AUC Deputy Chairperson Decries Africa's Aid Dependency

"Africa can benefit from, but cannot tie its future to international aid,” was the message by the African Union Commission (AUC) to the Ministers of Finance and Planning this week at the 1 st Joint Annual Meetings of the AU Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

In his remarks to the conference, Mr. Patrick Mazimhaka, AUC Deputy Chairperson noted that little progress is being made in spite of the hopes raised at various international conferences, notwithstanding the macro-economic reforms initiated and their extremely high social costs.

He pointed out that the performance obtained in recent years indicates that although we are on the right track, the challenge is to close the gap between perceived and real growth. “Growth that does not result in improvement of daily lives and predictable steady improvement in the standards of living of our people will only result in destabilization of the continent,” he said, adding, “Many of our brothers, sisters and children are increasingly reduced to destitution and require foreign assistance in order to survive.”

He urged the ministers attending the conference to pay more attention to internal mobilization of resources through diversifying and intensifying production, strengthening the educational, training and health system, as well as creating employment in order to reduce poverty to minimize dependence on foreign aid.

He said there was an urgent need to redress the imbalanced structure of our economies that heavily emphasize mining and hydrocarbon sectors. “This extreme specialization in the exploitation of natural resources has dominated trade and does not allow us to diversify, industrialize and create employment to underpin sustainable development in Africa,” he added.

Pragmatism and a systematic approach, combining a national global development policy and enhanced regional cooperation are needed, he said, in order to jointly make better use of our potentials, improve the competitiveness of our economies and foster the development of domestic markets.

These measures, he pointed out will help to “put an end to the apparent suicidal attempts of our youth, who risk their lives, braving treacherous deserts and rough seas, in a futile attempt to reach industrialized countries in the hope of finding employment to improve their own living conditions and those of the families they leave behind.”

But in order to maintain the significant volume of liquidity generated by the recent growth of Africa's economy, he said the AUC is conducting a feasibility study of a Pan-African Stock Exchange. “This will facilitate the economic diversification we are seeking and reduce financial dependency on other continents”

Further, he pointed out that progress has been made towards the establishment of the African Investment Bank (AIB), whose preparatory work begins in April in Tripoli , Lybia, the city chosen to host its headquarters.

On his part, Ethiopia's Finance Minister, Mr. Sufian Mohammed urged for time-bound deliverables to sustain momentum in reducing poverty and incorporating MDGs in overall development and growth. Much progress has been made, he said with respect to promoting good governance, strengthening financial management, the fighting against corruption and coordinating actions for post-conflict interventions.