At Victoria Falls, Abdelkader Amara Advances UCESA’s Vision for Inclusive Growth Driven by Productive Investment, Decent Work in Africa

Rabat – The current President of the Union of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions of Africa (UCESA), who is also President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), Abdelkader Amara, advanced, in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, UCESA’s vision for economic growth that generates more opportunities, jobs and shared prosperity.

Amara was speaking during the official opening ceremony of the Global Summit on Inclusive Growth, Decent Work and Investment Promotion, where he was leading a UCESA delegation to the Summit at the invitation of Edgar Moyo, Chair of Zimbabwe’s Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF), the CESE said in a press release.

As a leading partner of the Global Summit on Inclusive Growth, Decent Work and Investment Promotion, the Union of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions of Africa (UCESA) played an active role in this international gathering, the same source added, noting that the Union brought together several of its member institutions for the occasion, including the Economic and Social Councils of Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Morocco.

The CESE also involved several leading partners in the fields of innovation, inclusive finance and agricultural development in this initiative.

Speaking at the Summit’s official opening ceremony, chaired by the Vice-President and Acting President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Kembo Dugish Campbell Muleya Mohadi, Amara stressed that decent work must remain at the heart of development policies and that investment should do more to support economic transformation, the growth of more competitive African enterprises and value creation across the continent.

Drawing on UCESA’s key reference documents, notably the African Sustainability Charter and the African Advocacy for Climate Action, he called for more complementary, resilient and innovation-driven African economies. 

He also emphasized the need to make better use of the continent’s resources, invest in skills, support entrepreneurship and strengthen productive capacity in order to expand employment opportunities and prospects for greater prosperity across Africa.

Amara also underscored UCESA’s efforts to bring African consultative institutions closer together, promote common positions on the continent’s major economic and social challenges, and strengthen the contribution of citizen dialogue to public policymaking.

He further noted that Zimbabwe’s TNF accession to UCESA marks a new stage in strengthening cooperation in Southern Africa, particularly in the areas of social dialogue, employment, investment and regional integration.

Addressing the conditions for more effective African integration, Amara highlighted the African vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, which places human development, productive investment and South-South cooperation at the heart of the continent’s transformation.

He noted that this approach, given practical effect through several major initiatives led by the Kingdom of Morocco, has fostered the emergence of strategic partnerships in the areas of food security, infrastructure, energy, training and regional economic integration.

On the sidelines of the Summit, Abdelkader Amara was received in audience by the Vice-President and Acting President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, KCD Mohadi.

During the meeting, the senior Zimbabwean official commended the contribution of UCESA and the CESE of the Kingdom of Morocco to the preparation and success of the Summit, as well as the quality of the partnership developed with Zimbabwe’s Tripartite Negotiating Forum.

He also commended Morocco’s experience in several strategic sectors, notably industry, agriculture, innovation and infrastructure development, while encouraging stronger cooperation between the TNF and the CESE of the Kingdom of Morocco in sharing experience and disseminating good practices.

Amara welcomed the dynamic cooperation established with Zimbabwe’s Tripartite Negotiating Forum. He expressed the hope that the TNF would champion an initiative in Southern African aimed at strengthening ties between the region’s consultative institutions and SADC bodies, along the lines of the partnership established between UCESA and the Parliament of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

Such an initiative would help embed social dialogue more firmly in regional integration processes, while ensuring that the recommendations of Economic and Social Councils are better reflected in Southern Africa’s economic and social development strategies.