Economy

All eyes on Kenya as UNCTAD opens in Nairobi

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Delegates during a meeting between the Group of 77 developing countries and China at the 14th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi PHOTO | SALATON NJAU

President Uhuru Kenyatta and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Sunday evening presided over the opening of the 14th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Nairobi.

The two leaders flew in from Kigali, Rwanda, where they had attended the 27th African Union Summit.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who was scheduled to give a key note speech, sent Vice-President Edward Ssekandi to represent him. Namibia President Hage Geingob is also attending the conference.

Foreign Affairs secretary Amina Mohamed said Mr Museveni skipped the event to campaign for former Ugandan vice president Specioza Kazibwe who is seeking the African Union chairmanship.

“The AU Summit is taking place and they are discussing very weighty issues of electing the chairman and the commission so all the delegates want to be present. Uganda had confirmed, but they have a candidate for the chair’s position,” said Ms Mohamed at a Press briefing.

She said that the Nairobi conference had made history with over 70 ministers attending the opening ceremony.

The thousands of delegates drawn from 194 member countries of UNCTAD will be holding week-long deliberations on key economic issues including the fall in commodity prices, globalisation, economic partnerships and sustainable development.

Kenya is among the developing countries hopeful that negotiations will help their economies, increase investments and save them from debt distress.

The forum is also expected to come up with tangible measures aimed at reducing global economic inequality among other pressing challenges.

UN officials, heads of governments, global private and public sectors representatives, civil society and youth groups will be under pressure to ensure that the final text meets the expectations of the world.

The success of the United Nations arm mobilising financing for development will be measured by the amount of investments that will be pledged and achieved during the conference.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said they are targeting over Sh1.4 trillion ($14 billion) by the end of the week.

“The last World Investment Forum which lasted three days, unlike this one which goes for four days, ended with transactions and deals worth $14 billion. There’s no reason we shouldn’t. I think there would substantially be larger number of governments and companies and interested investors participating in our match-making,” he said in earlier interview.

READ: What Kenya stands to gain from UNCTAD Nairobi meeting

The main conference has been structured to come out with a framework that will address challenges and opportunities in multilateralism for trade and development.

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth through trade, investment, finance and technology to achieve prosperity for all.

Advance economic structural transformation and cooperation to build economic resilience and address trade and development challenges and opportunities, at all levels, within the UNCTAD mandate.

And the effective implementation of and follow-up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and relevant outcomes from global conferences and summits, as related to trade and development.

Outside the formal conference delegations will be shuttling between the various factions of the 194 member organisations to lobby for their interests.

The developing world will be looking at ways to increase benefits from commodities and diversification to reduce vulnerability to the booms and bust of the commodity cycle.

UNCTAD is also hopeful that the developed North and Developing South will agree on a framework to restructure debts especially after the recent commodity bust threatened to send some countries into default.

Dr Kituyi said that some of the developing world which are home to the hedge funds that have been lending tonnes of money to the developing world.

“We have been engaging them to follow up on the first resolutions were made at the General Assembly in September 2014 and we hope we can revisit the matter in a very constructive way in the course of UNCTAD14 in Nairobi. I hope that we can make some progress that we will be ready to announce to the world,” Mr Kituyi said.

UNCTAD will also be seeking to solidify proposals and adopt the principles from Global Reforms and Governance on Investments during the Nairobi conference.

This may have far reaching implications on Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) that allow corporations to sue countries, which notoriously lack transparency.

The tobacco industry has been using ISDS to manipulate countries warning them that their tobacco laws violate an expanding web of trade and investment treaties, raising the prospect of costly, prolonged legal battles.

The investor or corporation has the right to select the rules and venue, such as the World Bank, International Chamber of Commerce, or the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

ISDS are handled by a handful of private industry lawyers usually three private attorneys chosen by the foreign investor, the government and one by both parties.