G8 push for development positions Africa for speedy MDGs realisation

In line with its commitment to facilitate through funding, the development plans of the African continent, undoubtedly revolves around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) introduced by the United Nations.

The G8 had maintained at the recent meeting that mid-point to the end of the MDG realisation year target, although progress has been made, there are still enormous challenges to realise the goals in Africa.

Hence, its renewed commitment to Africa's achievement of the MDG goals which it hopes to implement, by reinvigorating its efforts and strengthening partnerships with, as well as encouraging the efforts of developing countries in this respect, based on mutual accountability.

Accountability on the use of funds from development assistance demonstrates economic watchers assertion that past and future development assistance to Africa should influence positively on the citizenry, growing the continent above its current state of underdevelopment and dependence on other world economies for continued assistance.

Given the World Bank's assessment that 70 percent of Africans live in absolute poverty with less than $1 per day, while 90 percent live on less than $2 per day, African economies is seen as vulnerable to inhuman living conditions as a result of poverty.

Inequality, high rate of unemployment, infectious diseases, conflict, political instability, low economic growth levels and a host of other undesirable economic elements is still present in the continent despite the potentials that exists in the continent.

Alioune Sall, regional cordinator, African Futures, said that the challenge before Africa is to make the best use of its resources to grow their economies, while insisting that Africa should not be experiencing energy crisis and economic backwardness at this stage.

This, he said, is unfounded given the endowments of oil in countries like Nigeria in West Africa, Sudan in East Africa, Equatorial Guinea in central Africa Algeria and Libya in North Africa and Angola in Southern Africa. Already, reports are that while 400 million people around the world have been lifted out of absolute poverty in the last few decades, the number of poor people in sub-Saharan Africa is still alarming.

Thus, prompting increase in development assistance to Africa from many developed nations of the world including the United States (US), through debt relief especially in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia, humanitarian assistance, and HIV/AIDS programmes funding.

The United States debt relief development assistance to Africa in 2006 includes Nigeria ($597 million), the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006 ($689 million), and Zambia ($188 million) which added $1.5 billion to the US ODA figure for 2006. While other US development assistance to Sub Saharan Africa in 2006 was $5.3 billion, higher than that of 2000 excluding debt relief of $2 billion.

On humanitarian assistance to the sub region, emergency assistance increased from $114 million in 2000 to $1.7 billion in 2006, which accounted for 9 percent of U.S. bilateral assistance to SSA in 2000; by 2006, it accounted for 31 percent.

On health, HIV/AIDS programs, precise data on US disbursements for HIV/AIDS programs in SSA for 2006 have not been made available, but preliminary data suggest disbursements of approximately $1 billion, or nearly one-fourth of U.S. bilateral assistance excluding debt relief.

In summary, the US development assistance to sub Saharan Africa (bilateral and multilateral) rose from a low of $1.5 billion in 1996, to $2.3 billion in 2000, a 50 percent increase in four years. Also growing rapidly over six years to reach $6.6 billion in 2006, with about $5.4 billion delivered bilaterally and about $1.2 billion contributed through multilateral organisations.

Reports are that the two largest recipients of bilateral U.S. ODA in SSA in 2006 were the Democratic Republic of Congo ($839 million) and Nigeria ($787 million) due mostly to debt relief Zambia was the fifth largest recipient at $310 million,

Excluding debt relief, indications are that the two largest recipients were Sudan ($739 million) and Ethiopia ($316 million) both large recipients of emergency food aid.

The Organisation for Economic Development and Corporation (OECD) report in April 2008, indicates that the 22 member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC's) bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa excluding debt relief, increased by 10 percent in real terms, an improvement on the recorded rate of increase.

With the United Nations (UN) millennium summit, defined goals for 2015 having overall objective of halving the proportion of the world's population living in absolute poverty exposes Africa's place, which is behind other parts of the world.

The reports indicating Africa's progress towards the millennium development goals, amidst challenges also reveal that development assistance has been instrumental to progress attained making its increase an indication of greater possibility of attaining the objective.

The MDG monitoring committee reports on Africa shows reduction in extreme poverty, revealing that the number of people living on less than one dollar a day had reduced since 1999, while primary school enrolment rates in Africa has increased to 70 per cent in 2005.

Child mortality rates had fallen, but only marginally to 166 per 1,000 live births, and remained high across the continent. Maternal mortality rates remained high as well meanwhile HIV/AIDS cases were still rising faster than the rate at which new treatment. Economic growth rates have also improved and the quality of governance, macroeconomic stability and in the area of peace and security although it is said to be quite fragile.

These factors, economic experts say have contributed in making Africa's economic performance fragile amidst its dependence on primary commodities as exports and recommendations are on the lines of strengthening and diversifying the productive base, an essential condition for improved economic performance in the medium to long term.

According to the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro the challenges identified in the update could be addressed using resources, skills and technologies that the international community had at its disposal, based on the commitments of both African Governments and donor communities.

She said that from experience, many African countries had rapid and large-scale progress towards the implementation of the Goals, when strong government leadership, good policies and practical strategies for scaling up public investments in vital areas combined with adequate international financial and technical support to access market opportunities.

To her, the stories could not be taken to scale because official development assistance to Africa, excluding "one-off debt relief" and humanitarian assistance had not increased significantly since 2004. With the exception of Nigeria, which had received exceptional debt relief, net official development assistance to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa had actually increased by only 2 percent in real terms since 2005.

This corroborates the OECD and its Development Assistance Committee (DAC) estimating that the global increase of official development assistance (ODA) by 2010 should increase to around $50 billion a year.

Consequently, the G8 has reaffirmed its commitment to fulfill a resolution to increase the level of development assistance to African countries to US$ 25 billion a year, by 2010" when implemented, more money will be available to fund individual country's development programmes.

The global monitoring report on MDGs and the Environment-Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development emphasizses that factors such as high commodity prices could further complicate prospects in the region. Rising food and fuel prices lower the income of households that do not produce these products, causing poor people to eat less food, or cheaper, less nutritious food-a significant risk in poor countries such as Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and Zambia.

This reveals that although development assistance has potentials of positioning African and Nigeria in particular, this growth is only possible through such assistance if there is also concerted effort at developing and pursuing economic policies that will change the status of African nations.

Economic watchers maintain that the challenges of fighting poverty and its many faces - such as inhuman living conditions, the spread of infectious diseases and conflicts by utilising development assistance effectively depends on homegrown economic policies that will benefit from globalisation, which should be the priority of the governments of African countries.