Africa is experiencing unprecedented growth, but the continent will have to sustain that expansion for years to come if it is to lift people out of poverty, the African Development Bank (AfDB) chief said on Thursday.
Africa is set to grow about 6,5% this year, marking the fifth straight year of above-trend expansion, due partly to trade with Asia, especially China, AfDB president Donald Kaberuka said.
“Africa will have to sustain this growth for several years — probably a decade-and-a-half of similar numbers — to begin to see an impact on poverty levels,” Kaberuka said at the close of the bank’s two-day annual meeting in Shanghai, China’s glittering financial capital.
“What this means is that, with the exception of a few countries, come 2015, many African countries will not be able to attain the Millennium Development Goals, and that includes access to clean water and sanitation,” he told reporters.
The Millennium Development Goals are a series of benchmarks, including universal primary education, agreed at the turn of the century to measure progress towards alleviating poverty.
Kaberuka said the lender is targeting $1,3-billion to increase access to safe water, and appealed to “all partners of Africa” to help it attain the goal because of the broader spillover effects.
“Where there is water in villages, little girls go to school. Where there is water in villages, children don’t die of diarrhoea. Where there is water in villages, overall health and education numbers improve,” he said.
Don’t blame China
China’s engagement with Africa, symbolised by the development bank’s choice of Shanghai for its first meeting in Asia, has forced other investors to sit up and take notice of the continent, which many had dismissed for its risky environment, small markets and high cost of doing business.
Kaberuka, flanked by Chinese central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, dismissed concerns that China’s trade with Africa, which boomed to $55,5-billion last year and is expected to hit $100-billion by 2010, had a darker side.
Critics charge that Chinese investment disregards environmental and labour standards, forces local manufacturers out of business and props up regimes, such as Sudan’s, under fire over human rights abuses.
“My concern about Chinese investment in Africa is that there’s not enough of it. And that goes for all the investors in the world,” Kaberuka said.
Zhou added that China’s involvement, which includes cancelling about 10,9-billion yuan in debts, building railways, highways and power plants, and training 150 000 professionals, is in the interest of Africa’s economies and ordinary people.
“All these projects have promoted cooperation between China and Africa and have increased the capabilities of African countries for independent innovation and development,” he said.
China sets strict guidelines for private-sector investment in Africa, Zhou said, but he conceded that there have been lapses. “Some investment may be inconsistent with this guidance; for example, it is too risky, or some things are not done very correctly or sometimes in conflict with local conditions,” he said. “But corporate private investment will move in the correct direction.”
Kaberuka said blaming China would do no good.
“I would encourage people to get out of the mode of finger-pointing,” he said. “I think we need to get into the mode of engagement.” — Reuters
Additional reporting by Alan Wheatley