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Special to The Daily Yomiuri
Friday, October 16, 1998
By Ruth Kagia, The World Bank
TOKYO - The 48 Sub-Saharan African countries occupy one continent but form a complex cultural and ethnic tableaux of 613 million people who speak more than 2000 languages. It is a continent of enormous contrast and contradictions. Nigeria has 118 million people while the Seychelles has only 100,000; the largest economy, South Africa contributes 40% of the SSA GDP while Somalia, its smallest accounts for only 0.3%. There is wealth and affluence across countries such as Mauritius and Botswana as well as abject poverty throughout others such as Ethiopia or Niger.
As Africa stands poised on the threshold of the millennium, the contrasts and contradictions could not be sharper. Elation at economic growth registered for the fourth year in a row, is dampened by renewed civil conflict in several countries. While the possibilities of an African Renaissance are real, so too are the fears that the imperative of international competition in a more integrated world might leave behind many African countries.
The social and economic challenges that confront Africa are formidable. Some 240 million people live on less than a dollar a day and in several countries, poverty is on the increase. The depth and severity of poverty as well as income inequality is among the highest in the world. SSA has the worlds' highest maternal mortality ratio and highest infant mortality rate. Sixteen countries enroll less than 60% of their children in primary school and more than half of African women are illiterate. Population growth outpaces school enrollments in most SSA countries with the result that the number of children in the age group 6-11 who are not in school is higher today than it was in 1990.
Africa could sustain a growth path but that this is contingent upon several critical factors. The first is strong, pragmatic, poverty-focused political leadership. All across Africa, such leadership is emerging. Secondly, countries need to put in place, economic and social policies that stimulate growth in an equitable manner. Human development is key in that it stimulates and to supports economic growth. Thirdly, countries need social stability. Countries need support to promote social cohesion and to build social capital.
The fourth imperative is that external agencies need to increase aid in order to support and reinforce countries with strong policies and good governance. Empirical data demonstrates that for countries with strong economic policies, 1% of GDP in assistance translates into a decline in poverty of 1% per annum and a similar decline in infant mortality. The level of resource flow to Africa needs to increase dramatically.
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