African governments are being urged to ensure benefits of opportunities resulting from recent economic growth filter through to the people.
The Commission for Africa, in its latest report, titled: ‘Still Our Common Interest’, calls on African governments to act now to ensure that the region's unprecedented economic growth and opportunities result in development and poverty reduction for ordinary Africans.
Citing recent average growth rates of six per cent for most of the past decade and a quadrupling of trade and foreign investment on the continent, the Commission noted that some countries in Africa are on track to meet some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), reflecting the progress made since the last report.
Despite this encouraging performance, however, the majority of Africans have yet to experience the benefits of economic growth, the Commission said, adding that progress towards the MDGs needs to be broader and faster if the continent as a whole is to make significant progress towards meeting the MDGs.
The Commission for Africa, also known as the Blair Commission for Africa, is an initiative of the British government under then Prime Minister Tony Blair, and it aims at examining and providing drive for development on the continent. It seeks to generate new ideas for development and to deliver implementation of existing international commitments towards Africa.
“There is much to celebrate. African governments have done more than ever before to promote business and investment. Donors have supported this by boosting their support to infrastructure and providing the aid and debt relief that has allowed African governments to increase their expenditure in key areas such as health, education and agriculture,” the Commissioners said in a short joint statement contained in a press release.
But there remains much to be done, the statement added, noting that progress on reforming international trade rules has been dismal; and that donors were still providing less in aid than their commitments. It also added that African governments are still not investing as much as they promised in key areas.
“That is why we believe this review is timely, and why we believe it is right to renew a number of the recommendations we made in 2005 – because they have yet to be fully implemented – as well as make new recommendations,” the statement said.
Report recommendations
The Commission for Africa’s new report issued a number of recommendations that, among other things, demand from the African governments a continued efforts to making it easier to do business within and between their countries – including investing in much needed infrastructure; meet their commitments on spending on health, education, water and sanitation, and agriculture; develop and deliver clear strategies to create jobs, reduce poverty and strengthen key services such as health and education.
The report also calls upon developed countries to get behind African governments’ own strategies for promoting growth and development; help them negotiate the best deals possible for the exploitation of their natural resources by supporting a fund to pay for the legal and technical advice to do this; to kick start long-delayed reform of international trade rules, among others.