed the financing of research and development during the region s experts meeting ʺPromoting research and development (R & D) in North Africa held in Rabat, Morocco, 15 July 17, ICT is a significant component of development in many fields such as education, health, economic growth and governance. Most countries seek assistance to ICT as an integral part of their development plans for these sectors, while a smaller number of countries require special assistance in support of ICT. ICT require infrastructures, which have been largely financed by the private sector since The Tunis Agenda for the information society (World Summit on the Information Society ʺWSISʺ, November 2005) also, acknowledges the need for reducing the digital divide through adequate and sustainable investments in infrastructure and ICT services, as well as in capacity building and technology transfer. It is in this context that the Group UNGIS launched, in accordance with the recommendations of ECOSOC, open consultations on financing mechanisms to meet the challenge of applying ICT in support of development (Geneva, 8 9 October 2009). The Forum noted that the issue of ICT financing remains a major challenge, highlighted the need to continue to explore new funding mechanisms such as FDIs, multilateral lending and microfinance, focused on the role of liberalization and opening up to competition, and asked to meet the challenge posed by universal access funds. As for Research and Development, the discussions that took place as part of the experts meeting organized by the Office confirmed the difficulties in access to financing for R & D (Rabat, July 2008). The difficulty in integrating the innovation financing as part of a national strategy in an economic environment characterized by the prevalence of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has been identified as a real constraint. Therefore, the financing issue for R & D should be recognized as a regional priority, which should allow an increase from the private research, but also better synergies between private and public research. Several suggestions can thus be considered in this issue: Experts Meeting on Developmental Financing in North Africa: Conceptual Note Page 4

6 tax measures that make it possible to reveal the research capabilities ; launch on the innovation market, tax measures favorable to companies (and administrations) that place orders to innovative companies incentives for the spin off of public research and development of regional clusters involving regional public and private laboratories, small innovative firms, incubators, legal advice for managing intellectual property, etc The present experts meeting has chosen to focus on two significant sectors: agriculture and energy given their significance in the region and the fact that they are more relevant in the present context. Meeting goals The main goals of the meeting are the following: Assist Member States and RECs in the region in identifying the means for developing and improving their own financing strategies, by answering the following questions : Is the resort of countries to the different types of developmental financing optimized in the region? How to proceed in the usage of each of the financing source so as to avoid negative returns in the short, mid or long term? What actions have been taken by member states and what actions are to be recommended so that any of the financing sources is best used by each country and together by all countries in the region especially within in the frame of the region s Regional Economic Communities (RECs )? How is the financing effort of GFCF, distributed between domestic private financing, be it banking, stock or informal, external private financing, with or without government guarantees, domestic or external public company financing, financing of the State budget and external public financing? What is FDIs share? Can such a distribution be improved to better suit a sustainable human development and the national strategic choices, so that this distribution may contribute to a more substantial and cheaper financing, in terms of cost / return on capital? What recommendations can be made to Member States to optimize this distribution at the national level and with a view to regional financial integration? Since this distribution is closely linked to the financial convergence, what precautions are to be taken, by Member States and RECs in the region, against not to jeopardize a fast or immediate financial integration? Know and take advantages of country strategies and good experiences in the region; Explore cooperation and integration opportunities between the region s countries including the countries of the AMU in the area of financing, capital mobility and bank intermediation; Experts Meeting on Developmental Financing in North Africa: Conceptual Note Page 5

7 Identify from the significant sectors selected, the sector specific financing strategies and mechanisms with a view to optimize financing e at the national level and to attain better regional cooperation and integration; Meeting organization The experts meeting will be structured around the following three themes: Development strategies for crisis recovery and their impact on the financing strategies and on the policies for optimum exploitation of the various financing sources in North Africa; The role of bank intermediation, it s performance and the main missions it is being entrusted; The optimization of developmental financing at the sector level (agriculture and new and renewable energy). The first theme will examine the various financing sources, namely public financing, bank financing, stock financing and external financing. Special consideration will be given to the Official Development Assistance under its various forms. The review of these components will lead to a description of the countries strategic choices and to the critical analysis of financing strategies. The second theme will address the role of bank financing and analyze the problems and constraints of the regionʹs banking systems. The following issues will be discussed: Are there solutions recommended in the countries new strategic options? If so, how can they remedy the weaknesses already identified? What is the role and what are the perspectives to be assigned to informal financing to make it complementary to the operation of the organized banking system? The third theme will address, from a sector specific point of view, the optimization of developmental financing in two important sectors: Agriculture and Energy. Following the experts meeting, two main results are expected: a. A report on the main findings and recommendations will be prepared for the attention of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) of the Member States in the subregion; b. A publication on the various contributions, including experts notes and reviews of discussions for a wide diffusion of the meeting s outcomes. Participants The Office will invite national experts from 7 countries in the region (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Sudan and Tunisia) as well as decision makers and representatives of national and sub regional organizations including the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and the Cen Sad, the private sector, the financial sector, workers, graduates, civil society organizations, the United Nations system and the bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Experts Meeting on Developmental Financing in North Africa: Conceptual Note Page 6

8 Working languages Arabic, French and English. Place and date of the meeting Rabat (Morocco) from October 19 to 21, Contact person Mr. Abdelilah Ouaqouaq Senior Economist Office of ECA for North Africa Tel + +(212) (0) / Cell phone ++(212) (0) Fax ++(212) (0) ouaqouaq@un.org Experts Meeting on Developmental Financing in North Africa: Conceptual Note Page 7

9 Agriculture Making Agriculture financing a priority for development in North Africa The 2007/2008 world food crisis and the expected impacts of climate change have reopened the debates on the crucial role of agriculture in economic growth, food security and unemployment reduction. The annual session of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (Malawi March 2010) has reasserted, in its resolution L 11, entitled ʺAchieving food security in Africa within five years, the commitment to strengthen investment in agriculture as planned by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) adopted during the Summit of Heads of State (Maputo, 2003). According to the 2010 report on progress achieved in Africa carried out by the Panel for African progress, only 8 African countries have achieved Maputo s goal, which consists in allocating 10% of the national budget to agriculture, as against less than 4% for other countries. In its 2009 report on world investment, UNCTAD shows the growing interest in private investment (direct investment in agricultural production or through contract farming) in the agricultural sector in developing countries. Agricultural production of cash crops and agribusiness are particularly concerned by investment. During its 15 th session held in Marrakech in October 2009, the AMU Maghreb Ministerial Commission in charge of food security highlighted the importance of strengthening public and private investment in developing the agricultural sector. Today, the need to find solutions to food insecurity become a challenge for all stakeholders (public, private and smallholders) at all levels (local, national, regional and international). In this new context, and to best optimize the sector s potentialities and improve its contribution to the overall economic growth and the fight against poverty while facing new challenges (climate change, financial crisis), most countries have initiated a thorough review of their agricultural policy and focused on encouraging private investment and support to small and medium sized farms. The state is reinvesting its role as a planner, regulator and accompanist. Many reforms are underway: opening of state lands to private management, creation of investment funds, implementation of guarantee funds, improvement of the business climate including access facilitation to bank loans (see Doing Business 2010) and getting into State private sector partnerships. Following the example of Africa, the North African region has however also experienced a significant decline in public (including ODA) and private (domestic and foreign) investment in the sector during the period Most countries have not allocated more than 4% of the national budget to the sector. Commercial banks and financial institutions have only had a marginal role in terms of agricultural financing, given their insufficient knowledge of the sector, lack of insurance mechanisms and the inadequacy of the (usually short term) credits granted and the sector s low profitability. Banks are constrained by the situation that prevailed with the food crisis and the financial crisis has shown the limits of the agriculture specific financing policy. The challenges resulting from this context will be addressed at the experts meeting which will be called upon to make recommendations to Member States, RECs and international organizations on how to meet these challenges and make Agriculture financing a development priority in North Africa. Experts Meeting on Developmental Financing in North Africa: Conceptual Note Page 8

10 Energy New and renewable energy The North African region is characterized by the coexistence of oil and gas producing countries and energy importing countries. Given the rise and uncontrollable evolution in the prices of these raw materials, importing countries could benefit from the use of new and renewable energies. It is about meeting a growing energy demand and reducing countriesʹ dependence on fossil energy imports, in anticipation, moreover, of the expected decrease in oil and gas stocks. In addition, the potential of Renewable Energies is significant in the region, be it solar or wind energy, since the exploitation of this potential may allow the development of new job generating fields. Similarly, all countries need to meet the challenges of environment protection. In this context, the efforts aiming to develop energy policies should contribute to reducing greenhouse effects due to gas emissions resulting from the use of fossil energy. These national policies, translated into laws, standards and regulations, can also help countries prepare to better cope with scarcity and finally the lack of oil resources in the mid and long terms. However, there are differences between countries in terms of renewable energy available. For each country, the potential use of these energies must be determined according to financial, economic, social and environmental criteria. Financing is the main obstacle here, given the high amount of initial investment especially, for solar energy. Important issues are related to this aspect such as cost recovery, the level of grant to be awarded and the possible involvement of the private sector which will require the implementation of an adequate regulatory and incentive framework. Many Mediterranean countries have already explored and developed innovative financial mechanisms to meet the needs in rural electrification, and the needs of urban populations through the use of renewable energies. Therefore, there is an accumulation of know how in the use of solar and wind power that needs to be exploited. These experiences show that the use of renewable energies is technically and financially feasible. The public private partnerships have generated a great number of projects under various forms of management contracts, ʺJoint Venturesʺ and ʺBuild Operate Transferʺ, concessions, privatizations, etc.. While taking into account the challenges above and the successful experiences, this meeting will make recommendations for a better financing of this significant new sector. Experts Meeting on Developmental Financing in North Africa: Conceptual Note Page 9