By ANDREW PHIRI –
AN African Union (AU) regional delegate to Southern Africa says Africa has had no inclusive economic growth that translates into poverty reduction.
Salif Sada Sall said countries that had grown rapidly over the decades had not seen substantial reduction in poverty.
Addressing delegates at the just-ended 20th inter-governmental committee of experts in Southern Africa meeting held under the theme ‘Making natural resources work for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Southern Africa’ in Livingstone yesterday, Dr Sall said economic growth was a necessary condition for poverty reduction and employment creation.
He said despite a number of countries in the region having impressive economic performance, rising poverty levels remained a major issue.
“High economic growth rates have not for the most part trickled down to the poor in these countries. Quite a big number of people are not seeing rapid poverty reduction, that is why there are increasing concerns about how inclusive the economic growth is,” Dr Sall said.
He said at a number of conferences held in the region to tackle the issue, the main conclusion arrived at was for the growth to be inclusive by improving productivity and creating new employment opportunities.
“Noting that one of the root causes of the conflicts in Africa is essentially high income inequality within a given country or border disputes among member States for sharing income which may be generated from exploitation of natural resources, the African Union is calling upon its members to care about the redistribution of wealth, the equal employment opportunities for all, expanding infrastructure and services to all,” Dr Sall said.
Economic Commission for Africa director Said Adejumobi said the meeting was taking place at a time when the world was learning to take Africa more seriously.
Mr Adejumobi said there was also a renewed pan-African spirit in which Africans were showing increasing commitment to working together through trade, as well as the facilitation of regional integration.
“The story of Africa rising is real and visible. Increasing natural resources boom and high commodity prices, growing middle class and the corresponding increase in purchasing power, wider scope of trade relations, especially with the newly-industrialising countries, and better economic management have all given a push to Africa’s economic growth in the last two decades,” Mr Adejumobi said.
