Chief Economist of the Economic Commission for Africa, (ECA ) Hanan Morsy, highlighting the extent of poverty in Africa. Morsy stated that the continent faces significant socio-economic and equity issues, which have been exacerbated by a series of global shocks.
She stated
this during the 55th session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance,
Planning, and Economic Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
Morsy revealed
that Africa currently accounts for more than half of the world’s poor, with an
estimated 548 million Africans living in poverty in 2022 and 149 million at
risk of falling into poverty in the same year.
She also
stressed that there is a skewed distribution of poverty across the continent,
with particularly East and West Africa having a higher share of poverty across
regions. Existing inequalities in the region have made the situation worse.
Even during times of high economic growth in Africa, the rate of inequality
still rose.
Several
recommendations, both domestic and international, have been proposed to tackle
these issues. Ms Morsy urged African governments to pursue inclusive
macroeconomic policies, such as targeted and efficient spending, and build
resilience to future shocks at the household and community level. Resource
mobilization is also key, and Ms Morsy suggested several measures to help raise
funding, including closing tax loopholes and tackling issues of illicit
financial flows.
She also
emphasized the importance of leveraging climate finance to enhance domestic
resource mobilization through carbon credit markets. Carving structural
policies that would ensure structural transformation and create jobs for people
is vital. In addition, Ms Morsy called for enhancing Africa’s regulatory
framework and reforming its global financial architecture.
African
Union’s Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry, and Mining,
Albert Muchanga, stressed that African economic growth did not sufficiently
include engineering decent jobs and reducing widespread poverty. He urged
countries on the continent to invest at least one percent of their GDP in
research and development, as the Continental average is currently 0.5 percent.
The
Commission is in the process of releasing a “made in Africa standard’’ which,
when operationalized, would promote competitiveness among qualifying firms and
contribute to removing technical barriers to trade on the continent.
Muchanga
said that Africa faced a climate finance challenge, which could lead to
increased climate-induced poverty across the continent. He emphasized the need
to develop a program supporting export demonstration and growth across Africa,
which would enable the continent to move from being a producer and exporter of
raw materials to an exporter of manufactured goods and agro-processed foods, as
well as services.
In
conclusion, Morsy and Muchanga emphasized the need for African countries to
work together to tackle poverty and inequality in the region. They called for
sustained efforts to develop Africa and improve the lives of its people.
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