Cablegate: New Nepad Chief Executive

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 004076

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USAID (AFR/SA/LDOBBINS AND ELOKEN)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINR ECIN ECON EINV ETRD SF
SUBJECT: NEW NEPAD CHIEF EXECUTIVE

(U) This cable is Sensitive But Unclassified. Not for
Internet Distribution.

1. (U) Summary. In August 2005, Mozambican
agricultural economist Firmino Mucavele was appointed
the Chief Executive of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD) Secretariat. He replaced South
Africa's Wiseman Nkuhlu, who continues to serve as
South Africa's representative in the NEPAD Steering
Committee. Mucavele specializes in African food
security and was a member of the steering committee
that formed NEPAD in 2001. His primary focus for the
coming year is to speed up implementation of NEPAD's
agenda, including lowering the costs of intra-African
trade and ensuring that all member countries allocate
10% of their fiscal budget to agriculture for food
security reasons. Mucavele hopes that all African
partners can find common solutions at the African
Partnership Forum in October, and looks forward to more
countries completing the African Peer Review Mechanism
process. End Summary.

NEPAD NAMES NEW CEO
-------------------

2. (U) Professor Firmino G. Mucavele, a leading
agricultural economist from Mozambique, was appointed
Chief Executive of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD) Secretariat in August 2005.
Mucavele took over from Wiseman Nkuhlu of South Africa,
who will continue to serve as the South African member
of the NEPAD Steering Committee. Nkuhlu resigned as
South African President Mbeki's economic advisor and
head of the NEPAD Secretariat at the end of July to
pursue private business interests.

THE MAN
-------

3. (U) Mucavele specializes in African food security.
In 1995, he was a Southern African Development
Community (SADC) consultant involved in the evaluation
of the food, agriculture, and natural resources sector
coordinating units. He was specifically involved in
the evaluation of agriculture and trade programs, rural
development financing, and training in food security
and nutrition programs. Mucavele has served as a
consultant for USAID, OXFAM Belgica, the World Bank,
and PriceWaterhouseCoopers in missions of food security
analysis, environmental economic analysis, agricultural
markets liberalization in Mozambique, and rural
development.

4. (U) In 2000, the United Nations invited Mucavele to
integrate an expert team to map out a development
program for the transfer of technologies to developing
countries. This program served as the basis for a UN-
organized conference on science and technology in least
developed countries. In February 2001, Mucavele led
the Steering Committee of African Economists in
developing the Millennium Africa Recovery Program
(MAP), a plan to spur economic growth and stability in
the region. The MAP later evolved into the New African
Initiative that was designated NEPAD in October 2001.
He then went on to serve on the NEPAD Steering
Committee.

5. (U) Mucavele earned a doctorate in food and resource
economics from the University of Florida and has
authored various publications in this field. He is a
member of the International Association of Agricultural
Economists. He serves as a Special Advisor to the
President of Mozambique and is also a professor at the
Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo.

HIS VISION
----------

6. (U) Mucavele presented his vision for NEPAD in a
September 16th UN press conference. He wants to
accelerate the implementation of NEPAD's agenda in the
coming year. A key element of this agenda is lowering
the cost of intra-African trade. NEPAD is going to
examine the norms and policies between its five
subregions and hopes to synchronize customs procedures
for trade entering by road, rail, and sea. Another
item on the agenda is getting all members to devote 10%
of their fiscal budget to agriculture as part of
Africa's commitment to food security. He realizes that
foreign aid will still be required for development, but
would like to see Africa take food security into its
own hands and play an active role in its own
development.

7. (U) Mucavele had hoped for more for Africa out of
the UN High Level Summit. Given current resource
levels, he does not believe Africa will achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. He
estimates that Africa would need $100 billion a year to
meet the MDGs by 2015. At the African Partnership
Forum (APF) in October, Mucavele wants to emphasize
Africa's debt relief plans and preparation for the
World Trade Organization meetings in December. He
wants to find concrete solutions to achieve NEPAD's
goals in agriculture, health, education, and
water/sanitation access. Mucavele believes that "if
Africa is not developed, then the world is not
developed."

8. (SBU) Regarding the African Peer Review Mechanism
(APRM), Mucavele admits that the process got off to a
slow start; however, he can now point to Ghana and
Rwanda as having completed their reviews. The
evaluations of Nigeria, Mauritius, Kenya, and Uganda
should be completed by December. He hoped that at
least 14 more countries would join the APRM process,
and has called for Zimbabwe to join. Mucavele has said
that for Zimbabwe's problems to be solved and democracy
achieved, people must have a voice and the right to
participate in the political process. [Note: South
Africa launched its nine-month APRM process on
September 28 (septel). End Note.]

9. (U) Embassy/USAID Maputo cleared this message.

TEITELBAUM

© Scoop Media