91 E/ECA /CM. 9/5 countries and international financial institutions were willing to support the the programme financially and technically, they preferred to do so under traditional and direct bilateral ar­ rangements with African countries rather than through pledging conferences. It was also apparent that small-scale consultative conferences with limited topics or subject-matters would provide a better atmosphere for exchanges of views between donors and African beneficiaries on economic, technical and other issues re­ lated to the projects. cosequently, the idea of technical con­ sultative meetings, organized on a modal or subregional basis, emerged as a logical approach to the task of securing funds for the programme. 207. To date ECA has organized four technical consultative meet­ ings; another is planned fer North African, Eastern African and Indian Ocean island countries during the second half cf 1983. Le has also participated in a donors' conference organized by the Southern ·African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC). The net results of these meetings shew that $940 mil­ lion was mobilized through the meetines organized by ECA, at a cost of $0.4 million financed by the General Assembly, anc that about $1.3 billion was mobilized by the SA DCC meeting. 208. Besides the funds mobilized, the technical consultative meetings have (a) opened new channels of consultation between African countries 'and donors; (b) revealed that various donors have funded some transport and communications projects which were not included in the programme for the Decade, leading to an un­ derstatement of the total mobilization ·of resources; (c) revealed the total dependence of intergovernmental organizations respon­ sible for the implementation of regional and subreeicnal projects on grants, and their inability to contract loans; (d) enabled ECA to keep abreast of progress in the implementation of phase I; and (e) provided useful inputs for the preparation of the phase II programme. 
**Analysis**
The text primarily discusses the mobilization of funds and organization of technical consultative meetings for economic development projects in Africa. It highlights the efforts of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in securing financial and technical support from international financial institutions and countries, as well as the outcomes of these meetings in terms of mobilized funds and lessons learned.

**Category**
Economic development, Transport and communication