Second "Big Table' to review continent's relations with partners

Africa's relations with its external partners will be the subject of a second informal consultation meeting between Finance ministers from several African countries and their counterparts from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) development co-operation ministries 14-15 October in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Finance and Planning ministers from 14 African countries -- Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda -- are scheduled to attend the meeting, known as the 'Big Table'. OECD development cooperation ministers and heads of aid agencies from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States will attend. The 'Big Table' is an initiative designed by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to promote frank dialogue between African finance ministers and their OECD counterparts. The format and agenda are designed to allow for maximum interactive dialogue, with no formal statements. The discussions will focus on three thematic clusters: on good governance, on making aid more effective, and on an African-owned process for peer review and self-monitoring by governments of progress towards meeting their development benchmarks. The full report is available on www.uneca.org