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African States but also of interest to their people and it is gratifyingthat efforts have been made to ascertain the views and aspirationsof the African people in the wider debate.The Debate on an African Union Government is very important andtimely and will enable Africa’s leaders to share their vision for thefuture development of Africa. Whichever way the debate goes oninstitutional arrangements, modalities and timeframe for the union,the underlying essence of regional economic cooperation and integrationfor Africa’s future will remain. As the oldest of the pan-Africaninstitutions with a mandate to support economic and social developmentof the continent, ECA welcomes the Grand Debate and standsready to upscale its efforts in support of Africa’s march to closer integration.We have consistently maintained that regional integrationis imperative for Africa to meet its development challenges and toovercome the limitations of Africa’s small, fragmented economiesas well as giving it a greater say in the management of global economicprocesses. Indeed, closer integration reflects the aspirationsof most Africans for the continent to become one strong, robust,diversified and resilient economy, supported by a first-class transboundaryinfrastructure and a highly skilled, flexible and fully employedworkforce living in conditions of political stability. To achievethis desirable objective, Africa needs to act together to scale-up effortsto achieve the MDGs, address obstacles to improving trade andinvestment flows, tackle infrastructure related challenges, manageits natural resources and above all ensure conditions of peace andsecurity for the African people.The imperative of scaling up efforts and investments to achieve theMDGs was taken up at the Conference of African Ministers of Finance,Planning and Economic Development in April this year. Onthat occasion, the Finance Ministers deliberated on the theme - “AcceleratingAfrica’s Growth and Development to meet the MillenniumDevelopment Goals: Emerging Challenges and the Way Forward.”They agreed on the need for a massive scaling up of public andprivate sector investments if the continent is to achieve the MDGsaimed at eradicating poverty, promoting gender equality and meetingother education, health and environmental targets. Using regionalintegration as a means of accelerating the achievement of theMDGs is one way of ensuring the buy-in of the African people intothis noble ideal.Integrating Africa21