It is said that two heads are better than one. By implication, three or four heads should be better than one, provided they are competent heads. This is perhaps why the African Union got the out-going President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, to chair a high-level panel in Morovia, that discussed the matter of migration in Africa.
Mrs. Sirleaf was accompanied by well-informed technocrats such as the President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the Chairman of Coronation Capital, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, and other eminent persons.
The High-level Panel on Migration, HLPM, was established at the Ninth Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, which took place in Addis Ababa in April 2016.
The overall objective of the Panel is to affirm Africa’s commitment to global objectives and values on migration and harness migration for Africa’s development in the context of international cooperation.
The Panel, which was composed of 15 eminent persons, all appointed in their own capacity, included representatives of government, the private sector, academia and civil society, drawn from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.
Participants in the meeting included the UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the ECA, Dr. Vera Songwe; the Deputy Executive Secretary, Dr. Abdalla Hamdok; the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway, H.E. Knut Vollebaek; the founder of the African Diaspora Network in the USA, Ms. Almaz Negash; Ms. Danisa E. Baloyi, Black Business Counsel, South Africa; and Assistant Director General and Regional Director for Africa, International Labour Organisation, Ms. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjowon.
Mrs. Sirleaf, who will be leaving the Liberian presidency next week, will continue to chair the HLPM until July 2018, when the Panel shall submit its report to the Assembly of African Union Heads of State.
