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ways to assist Africa’s development, ECA has further grown in statureand spoken out with increasing involvement.Nowhere is the voice of the Executive Secretary clearer or his passionand advocacy more eloquent than at the meetings of the ExecutiveCouncil of the African Union Commission, the Joint Annual Meetingsof the AU Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance, and theECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and EconomicDevelopment. That is why this segment of this book is unique:it features all the speeches he has given at these meetings since heassumed office in 2006, rather than just a selection of them.This reflects the importance of the meetings of the Executive Councilof the African Union Commission not only as an opportunity toreview progress and issues, but also as an agenda-setting forum inwhich the most significant issues and the way forward are considered.The statements here reflect the concern of the Executive Secretaryabout the most important issues that confront African countries, towhich he returns with unflagging enthusiasm at the annual meetings.These include regional integration, continental unity, peaceand security, MDGs, NEPAD, good governance, education, infrastructure,agriculture, financing for development, capacity-building, climatechange, trade, technology, transportation, and the economicand financial crisis.These interventions vary from progress reviews to programme previews.As a development activist, his voice ranges from that of asupporter bringing good news, supplies and suggestions to that ofa cheerleader urging greater effort, ideas and energy. Overall, thestatements show an increasingly dynamic ECA working in step withAU and AfDB in an effort to ensure that African countries receive thefull support of the United Nations that they need to achieve theirobjectives.4 Part One