The 16th Africa Partnership Forum meeting was held in Paris on April 21, 2011 and was attended by heads of state and government from Africa and its development partners. The meeting discussed economic growth, private investment, and job creation in Africa. Key points included welcoming signs of economic recovery and investment in Africa, emphasizing the need to promote inclusive growth and reduce poverty, and calling for accelerated development of regional infrastructure and tackling infrastructure gaps to generate economic growth and achieve development goals. The meeting requested its co-chairs to convey the messages to upcoming international events and expressed appreciation to the host country France.

1. 16th
AFRICA PARTNERSHIP FORUM, 21 APRIL 2011, PARIS:
JOINT STATEMENT
1. The 16th
meeting of the Africa Partnership Forum (APF) was held in Paris, France, on 21 April 2011. The
meeting was attended by personal representatives of Heads of State and Government of Africa and its
principal development partners, and of the Heads of regional and international organisations, and by
representatives of the private sector. It was co-chaired by Ethiopia, Finland and France.
2. The overall theme of the meeting was ‘Economic Growth, Private Investment and Job Creation’. Within
this framework, the meeting reviewed recent economic trends in Africa and considered regional and
market integration, and investment in Africa’s infrastructure development. It was also briefed by South
Africa on Climate Finance in the context of preparations for the forthcoming COP 17 meeting in Durban in
November/December 2011.
Key messages
3. The meeting:
(i) welcomed the ongoing recovery underway in African countries in the aftermath of the global financial
and economic crisis, and underlined the key role for private investment as the engine of the future and
more inclusive economic growth needed to reduce poverty and accelerate progress towards attaining the
Millenium Development Goals (MDGs);
(ii) further welcomed the signs of a recovery in investment in 2010, and emphasised that Africa’s economic
growth is potentially creating substantial new opportunities for both domestic and foreign investment in a
broad range of sectors including consumer-facing sectors, agriculture, natural resources, and infrastructure;
and underscored the need for Africa to promote shared growth that is more resilient and stable, resulting
in more job creation, and the growth of small and medium enterprises.
(iii) emphasised that Africa should be seen as a new pole for global growth and rebalancing. It also
emphasised in this wider global context the importance of reaching a successful outcome to the Doha
Development round;
(iv) noted the reforms which African governments had introduced to improve the business environment,
affirming that Africa is a growing and emerging market and is ready for business. At the same time, it
noted that many challenges remained, and urged continued efforts to tackle these, emphasizing that the
conducive business environment is ultimately based on effective national policies that promote
development that is politically, economically, socially and ecologically sustainable.
(v) emphasised the importance of maximising the economic value-added of investment, and in particular
of job creation. In this context, it expressed its concern at the continuing high levels of unemployment,
particularly youth unemployment;
(vi) also noted the importance of action both by governments and the private sector to promote
responsible investment;
(vii) In addition, welcomed the initiatives underway in Africa to accelerate regional integration, increase
regional trade, and provide larger markets. It emphasised the importance of action to remove existing
obstacles and barriers to regional integration, and the importance of adaptating development cooperation
policies and mechanisms to provide more effective support for regional integration ;
(viii) Against this background, underlined the importance of accelerating the development of regional
infrastructure, including transport and energy-related centralised and decentralised infrastructure. In this
regard, it noted the recent AU-NEPAD Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative focusing on
promoting the accelerated implementation of key regional infrastructure projects through political
championing and sponsoring for impact. It called for concerted action in this area by governments and
regional institutions, with support from the wider international community and the active participation of
the private sector;
(ix) also called for accelerated action to tackle gaps in infrastructure more generally. It emphasised that
this was essential to generate and maintain economic growth, and to achieving the MDGs, including in
those areas such as health and social protection where progress needed to be accelerated;

2. (x) welcomed the increased attention which is being given to these issues both by regional institutions and
governments in Africa, and in wider international processes, including the G20. It underlined the
importance of Africa’s adequate and meaningful representation and participation in these processes.
Next steps
4. The meeting requested the Co-chairs to convey the key messages from the meeting to forthcoming
multilateral events including the 5th
NEPAD/OECD Investment Ministerial conference on ‘Mobilizing
Investment in Infrastructure and Agriculture” from 26-27 April in Dakar, Senegal, the next Annual Meeting
of the Infrastructure Consortium on Africa in May, the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least
Developed Countries, in Istanbul, Turkey; and future meetings of the African Union and Regional Economic
Communities, the G8 and G20, and the European Union.
5. The meeting expressed its appreciation to the Government of France and to the OECD for their
hospitality and the practical arrangements, and to the Conseil Français des Investisseurs en Afrique for
arranging a preparatory meeting of private sector representatives.
6. The 17th
session of the APF will be held in Africa in the fourth quarter of 2011.