Transcript Issues Paper - Conference of African Ministers

Meeting Africa’s New Development
Challenges in the 21st Century
Presentation of the
Issues Paper
To the Meeting of Committee of Experts of 1st Joint AUC CAMEF and
ECA Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic
Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 28, 2008
Kasirim Nwuke
Chief, MDGs/Poverty Analysis & Monitoring Section,
ACGS, ECA
Outline of presentation
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Challenges
Issues for Discussion
Conclusion
Introduction
• The Context;
• Objectives of the Issues Paper;
– To surface some new 21st century challenges
to Africa’s development;
– To propose issues for discussion by Experts;
– To enable agreement on policy options by
Experts for presentation to Ministers for their
consideration and adoption.
Challenges
The Challenges
• Four specific but interlocking and
intersecting challenges:
– Growth and Employment;
– Climate Change;
– Emerging Social Sector Challenges • Legal Empowerment of the Poor;
• Long-term sustainable financing for HIV treatment
– Good Governance and Building a Capable
State.
Challenge No. 1: Growth and
employment
• Africa’s recent growth and employment experience;
– Impressive economic expansion;
– Less than desirable employment effect;
• Preventing growth collapse – a major task;
• Preventing growth collapse and promoting growth and
employment complicated by new 21th century realities:
– Emerging global economic powers in the South: China and
India;
– Rising food and energy prices;
– Climate change; and
– Terrorism.
Challenge No. 2: Climate Change
•
Climate change is real and could constrain
efforts to improve the human condition in
Africa
•
Possible adverse impacts of climate
change:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
Water stress and water-related conflicts;
Decreased agricultural output and
increased food insecurity;
Energy constraints;
Rising sea level and faster rate of
desertification;
Loss of bio-diversity, forests and habitats;
Expanding range and prevalence of
vector-borne diseases
Increased risk of conflicts related to
population movements
Possible positive impacts of climate
change:
This is not much debated but there could be
opportunities for Africa from climate
change for example:
– A much stronger position to negotiate on
international treaties;
– New trading opportunities.
Challenge No.3: Emerging social
Issues
Issue No. 1: Legal Empowerment of the poor
•
•
•
What is meant by legal
empowerment of the poor?
No more than 30% of the world’s
poor can take advantage of the law
to secure their assets;
Benefits of legal empowerment of
the poor:
– Creation and expansion of
fiscal space;
– Contraction of the underground economy;
– Promotion of a greater sense
of ownership;
– Reduction of transaction cost
Do these fishermen/women “own” their boats?
Challenge No.3: Emerging social
Issues
Issue No. 2: Long-term sustainable financing of access to HIV/AIDS
Treatment
•
•
•
Evidence shows that progress in
response to HIV/AIDS is closely
associated with the amount of
resources available
No. of people receiving treatment
has risen from 100,000 in 2003 to
1.3 million in 2006;
Long-term financing remains a
critical issue;
–
•
Abuja Commitment yet to be met;
The reality of people with
HIV/AIDS living longer presents a
long-term financing challenge
Expenditure by Scenario
Indicator (US$ billion,
except where
otherwise indicated)
Tough
choices
Times of
Transition
Traps and
Legacies
Total expenditure on
HIV/AIDS
98.65
70.89
195.46
- Prevention
45
25
75
- Care and treatment
25
30
67
- Orphans and
vulnerable children
28
15
53
- Cumulative new
infections (million)
65
89
46
Source: UNAIDS, AIDS in Africa Scenarios Project
Challenge No.4: Accelerating and
sustaining progress in good governance
and building of capable states
Leading obstacles to Good Governance in Africa, in rank
order (Source: ECA, 1998)
•
•
•
A capable democratic state – a
prerequisite for progress and
security of progress ;
Obstacles to good governance –
(see matrix);
Progress in good governance;
–
–
•
Very commendable
But difficulties remain
High level political commitment to
good governance and state
capability building (e.g. APRM to
which 28 countries acceded).
1
Corruption
2
Tax regulation
3
Inadequate supply of infrastructure
4
Inflation
5
Crime and theft
6
General uncertainty on cost and regulation
7
Regulations on foreign trade
8
Policy instability
9
Labour relations
10
Foreign currency regulations
11
Safety and environmental regulations
12
Regulations for starting a business
13
Price controls
14
Terrorism
Issues for Discussion
Issues for Discussion 1: Growth and
employment
• How best can African countries harness the new
opportunities presented by expanding economic relations
notably, China and India, to ratchet up growth and
expand employment?
• What options are available to African countries to
attenuate the adverse impact of rising food and energy
prices and exploit the opportunities that they present?
• How can African countries accelerate the positive growth
performance of the recent past and minimize the risk of a
growth collapse?
• How can regional continental integration contribute to
tackling the growth and employment challenge?
Issues for Discussion 2: Climate Change
• What financing mechanisms should African countries consider to
finance the technological options (use of improved crop varieties,
water harvesting and watershed management) to research and
information exchange, capacity building, institutional as well as
human resource development currently available for mitigating the
adverse impact of climate change?
• How should capacity building be financed? Out of public or private
resources? What are the implications of public financing of capacity
acquisition in the context of brain drain and international migration?
• Is there a need to create new regional facilities to finance climate
change interventions? How can the efficiency of existing facilities be
improved?
• How can climate change mitigation and adaptation be integrated into
regional and national development frameworks as well as policy
processes and decision-making across a range of sectors and
scales?
Issues for Discussion 3: Emerging Social
Issues 1
Legal Empowerment of the Poor
How can governments
• Enhance access to justice and rule of law for the poor promote economic
growth?
• Promote efficient governance of individual and collective property
systems that systematically brings the extralegal economy into the formal
economy and that ensures it remains easily accessible to all citizens?
• Create a functioning market for the exchange of assets that is transparent
and accountable?
• Improve the quality of labour regulation and the functioning of labour
market institutions, creating synergy between the poor’s protection and
productivity?
• Strengthen access to employment opportunities in the growing and more
inclusive market economy?
 Strengthen effective economic governance that makes it easy and
affordable to set up and operate a business, access markets – and exit
business if necessary?
Issues for Discussion 3: Emerging Social
Issues 2:
Long-term Financing for HIV/AIDS
• What is the scope for additional private
financing of HIV/AIDS treatment and care, and
mitigation in Africa?
• What possible new international financing
mechanisms can countries consider?
• What measures should countries adopt to
increase allocation to health to meet the
minimum15% of national budget agreed in the
Abuja Declaration?
Issues for Discussion 4: Good Governance and
the Capable State
• How can governments mainstream initiatives such as the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative in order to improve governance in
the extractive sectors of their economies?
• What measures should governments adopt to improve public sector
financial management?
• How can governments improve the financing and accountability of
institutional infrastructure of good governance in a way that
attenuates the tension between the demands for investment in good
governance and the demands for increased investment in the
economic and social sectors?
• To what extent is obedience to the rule of law an undergird for
improving governance and how can it be promoted by Ministers of
Finance, Planning and Economic Development?
• Should the APRM National Plan of Action (NPoA) be integrated into
country’s MDGs-consistent national development plans? How should
this be done and what mechanisms should be considered for
financing the NPoA?
Conclusion
• A new century presents its own challenges;
• The ability of each region to tackle these
challenges depends on the readiness of the
region and the resources at its disposal;
• Africa, “can claim the 21st century” if it address in
an effective, strategically inter-temporal manner
the emerging 21st century challenges;
• A capable, effective and democratic state is a
pre-requisite for success.
Thank you
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