New images of Africa in the newsHardly a day passes without Africa being mentioned in the news. Lately, however, with US President Clinton's recent six-country tour of the continent, followed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's visit to eight African countries, the tenor of the news is different from what it has been perhaps at any other time in recent memory.
Rather than reading reports of despair, stagnation and crumbling economies on the continent, one hears of hope, dynamic economic reforms and growth. Tales of war, famine and drought, dictatorships and authoritarian rule have been replaced by stories of effective use of the continent's resources for the benefit of its people and of emerging democracies struggling to secure for their people a place in an ever more globalized marketplace. Instead of a nightmarish continent where chaos reigned, we now find in the news what Time magazine calls "another Africa rising" -- an Africa that works.
Time magazine's writers came face to face with this new aspect of Africa in Mali, in the tiny settlement of Tenemakana, where they saw Awa Kone and other women villagers using an ingenious credit scheme to improve lives in their community. The women pool profits from the sale of bananas, mangoes, onions, tomatoes and other produce from their cooperative garden, and loan out the money to each other at 9 per cent interest. For many of them, this is their first independent source of cash. To date, no woman has defaulted in repaying a loan. When they have saved enough, they plan to build a clinic for their community.
All across Africa, stories like this abound, and a new sense of international optimism and confidence about the continent is emerging. In the report The Causes of Conflict and Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa (see the full report on the Africa Recovery home page), Mr. Kofi Annan told the Security Council in April that the continent "has begun to make significant economic and social progress in recent years". He spoke of political and economic achievements and of the emergence of leaders with confidence in Africa's ability to chart a path to peace and higher levels of development.
And the numbers are there to back up this sense of optimism. From 1995 to 1997, the GDP growth rate in Africa averaged 4 per cent. This number becomes significant when placed side by side with the annual growth rate of 0.4 per cent for the entire 1980s or the 0.9 per cent growth rate for the 1990-94 period. In fact, economic growth has now outpaced population growth in 33 African countries. In 1997, 11 countries -- Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda -- had economic growth rates of 6 per cent or more. The message of this group of countries is that Africans are taking their future in their own hands.
What makes Africa's turnaround so exciting is that it has been locally driven. African nations are on their own, finding ways to harness their natural and human resources into working models of development, thanks to visionary leadership by a new crop of rulers who are not encumbered by colonial or cold war obligations, but are bristling with confidence and the belief that Africa, with the right commitment, can enter the next century an energized powerhouse.
Photo: UN / E. Debebe
But much as the story has changed for the better on the continent, it is still not all rosy. Even today, Africa remains a continent in dire straits. Mr. Annan admitted as much when he said that poor economic performance and inequitable development have resulted in near permanent crisis for some states, exacerbating internal tensions and greatly diminishing the governments' capacity to respond to tensions. Poor income growth combined with environmental and population pressures are keeping more than half of Africa's population in poverty.
Moreover, the continuing decline in the level of development assistance flows to Africa, coupled with the crushing debt burden carried by many countries, means that more and more countries find themselves left with less and less to meet the basic social needs of their people. The result: poverty remains the order of the day, even in those countries that have made progress. Health services are inadequate and large numbers of people continue to die from preventable diseases. Unemployment remains at very high levels. In many countries, lack of transparency on the part of the leadership remains a major obstacle to development. Wars and armed conflict also continue to affect a disproportionate percentage of Africans, 14 of Africa's 53 countries having been affected by armed conflict in 1996.
These are truly formidable challenges on Africa's path to development, but those countries that managed to record the spectacular growth noted earlier have shown that by harnessing its potentials and putting them to work in support of development, Africa can rival even the best. These countries are beacons to the other countries seeking to strengthen their own economic bases.
Overcoming the various challenges calls for a mix of domestic reforms, political will and genuine support by the international community. Africa's leaders owe it to their people to summon the political will to take good governance seriously. Respect for human rights and the rule of law, strengthening democratization and promoting transparency and capability in public administration are indispensable ingredients for the creation of the appropriate environment for growth. Countries must adhere to the various reforms which catalyze economic growth. To establish a solid economic foundation and achieve long-term success, they must not only enact sound policies but also persevere in their implementation.
At the same time, the international community must show its determination to make a difference, by intervening in areas where it can have an impact and by investing in areas where resources are needed. New funding, a better use of existing resources and the enactment of trade and debt relief measures are essential if Africa is to build the foundation for growth.
