Horn Of Africa Initiative (HoAI): Virtual Meeting of Finance Ministers 2.00- 5:00pm, Friday 26th June 2021

About the Meeting

The Djibouti Government, as chair of the Horn of Africa Initiative (launched by the EU, World Bank and African Development Bank in 2018), is organising a meeting for Finance Ministers from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan to take stock of the changed context as a result of the pandemic and economic crisis and discuss and agree how best to take forward the next phase of HoA Initiative, both in terms of content and process.

• IGAD attends in an observer capacity.
• We should include Floods in the issues to be discussed

Topics for discussion

1. The meeting will focus on 4 areas:
   Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on funding, priorities and sequencing – the health, social and economic effects of the pandemic and locust outbreak on the sub-region and the nature of response so fa
2. Process of outreach to other partners and financiers
3. Coordination Issues – How to strengthen the level of engagement with HoA
4. Initiative at the official and technical levels of participating countries

Thematic Issues

In October 2019 a package of priorities was prepared by the World Bank on a 4-pillar framework to strengthen regional integration. IGAD submitted information on all the areas in which it is active namely;

Pillar 1: Regional infrastructure

• Economic corridors • Energy
• Digital infrastructure

Pillar 2: Trade and Economic Integration

• Regional trade facilitation
• Regional value chain development
• Investment climate

Pillar 3: Resilience

• Pastoralism – including pastoralist insurance
• Tackling the desert locust outbreak – NEW
• Better groundwater management – NEW
• Strengthening resilience in the borderlands – NEW
• Other interventions that spur economic development

Pillar 4: Human capital development

• Strengthening human capital delivery systems and networks
• Disease surveillance and epidemic preparedness and response – TO BE SCALEDUP
• Regulatory systems for pharmaceuticals and medical commodities – TO BESCALED UP
• Addressing the human capital needs of displaced and vulnerable populations
• Addressing the needs of vulnerable women and girls
• Addressing skills development of youth
• Provision of universal IDs under an ID4D programmeIntervention Points

• Welcome Sudan to the Horn of Africa Initiative
• Support the suggestion from Sudan for inclusion of Food Security as an additional intervention area in the Horn of Africa Initiative.
• IGAD welcomes the opportunity to continue working with the partners supporting the HOAI – World Bank, EU, and African Development Bank are 3 of our most treasured partners, who have been with IGAD since inception and have greatly supported the work of IGAD and IGAD Member States.
• The HOAI is fully harmonized with the work and mandate of IGAD, both are aimed at achieving, peace, prosperity and regional integration
• The Initiative is broad and all-encompassing covering trade and economic activities, infrastructure, resilience, agriculture, environment and natural resources, as well as health as a key component of human capital development in the time of COVID-19. It also has a bearing on peace and security.
• These themes all fall under IGAD’s mandate and IGAD has a wealth of relevant expertise in all of these areas.o Our professional and technical staff are a resource for the region.
• IGAD is in partnership with the European Union on the EUR 60 million action that responds to the health and socio-economic impact of COVID-19

in the IGAD region, and so our involvement in pillar 4 activities is already being intensified.

• IGAD is building on its regional response strategy to COVID-19 that will address all emerging strategic concerns as comprehensively as possible: health, the socio-economic impact, peace and security, and food security.
• To inform discussion and follow up, IGAD has prepared a Portfolio of 15 Priority Projects in current and planned activities and how we believe the work should be taken forward.
• IGAD’s on-going activities that are inter-facing with the 4 pillars of the HOAI include;o IGAD Regional Infrastructure Master Plan (IRIMP),
  o IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience & Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI), o implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA),
• In conclusion, IGAD applauds the efforts being made through the HOAI and highly appreciate the opportunity to work together and re- enforce each other’s contribution to the wellbeing of our communities