Meetings to discuss Asian influence in Africa and the challenge of poverty

Addis Ababa, 6 October – ECA, together with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), is to hold two meetings next week to highlight the growing influence of India and China on sub-Saharan Africa, and to address the continuing challenge of poverty on the continent.

On 9 October, participants will meet at ECA headquarters in Addis Ababa to discuss the importance of India and China for the continent – the “Asian drivers”. Their involvement in Africa is fast changing the dynamics of the continent’s relationship with the rest of the world. For example, China’s trade with Africa has grown from $10 billion five years ago, to a staggering $40 billion today. It has pledged to boost trade with Africa to $100 billion within the next five years. However, African policy makers have a poor grasp of this potential, and the purpose of the meeting is to initiate a research programme that will improve understanding of the opportunities, threats and challenges presented by these two emerging global giants.

The meeting has added importance as it is being held on the eve of the Sino-African summit in Beijing next month.

The second conference, on “Poverty, Income Distribution and Labour Markets in sub-Saharan Africa” will be also be held at ECA headquarters from 12-13 October. Poverty remains a dominant challenge to Africa. This meeting will disseminate the results of a number of AERC-commissioned papers on poverty, inequality and labour markets in Africa. ECA will also present its ongoing work on poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals.