UNCTAD will hold a regional workshop titled "Productive capacities, economic growth and poverty reduction in African LDCs (Least Developed Countries): economic linkages and policy implications" in Dakar, Senegal, from 27-28 February 2008.
The workshop will discuss why, despite a favourable international economic environment, African LDCs and Haiti are failing to achieve substantial reductions in poverty and have been unable to embark on a virtuous circle of long-term economic growth and development.
The workshop will be attended by government officials and private sector entrepreneurs from Central and West African LDCs and from Haiti. Representatives from regional and international organizations and from donor countries also will participate.
The meeting comes at a critical juncture for African LDCs and Haiti. They have experienced 25 years of structural adjustment programmes and 30 years of Cotonou and Lomé Agreements governing their economic relations with the European Community, but the development results have been disappointing. As these countries enter the final stages of negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union, they need to have a clear idea of what development policies and strategies are most conducive to reaching their development goals. The central point of UNCTAD´s vision for these countries is to reorient national and international strategies so that they emphasize the development of LDCs´ productive capacities.
The workshop is part of a programme to disseminate the findings of research and policy analyses undertaken by UNCTAD on LDCs. These findings are published mainly in the Least Developed Countries Report series. The workshop will promote a dialogue between the organization, country officials, and practitioners on development policies and poverty-reduction strategies.
