Africa’s Development 2006 - the Year in Review

Sunday Independent, 17 December 2006

2005 was a year of euphoria for Africans and the global community at large. Africa and her development agenda dominated the international development dialogue, particularly the Doha Round, the Gleneagles G8 Summit and the UN Special Summit on Africa. Deliberations on the strategies for action led, among others, to the issuing of the Commission for Africa Report which sealed 2005 as the “Year of Africa”.

Some of these major pronouncements came out of Gleneagles, where the G8 forum agreed to debt relief, scaling up the fight against malaria, addressing urgent humanitarian needs, improving education particularly for girls, increasing development assistance, raising the level of trade and investment, and greater support for peace and stability.

In the midst of these promises, we set up and launched the African Monitor to ask pertinent questions about the continent’s development progress:

  • “What would become of Africa’s development agenda post-2005?”
  • “How could Africa and her development partners sustain the momentum of development agenda and ensure the fulfillment of the promises made?”

As 2006 draws to a close, the African Monitor takes stock of Africa’s development progress post-2005. The African Monitor (AM) was set up to act as an independent catalyst to monitor development funding commitments, delivery and impact on the grassroots, and to bring strong additional African voices to the development agenda. AM was launched in May 2006, and has thus made considerable headway in advocating for fast-tracked effective improvement in the lives of the poor, and has begun to put in place systems for increased grassroots participation in the development agenda.

2006 - The Gains

The OECD* report, African Economic Outlook 2005/2006 expects the African economy expects to grow by 5.8 % in 2006, and 5.5% in 2007. This positive scenario is attributed to the increasing demand for oil, improvements in macro-economic stability and rising official development aid.

Africa also received glowing reports on the governance front, as democratic governance is beginning to take root. The Economic Commission for Africa attributed this improvement to the continent’s democratic transition, political inclusiveness, growing accountability and better economic management.

Initiatives by African Heads of State through the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) have boosted confidence in Africa’s governance structures. The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is an example of how African governments can voluntarily hold each other accountable. NEPAD also started a process of mutual review with its international development partners to ensure that all role players – Africans and donors – are fulfilling their roles effectively. In all these regional processes, there is an increasing recognition that civil society must participate in improving governance and delivery on the ground. Through the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) at the African Union, the Gender Desk within NEPAD and the APRM, civil society participation is becoming more institutionalized.

African Heads of State have re-iterated their commitment to expediting solutions to such urgent challenges like the crisis in Darfur, regional integration, universal access to services to combat HIV, TB and malaria, infrastructure development and democratic governance.

Africa’s development partners have re-committed themselves to the pledges made in Gleneagles, with the UK pledging 1,5 billion between 2005 - 2008. Canada made an undertaking to contribute $250 million to HIV, TB and Malaria to support its 2006-07 activities. France pledged €1.4 billion for the period 2006-08, and Russia agreed to collaborate in developing a debt-for-development swap. This will channel the $250 million freed-up from servicing debt to high priority development actions in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the overall, a number of African countries have received debt-relief benefited from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countires initiative by the IMF and World Bank.


2006 – The Losses

Despite these great local and international efforts, Africa still faces difficult development challenges due to adverse poverty. Oxfam reports that diarrhoea kills 4,000 children on the continent everyday, 1,400 women die needlessly during pregnancy or childbirth, and 100 million school-age children, most of them girls, do not go to school. Africa remains the epicentre of the AIDS pandemic, with South Africa being the hardest hit. (UNAIDS, 2006). The ability of communities to maintain livelihoods continues to diminish as economic growth is not accompanied by human development, and agricultural production is adversely affected by climate change. Crises in Darfur and Zimbabwe are an indication of the work that still needs to be done to increase the governance capacity in some African states.

Africa continues to face the challenge of an inequitable international market economy and its characteristic bias against poor or developing nations. In spite of the pledge by G8 leaders to ensure that international trade benefits developing countries, the collapse of the trade negotiations this year is an indication that these countries are not willing to act on their promises.

At the same time there is concern about Africa’s ‘new hidden debt’, arising because of the growing flow of loans from China to Africa. There appears to be a lack of social and environmental conditionality to these loans, and a lack of checks and balances to control possible corruption.

Moreover, the aid-for-development debate continues to be side-tracked by deceptively large aid contributions. While at first glance these figures seem promising, in reality most donor countries calculate both debt relief and humanitarian assistance as a form of aid. This goes against the Monterrey Consensus, which argued that “donor countries should ensure that resources provided for debt relief do not detract from ODA resources intended for developing countries.” African delegates to a civil society meeting held in Russia prior to the G8 summit declared that debt relief is a mechanism to address historical injustices, and therefore an obligation on Western governments and not a form of aid. This group stated that “trade justice is the only way to deal with poverty alleviation, failure to do so is simply to perpetuate global economic apartheid”.

What Africa Needs

The need for collective ownership of Africa’s development agenda cannot be over-stated. It is time for Africans think collectively about the continent, strategize about what works and speak effectively about what does not work. Collective ownership puts the responsibility for development on the shoulders of the masses, civil society and governments.

The current development landscape does not reflect the power of Africans to make decisions about their development. African countries rely on foreign investors to help their economies grow, donors to fund development and an unjust trade system to acquire wealth. In reality, Africans must reverse this power imbalance and assertively and proactively protect and promote their own welfare.

Broad participation and inclusivity are the logical outcome of collective ownership. When people believe that they have a responsibility to do something, and the power to make decisions, their participation becomes almost automatic. The voices of Africans must be harnessed to become more audible. This will ensure that Africans are the dominant voice among the plethora of actors speaking on Africa’s development.

Complementing this is the critical matter of partnerships of trust between three essential pillars for sustainable livelihoods. These are government, the private sector and civil society organizations.

Lastly, if ever there was a time for visionary, creative, imaginative and dynamic leadership in Africa, it is now. Africa needs leadership that is accountable, driven by a deep desire for sustainable livelihoods for all its citizens.

A number of important events and processes in 2007 are worth looking out for:

  • African Heads of State will be meeting in Addis Ababa in January. This is an important space for Africans to dialogue with regional governance structures about issues of change. In this forum, the African Monitor will be highlighting the need for better monitoring and coordination of development implementation in Africa.
  • The African Monitor will be launching a Baseline Matrix of funding commitments to Africa in March 2007. The matrix will map out funding commitments by donor governments, as well as African Governments. It will enable Africans to track and monitor the implementation of such commitments.
  • The African Partnership Forum will be meeting in April/May 2007. This forum is an important space for Africans to address the OECD countries about Africa’s development, and monitor implementation.
  • G8 leaders will be meeting in Germany in mid-2007. There is a need for intensified advocacy to bring Africa back to the agenda of the G8.
  • The global community will be reaching the mid-way point for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on July 07th 2007. A global campaign is planned to raise awareness about the MDG and fast-track implementation.

There is a need for a sense of urgency to participation and implementation of the development agenda. Africans needs to become bolder and demand more effective delivery from themselves and development partners. The grassroots have a significant role to play in development, through monitoring and advocacy. As 2007 dawns, it is necessary to adopt the spirit of co-operation around the development agenda and intolerance so that poverty can indeed become history.


*OECD = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development