Kufuor Foundation organises Global Development Series 2013
The Global Development Series 2013, organised by the John A. Kufuor Foundation, will take place today, at the Accra International Centre. It has the theme: “Africa- Emerging Economies and Globalisation.”
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A statement issued by Professor Alexander Nii Oto Dodoo, Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, said the event would be addressed by Dr Trevor Manuel, a South African and National Planning Commission Minister at the Presidency.
The list of sponsors include: Graphic Business, title sponsors; PriceWaterhouseCoopers and South African Airways -corporate sponsors; Viasat 1, Daily Guide, Radio Gold, Joy FM, The Crusading Guide and Live FM, media sponsors.
Mr Manuel has served as a minister in the South African government for the past 18 years, 13 of them as Finance Minister.
His first portfolio under former President Nelson Mandela was Minister of Trade and Industry. Prior to serving in South Africa’s first democratic government, Mr Manuel headed the Department of Economic Planning established in 1991 by the African National Congress (ANC), a year after it was banned.
From 1975 to 1991, he was an activist and anti-apartheid leader, serving on the National Executive Committee of the United Democratic Front, a mass movement of anti-apartheid organisations.
From 1985 to 1990, he was repeatedly detained without trial and placed under house arrest, spending 35 months in detention.
He has served as a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC since its first election in 1991 and subsequent re-election in 1994, 1997, 2002 and 2007.
Mr Manuel has served in various senior capacities for a number of national and international bodies. He was Governor of the boards of the African Development Bank Group, as well as the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
He also served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund; Chair of the Development Committee of the World Bank and has presided over G-20 meetings.
Mr Manuel was appointed as Special Envoy to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on financing development in 2002 and in 2008.
He also served as a commissioner in the International Task Force on Global Public Goods and on the Commission for Africa.
He was a member of the Commission on Growth and Development and appointed by the UN Secretary-General to the High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Finance.
In 2010, he was appointed to the board of directors of the Global Green Growth Institute and in 2011, he was elected to co-chair the Transitional Committee for the Design of a Green Climate Fund.
Mr Manuel has received a number of awards and presentations, including Africa's Finance Minister of the Year and the Woodrow Wilson Public Service award.
He has seven honorary doctorates from South African tertiary institutions and a Doctor of Laws from MacMaster University, Ontario Canada.