Antonio Pedro, the acting executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, has urged Africa to take the lead in mobilizing domestic resources to recover from the numerous economic and social crises that have increased inequality and poverty on the continent. Without doing so, Pedro has warned that Africa runs the risk of falling short of the Sustainable Development Goals, Entrepreneurng report.
Ahead of next week’s Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mr. Pedro addressed attendees at the 41st meeting of the Committee of Experts, which began today. He stated that Africa currently leads the world in terms of poverty.
Africa would become impoverished if significant financial and environmental action is not taken, Mr. Pedro said. The COVID-19 outbreak had pushed 62 million people into poverty in just one year, with an additional 18 million people estimated to have joined their ranks by the end of 2022. With more than half of the world’s poor – 54.8 percent – being in Africa, the continent had overtaken South Asia with 37.6 percent.
Mr. Pedro went on to say that 695 million people in Africa were either poor or face the risk of becoming so, adding that as many as 149 million non-poor individuals nevertheless stand a significant risk of becoming poor.
If Africa can execute systemic change and create resilient and sustainable systems, moving away from a primary focus on efficiency that has dominated previous decades, the obstacles are not insurmountable.
To create a setting that can support accomplishing the goals of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063, Mr. Pedro claimed that investments in sustainable building up capital in vital assets, such as people, infrastructure, and natural resources, were necessary.
Governments must thus develop plans that concurrently incorporate their goals for the economy, the social sector, and the environment, he said.
He lamented the fact that African nations are currently unable to access international financial markets due to rising interest rates and ineffective current debt relief procedures, saying that Africa still needs a fairer and more just global financial architecture that meets its demands.
To turn its natural resources into real advantages for its people, he stressed that Africa must actively seek sustainable industrialization and economic diversification. The evolution of the value chain for batteries and electric vehicles is a good example.
For example, the creation of carbon markets in Africa’s rainforests could unleash an estimated $82 billion in annual value at $120 per ton of CO2 sequestered and generate 167 million new jobs.
Nemera Gebeyehu Mamo, State Minister for Planning and Development of the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, stressed the importance of accelerating changes in her opening remarks to the conference.
In a summary of the situation in Africa, Mahamodou Bamba Diop, Director General of Planning and Economic Policies of the Republic of Senegal and Outgoing Chair of the Bureau of the Committee of Experts, noted that Africa’s increasing poverty is related to the deteriorating economic and financial conditions it has experienced.
