Accra (Greater Accra), 28th June 99

Six Heads of State, Ministers and 23 international experts are expected to attend the Third African Privatisation Summit to be held in September in Accra. The Summit to be held from the 8th to the 10th would provide a platform for African leaders, ministers, private sector, financiers, investors and academics, to discuss current trend in the divestiture programmes on the continent and to find solutions to issues of privatisation in Africa. Mr Everest Ekong, Publisher of Business In Africa Magazine, convenors of the summit told newsmen who would be covering the event last night that the Accra Summit will be the third after the first two in Johannesburg. He said President Jerry Rawlings would deliver the keynote address with support from Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. Others Presidents expected at the Summit are Omar Bongo of Gabon, Henri Kona Bedie of Ivory Coast and Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso. The Summit titled "Privatisation in Practice - Restructuring of State Owned Enterprises in Africa into the next millennium" is co-hosted by the government of Ghana through the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC).
Mr Ekong said the event would provide a forum to update African privatisation issues since its beginning in the eighties.
"Problems of transparency, politics, joint venture opportunities, social impact of privatisation, unemployment and labour unions, post privatisation experiences, country case study and a special one day focus on Ghana's divestiture programme".
Ghana Day at the event will feature speakers including Mr Kwame Peprah, Minister of Finance, Dr Obed Asamoah, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Ekow Spio Garbrah, Minister of Education, Mr Ishamel Yamson, Chairman Unilever Ghana and Mr Christian Appiah-Agyei, secretary-general of the Trades Union Congress.
Mr Ekong said the event is important to the West Africa sub-region, especially Nigeria which is expected to off-load about 100 billion dollars worth of assets in the areas of manufacturing, communication, transportation, energy and the financial sectors soon.
Mr Emmanuel A. Agbodo, Executive Secretary of DIC said the Summit is the first in West Africa, and will offer an opportunity to assess Ghana's privatisation procedures.
"We are going to the Summit as learners as this is going to enable us pick up useful lessons that will enhance our own programme," he said.
GRi?/