1. ECONOMIC COOPERATION

In the area of economic cooperation, we commit to the following:

1. Government Action to Foster Increased Economic Partnership
2. a)    Develop effective regional integration mechanisms that would enhance closer interaction between the African Union and the Diaspora;
3. b)    Take concrete measures that would promote and sustain linkages between AU and the Diaspora in the following priority areas: trade and investment, science and technology, travel and tourism, communication and transportation infrastructure, energy, information and communication technology and cultural industries;
4. c)    Create an environment conducive for the growth and development of Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprise and promote entrepreneurship in Africa and the Diaspora;
5. Mobilization of Capital
6. d)    Use financial instruments focusing on investments to facilitate the mobilization of capital that would strengthen links between Africa and the Diaspora;
7. e)    Explore the possibility of creating a Development Fund and/or African Diaspora Investment Fund to address development challenges confronting Africans in the continent and the Diaspora.
8. Partnership in Business
9. f)    Enhance partnership between the African and Diaspora private sectors through efforts such as regular meetings of Chambers of Commerce and listing in African Stock Exchanges and vice-versa;
10. g)    Build on Africa’s and the Diaspora’s comparative advantages in culture to translate them into economic gains through collaborative programmes that would facilitate the strategic development and marketing of their cultural goods and services.
11. Science and Technology
12. h)    Promote coordination and development of institutions in Africa and the African Diaspora, dedicated to innovation and invention for social and economic development of Africa and the Diaspora;
13. i)    Examine the merit of using the decisions of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on Information Society, particularly the Tunis Commitment and the Tunis Declaration, as well as the Digital Solidarity Fund as a means of creating e-linkages between Africa and the Diaspora.
14. Knowledge Transfer and Skills Mobilization
15. j)    Promote the utilization of African and Diaspora expertise on economic development issues at regional and continental levels, and explore the possibility of creating a Diaspora Advisory Board(s);
16. k)    Encourage the use of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Migration for Development in Africa programme to work in concert with the AU

Commission to mobilize the skills and resources of the Diaspora to enhance the institutional capacities of national and regional institutions;

1. l)    Promote trade and investment opportunities linked to indigenous knowledge systems, while ensuring that the related intellectual property rights are secured for the benefit of Africa and the Diaspora;
2. m)    Promote the establishment of a comprehensive and all-inclusive database that will match the expertise of African professionals in Africa and its Diaspora to African developmental needs;
3. n)    Adopt and promote the ‘Development Market Place for the African Diaspora Model’ (DMADA) as a framework for innovation and entrepreneurship that would facilitate development.
4. Infrastructural Development
5. o)    Support the development of Africa related undersea cable and terrestrial fibre optic connectivity initiatives; and
6. p)    Harmonise regulatory structures related to infrastructure, such as telecommunication and transportation.
7. Information Gathering and Dissemination Capacity
8. q)    Develop an overarching communications strategy for disseminating information on Africa Union programmes (including NEPAD) and Diaspora initiatives;
9. r)    Support the development of an updated and reliable census and statistics on employment, unemployment and entrepreneurship in Africa and the Diaspora with special focus on the Youth.
10. Climate Change
11. s)    Work closely to advance the international agenda on climate change in international fora given its devastating effects particularly on Africa and the Caribbean.