CM/Res.1043 (XLIV)
RESOLUTION ON THE PROPOSED ESTABLIESHMENT OF AN AFRICAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, in its Forty-fourth Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 21 to 26 July 1986,
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the Establishment of the African Economic Community, (Doc. CM/1378 (XLIV),
Desirous of restructuring and reshaping the entire African economic space rationally so as to better ensure the self-sustained and self-reliant development of the continent, in conformity with the directives and guidelines of the Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity, contained in the Final Act of Lagos,
Convinced that the economic and social development of our States requires the individual and collective mobilization of our efforts and resources at subregional and continental level,
Recalling the relevant provisions of the Lagos Plan of Action and Final Act of Lagos, as well as Africa’s Priority Programme for Economic Recovery (1986 – 1990),
Recalling further Resolution AHG/Res.131 (XX) on Inter-African Economic Co- operation and Integration, adopted by the Twentieth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU:
NOTES WITH SATISFACTION the report submitted by the Secretary- General (Doc.1378 (XLIV) and expresses satisfaction at the efforts and measures already taken for the realization of the objectives defined by the Final Act of Lagos;
FURTHER EXPRESSES SATISFACTION at the work already accomplished in preparation for the meeting of the Ministerial Drafting Committee of the Whole established by the Second Extra-Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU, in Lagos in 1980, and INVITES the Secretary-General to make the necessary arrangements to convene this Committee before the Forty-sixth Ordinary Session of the Council;
INVITES the Secretary-General, in close consultation and co-operation with the OAU Permanent Steering Committee, to propose to the meeting of the Drafting Committee, the stages, timetable, and practical ways and means of ensuring the establishment of the proposed Community in the light of the guidelines contained in the Final Act of Lagos;
CHARGES the OAU Permanent Steering Committee to study the matter and look into all technical and political conditions that would speed up the implementation of the Project, in conformity with the guidelines and directives of the Final Act of Lagos, and to make the appropriate recommendations to the Twenty-third Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government particularly to define clearly the objectives and the structure of the Community;
REITERATES ITS APPEAL to Member States of sub-regional and regional economic groupings to lend political, material and financial support to these organizations to enable them attain their objectives, in keeping with the spirit of the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos;
TAKES NOTE of the report, conclusions and recommendations of the Arusha Colloquium and transmits them to the Permanent Steering Committee and the Ministerial Drafting Committee of the Whole for consideration;
REQUESTS the OAU Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the Permanent Steering Committee and in consultation with the organizations
concerned, to examine the practical and operational modalities for co- ordinating and harmonizing the activities and programmes of existing sub- regional economic groupings;
REQUESTS African and international organizations and more particularly UNDP, to continue to provide the OAU General Secretariat with the technical and financial assistance needed for the implementation of the project;
REQUESTS the Secretary-General to prepare a progress report each year on the project and on the co-operation and integration in Africa.