Planning for the “Decade of Africa”
Africa is the worlds foremost development challenge. HIV/AIDS continues to ravage populations, as do regional conflicts and their aftermaths. While some countries have seen real growth, the number of poor on the continent has doubled over the past two decades.
At current trends, Africa will fall short of meeting the Millennium Development Goals set for 2015. But a new international focus on the continent, coupled with an enormous change in African leadership on the development agenda, has created a unique chance for an African strategy. The Africa Action Plan is a response to these events and this opportunity.
September 8: The Africa Action Plan – “Meeting the Challenge of Africas Development: A World Bank Group Action Plan” -, which was presented to the Banks Board on September 6, appears at a unique juncture of events.
The “Year of Africa” has been announced, and the continent now stands at the center of the development communitys agenda. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has named Africa a development priority; and at Gleneagles, Scotland the G-8 leaders of the worlds richest nations have pledged to support Africa’s development.
The Action Plan is the result of an April 2005 request by the Banks Board of Executive Directors that the Region present an action plan to the Development Committee detailing its Africa strategy.
The plan also addresses the Gleneagles call for international coordination of increased assistance to Africa to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Gobind Nankani, Africa Region Vice-President, describes the Action Plan as “a working document, that will help us better support country-led efforts to achieve results, advance a shared growth agenda, build more capable states, and encourage partnerships for Africa at the country, regional, and global levels.”
The push for outcomes is essential to the plan. – Results matter to everyone. Populations are asking their leaders to make a difference in their lives. And donors want to know that additional resources will translate into results, says Mr. Nankani.
Agriculture exports to open world markets
For many African countries, an agriculture export push will be the means by which they kick-start sustainable growth and open markets to African products. Many countries have the climatic conditions to compete in a world market – for example, the cut flowers industry in Kenya and Ethiopia and horticultural products in Senegal. More important, 70 percent of Africans find employment and livelihood in agriculture.
The AAP sees agriculture as a driver of growth, and sees the Bank as an advocate of a fair trading environment through analytical work that shows the cost and benefits of African exports. This work should not be confined to OECD countries but extend to Asian markets as well.
Strengthen drivers of growth, leave no one behind
The plan underlines that the poor and marginalized must benefit from a shared growth agenda. It contains 25 initiatives and 133 suggested actions, focusing on three broad areas:
1) Building capable states and improving government.
2) Strengthening the drivers of growth. This means a vibrant private sector, expanded exports, infrastructure investment, increased agricultural productivity, as well as investments in education, health, and access to economic opportunity for the poor.
3) Increasing the impact of partnerships among governments, donor countries, and development agencies.
The Action Plan makes specific commitments, such as increased financial support for free primary education in 15 countries and more funding for roads, power, and other infrastructure.
It also proposes an expansion of the Banks Malaria Booster Program by 150 percent in 17 countries, and expects an upscaling of lending support for HIV/AIDS programs in 10 countries, as well as greater investment towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
In addition, the Africa Action Plan supports the African Infrastructure Consortium in mobilizing resources for country and cross-border regional infrastructure projects.
The growth agenda will differ from country to country, and the country strategies contained in the countries Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) will be the foundation for actions.
The Action Plan draws from the PRSP menu then highlights special focus areas. For example, in health, the Action Plan recognizes that HIV/AIDS is a scourge across the continent; at the same time it accepts that, in certain Central and West African countries, malaria is at least as serious a problem in terms of its impact on health and on the GDP. The Africa Action Plan is clear that each country has individual priorities and distinct issues.
Partnerships
Donor fragmentation, complicated processes, and unclear roles have often clouded partner relations. The Africa Plan insists on simplified procedures and harmonization within the World Bank Group, and integration of efforts with other development partners.
Countries taking the lead
When the country has a major role, all partners can come together. A good example of donor alignment and coordination is Tanzania. The government, assuming a primary role, is working with seven development partners, including the World Bank, to prepare a joint country partnership strategy.
Similar processes are starting in Uganda, and Nigeria. Says Mr. Nankani: – Outcomes should drive our behavior- we should be pulling in the same direction.
The strategy takes into account that the World Bank group is only one of many development partners supporting African development.
Mr. Nankani sums it up: – We must be thinking beyond IDA lending…how working with other partners, such as the African Development Bank, the European Commission, or the European Investment Band, we can share technical capacity and country knowledge to bring more alignment among partners.
The Africa Action Plan also offers real actions for strengthening country-led partnerships to implement IDA 14.
…and integration
African leaders know that, in some cases, regional answers to problems are the best answers. Africa Region Chief Economist John Page points out:
– If you are an exporter in Mali or Burkina, many of the solutions to your cost and competitive programs come from your neighboring countries. They come from how the port works at the coast. They come from whether the railroad line will offer you competitive rates.
Regional integration goes beyond infrastructure issues: – Mosquitoes do not recognize borders, neither do truck drivers. And, of course we know that is a major reason for the spread of HIV/AIDS, says Page.
The Africa Action Plan supports regional investment in infrastructure and health. In addition, it asks for monitoring of cross-border diseases and surveys of transport costs in export corridors. Even education can fall under the regional rubric through the creation of area centers of excellence.
A plan to build capacity and rebuild societies
Every African assistant strategy must work to strengthen institutions and public services. The action plan commits to doing this country by country. Countries and development partners can also work together to build statistical, monitoring and evaluation capacity.
It is a stark fact that one-third of African countries are affected by conflict. The Action Plan underlines that development strategies should reflect the singular needs of countries emerging from conflict to help in the transition from war culture to productive society.
An agenda for change
In Africa, leaders – and civil society – are taking ownership of their development programs as many countries see improvements in economic, institutional, and social performance. Donors have responded to the new focus: Aid has increased, debt has been cancelled, and trade and investment issues are being addressed.
The Africa Action Plan provides priorities and directions that must be translated into country-specific work – and country-led strategies will give life to these priorities.
According to Vice-President Nankani, the biggest challenge now is implementation.
– The Millennium Development Goals are set are for attainment by 2015. We have ten years ahead of us. And we talk about the “Year of Africa”. We should be talking about the “Decade of Africa”.
– We have before us a tremendous opportunity – because of leadership in Africa and international support – to work with our partners to support these actions by countries towards these goals, he concludes.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
