Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Office of The Minister Burkina Faso of Economy and Development Statement by Mr. Seydou BOUDA, Minister of Economy and Development of Burkina Faso, outgoing Chairman of the Conference of Ministers at the 40th Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
Your Excellency, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is with great pleasure that I take the floor at this 40th Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Allow me, first of all, to thank on behalf of all the participants, the Government and people of Ethiopia for accepting to host this conference and for the warm welcome accorded all of us. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the authorities of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) for their efforts to promote development in Africa. I am particularly grateful to them for their frank collaboration with the bureau of the conference. Distinguished Guests, The present session brings to an end the mandate of Burkina Faso as the chair of our conference. During the mandate, we devoted particular attention to the implementation of conclusions of the 39th conference held in Ouagadougou from 10 to 15 May 2006. The theme of the conference was: development challenges. During this mandate, I had the honour and privilege to preside over the high- level meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council held in Geneva from 3 to 5 July 2006 whose theme was: "Creation, at the national and international level, of a conducive environment for full and productive employment and decent work for all, and its impact on sustainable development ". During that meeting, particular attention was paid to the conclusions of our 39th Conference. Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, For the fifth consecutive year, Africa has had an appreciable economic growth rate in spite of the distortions created on the world market by countries in the North for products such as cotton of which my country is one of the major producers in Africa. In fact, the average GDP growth rate which was less than 3 per cent until the end of the 1990s rose to 4 per cent in 2002 and has been more ~ than 5 per cent since 2004. Per capita GDP growth rate has tripled in four years rising from less than 1 per cent to more than 3 per cent since 2000 and to more than 3 per cent since 2004. Estimates for 2006 and projections for 2007 show that growth rate is expected to accelerate to reach 6 per cent. These performances are the outcome of the stringent measures adopted in the commodities sector in general as well as the metals and petroleum sector in particular. To this must be added the favourable climatic conditions generally observed in recent years on the continent that have led to a significant agricultural output thereby creating buoyancy in this sector. Apart from the combination of favourable external factors, the will of our States to take up the development challenge with the support of the international community has contributed significantly to economic recovery on the continent. Indeed, the implementation of sound macroeconomic policies have helped improve the macroeconomic framework and maintain inflation rate around 10 per cent. Moreover, the mediation efforts of our States and the international community have helped to resolve several politico-military conflicts faced by some of our countries and these factors have contributed to their economic recovery. Distinguished Guests, No doubt, some significant progress has been made generally and by certain countries in particular but they remain rather inadequate to help us achieve the MDGs by 2015. In fact:
However, in spite of this gloomy picture, we have hope in Africa's future. The progress made by countries that are on the right path to achieve some of these objectives do consolidate this hope. Indeed, 13 of our countries are on the right track to reduce poverty by half; 14 can control malaria and 10 will achieve universal primary education. These examples show that Africa is on the winning side, calls upon all of us and orders us to act as a matter of urgency. We have to go beyond mere declarations of intention and draw up ambitious action plans in order to put our continent on a sustainable growth path and ensure a more equitable distribution of growth benefits. Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, The World Bank's 2005 World Development Report and the UNDP Human Development Report of the same year have rightly indicated in this regard that the attainment of the MDGs will be determined by a strong sustainable growth. However, growth cannot bring about success in our endeavours unless it is accompanied by a reduction in inequalities. The question for Africa is how to accelerate growth and development so that by 2015, our continent will be able to rise up to the MGD challenges. We are, therefore, called upon to examine closely this issue in order to propose concrete and effective strategies. To achieve these goals, we should start to evaluate efforts made since September 2000, identify the right approaches and address the obstacles in our way. To rise up to the development challenges, our deliberations should include the following issues:
Distinguished Guests, By providing concrete and effective answers to these questions, and I have no doubt you will be able to do so, we will be laying the foundations to accelerate growth and development of our continent for the attainment of the MDGs. I would like to end my statement on this note of optimism and do wish you' success in your deliberations. Thank you.
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