ABSTRACT
Tangible and sustainable development continues to elude Africa despite the concerted efforts of national governments, external actors, and other interested publics. Most objective human development indicators show Africa as the region that has made the least progress amongst developing countries. The proportion of those suffering from malnutrition and hunger has increased, life expectancies have fallen due to HIV/AIDS, and the burdens of debt and poverty are accelerating across the region. According to the World Bank, growth per head between 1960 and 2000 in sub-Saharan Africa averaged 0.8 percent per year, compared with an average of 2.3 percent for all of the world’s developing countries.1 Though Africa’s recent growth performance has been encouraging, with real GDP (gross domestic product) growth averaging 5 percent for the fifth consecutive year, these developments are uneven and fragile. In the short term, global economic emergencies in the food and energy markets and the prospect of stagflation in mature industrial economies make these gains tentative at best. In the long term, however, this encouraging aggregate macroeconomic output does not seem sustainable, as it rests on very weak structural foundations and a high and heavy debt overhang. The underlying human capital formation and the structure of sub-Saharan Africa’s economies has not changed much since independence. The export of raw materials and minerals continues to be the mainstay of most of the African economies, making them susceptible to shock and systemic risks. Furthermore, Africa’s economies are debt-ridden. In 2005, sub-Saharan Africa’s external debt amounted to $239.4 billion, compared to $3 billion in 1960. The vulnerability of Africa’s economies, despite recent growth, is aptly captured by the ECA in its 2008 Economic Report on Africa. It states that, “Africa’s overall economic performance has improved since adoption of the Monterrey Consensus in 2002. However, this has not translated adequately into progress with poverty
reduction, the ultimate objective. Africa, particularly Africa excluding North Africa, is still the region with the highest percentage of people living in extreme poverty and deprivation.”2 This chapter will explore these and other trends in African development today and detail the responses by the African IEOs to tackle these challenges.
