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African partners call for action to curb poverty in the region

A new generation of poverty reduction strategies should include extensive regional integration on all fronts to attain MDGs

Cairo, 26 March – The Africa Union has called for ‘action, action, action,’ to further development in Africa.

Speaking to a high level three-day meeting on poverty reduction of African ministers, from 26 to 28 March, policy makers, United Nations, and key donors, Maxwell M. Mkwezalamba, the AU’s Commissioner for Economic Affairs said the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals remains elusive for Africa.

Mkwezalamba said ‘the prevalence of conflict and political stability, bad governance, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases, and high level of poverty’ continue to ‘hinder the attainment of the MDGs.’

Recent reviews of MDG progress in Africa, show the continent lags behind other regions. These assessments come at a time when many of Africa’s countries have reached the Highly Indebted Country Initiative (HIPC) completion point, and are graduating from the associated Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs).

But with most agreeing that the PRSs fell short of expectations, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and its partners have urged African Member States to engage in a comprehensive assessment of what will lead to a successful outcome a ‘new generation’ of poverty reduction strategies.

Co-organized by the ECA and the African Union, and co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), entitled ‘African Plenary on National Strategies for Poverty Reduction and the Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals,’ the Cairo meeting presents an opportunity for African policy makers to distil the first wave of PRSs.

‘Despite many achievements, prompted by the PRSPS, several challenges remain,’ said Zeinab B.El Bakri, Vice-President of Operations of the African Development Bank, speaking to the Plenary.

‘A lot remains to be done in identifying the sources of pro-poor growth, and the development of effective public actions and policies favorable to the achievement of such growth,’ she said. ‘To this end, analytical tools that would enable us to evaluate the growth prospects in a credible and operationally-relevant manner needs to be developed further,’ said El Bakri.

One of the ADB’s primary areas of concern in the preparation of new PRSPs, is increasing the articulation of both infrastructural development and the role of women in agricultural production, to enhance food security, the reduction of rural poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

‘But we also have to strike a ‘healthy balance’ between the focus on the social sectors, which was driven by the HIPC initiative, and the productive sectors, as demanded by African governments,’ she said.

In that regard, she said, Africa should ensure that ‘additional resources are channeled in favor of the agricultural sector, infrastructure development, and gender equity in access to productive assets in order to enhance land and labor productivity, facilitate access to national and international markets for trade in agricultural products, and improve the quality and quantity of basic social services, especially by the poor in rural areas of Africa.’

El Bakri pointed out that crucial to maintaining gains made on Africa development is support for Middle Income countries on the continent, such as Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. Just as widespread as in many low-income nations, boosting the competitiveness of these economies will lower poverty levels by creating employment opportunities, with a large spillover effect in other countries in the region, she said.

To the government of Egypt, poverty reduction has entailed including the poor in the country’s economic development through employment generation.

‘The poor in Egypt are not just recipients of aid…they are the major participants in and beneficiaries of a new social contract between the Egyptian government and its citizens,’ said Mr Osman Mohamed Osman, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Local Development.

As a middle income country, Egypt has realized that the less privileged segments of its population must be viewed as dynamic new entrants to the economic scene as both producers and consumers of goods, ‘and to the political arena, as active stakeholders in shaping the future of the country,’ said Osman Mohamed Osman.

He said increasing economic growth sustainably to over 7 per cent a year is crucial to enlarging the employment generating capacity of any economy, vital to maintaining the participation of individuals in the economic process. This growth is also crucial to provide sufficient public funds for the implementation of effective social safety nets, designated effectively for the benefit of the poor.

‘We need to examine the effectiveness of the components of the pro-poor development package not only in improving the living standard of the less-privileged citizens, but also in terms of enhancing the growth of the overall economy to ensure sustainability,’ said the minister.