 Trends in Sustainable Development – Africa
Since the beginning of the new century, Africa has enjoyed faster economic
growth than for several decades, thanks in part to improved economic
management and strong global demand for key export commodities, a new report
by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs found.
The
2008 Trends in Sustainable Development – Africa report also found that
despite such success, achieving the Millennium Development Goals remains a
challenge for sub-Saharan Africa, due to widespread poverty. The publication
was launched at the 16th session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development, which tackled pressing issues such as agriculture, drought, and
desertification that impact many rural African economies.
- Between 2001 and 2005, 10 non-oil producing countries
registered annual GDP growth rates above 5 per cent,
including such agricultural nations as a Burkina Faso,
Ethiopia and Mali.
- About 20 per cent of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP is
generated by agriculture. In at least 20 countries, more
than 70 per cent of the labour force works in the sector.
- More than one quarter of African exports were headed to
Asia in 2005, compared to 9 per cent in 1990 and 14 per cent
in 2000.
- The proportion of people living on less than US $1 per
day in sub-Saharan Africa – 41.1 per cent of the population
– has been falling, but less rapidly than in other
developing regions. That figure is still more than twice the
level seen in the developing world.
- More than 500 million sub-Saharan Africans lack access
to modern energy. Per capita electricity consumption in
South Africa is about 100 times the average consumption in
Sahel countries.
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