African finance ministers' meeting seeks ways to achieve continent transformation

YAOUNDE - African finance ministers and experts began a five-day meeting Monday in Cameroon's capital Yaounde to discuss policy actions and measures required for productive transformation on the continent.

"Africa has 30 percent of all the national resources of the world, but at the same moment what we can see is that poverty is growing. So all those countries of the African Union decided to come here to Cameroon to discuss how we can move forward so as to transform more our economies," Louis Paul Motaze, Cameroon's finance minister who chaired the opening ceremony, told reporters.

The meeting is organized by African Union Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration in collaboration with the government of Cameroon.

"We do think in Cameroon that transforming the economy must lead to transforming our national resources so as to create more jobs for youths in particular. So this meeting is very important and we are expecting a lot of decisions and resolutions that can enable our economies to grow," Motaze said.

Resolutions reached at the meeting are expected to be forwarded to the African Union summit in July for consideration and approval.