US embassy cable - 05PRETORIA4076

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. 
 
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