http://www.countrywatch.com/cw_wire.asp?vCOUNTRY=34&UID=884817
ADDIS ABABA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will launch the 2003 edition of the Economic Report on Africa on July 30, which its main theme is accelerating the pace of development, said an ECA press release here Wednesday.
The report, which examines how Africa can achieve growth rates necessary to attain the Millennium Development Goals, finds that economic performance on the continent last year was lacklustre, with growth slowing from an average of 4.3 percent in 2001 to 3.2 percent in 2002.
The slowdown is a reflection of the weaker global economy, effects of low commodity prices in 2001, the droughts in various parts of southern and eastern Africa, and the political and armed conflicts in some parts of the region -- notably, Cote d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and the Central African Republic.
However, some well-managed reformers with a record of stability and good governance, like Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique, managed to buck the trend with growth rates of 6.2 percent, 9.9 percent and 12 percent respectively.
The report includes in-depth analyses of seven African
economies, including Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda and Uganda.
The purpose of the country-specific chapters is to identify policies that provide the best
stimulus for sustained growth and development.
The importance of fiscal discipline is clearly demonstrated by the performance of the
Ghana economy, hobbled by massive public expenditure hikes during electoral cycles.
The Mozambican experience demonstrates the importance of implementing pro-poor policies in order to tackle deep pockets of poverty.
For while the economy has grown by over 10 percent in the past few years, over 60 percent of the population still live in poverty, said the press release.
The Economic Report on Africa is published every year. In
addition to an ongoing evaluation of the state of the continent's economies, it includes
in-depth studies on selected African countries.
© Jul 2003 Xinhua News Agency