WASHINGTON, September 9: The World Bank Board of Executive Directors discussed Thursday the Bank Groups Africa Action Plan, which will support African countries in their efforts to increase growth, tackle poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
– Success in this effort depends both on developed countries and developing countries stepping up to their responsibilities. It is a matter of performance for assistance, said Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank, adding:
– The Africa Action Plan provides a set of concrete steps that will enable the Bank and the broader development community to improve its ability to help every African country accelerate growth, enable the poor and women to participate in poverty reduction programs and benefit from new opportunities.
The Africa Action Plan, to be discussed at the Development Committee during the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings, builds on commitments by the international community to mobilize additional resources for Africas development.
It also responds to the commitments made by the G8 and other partners both prior to and at Gleneagles by setting out clear and concrete actions intended to ensure that African countries, the World Bank Group and the development community increasingly focus on achieving measurable outcomes.
Broadly, the plan establishes a framework for using the resources available for 2006-2008 to deliver results in the areas of economic growth, human development and poverty reduction; and for using increases in assistance beyond current levels in a way that multiplies impact.
The focus on specific outcomes is essential to the Action Plan. – Results matter to everyone, says Gobind Nankani, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region, adding:
– Populations are asking their leaders to make a difference in their lives, and donors want to know that additional resources will translate into results.
Accelerating growth, creating opportunities for the poor
Under the plan, African countries, supported by their development partners, will design strategies to accelerate economic growth and create the opportunity for more people, particularly poor people and women, to participate in and benefit from that growth.
The Africa Action Plan focuses particularly on supporting African countries in three broad areas:
1) Building capable states and improving governance;
2) Strengthening the drivers of growth – such as building a vibrant African private sector, expanding exports, increasing investment in infrastructure, making agriculture more productive; and investing in the assets of poor people and the disadvantaged, including women, by furthering their education, health and access to economic opportunity;
3) Strengthening the impact of partnerships among governments, donor countries and development agencies.
The Action Plan establishes specific commitments, such as increased financial support for free primary education in 15 countries through the Education for All Fast Track Initiative; increased funding for roads, power and other infrastructure programs from an annual investment of 1,8 billion to 2,8 billion US dollar in two years.
It lays out plans for the Bank to expand its Malaria Booster Program by 150 percent in 17 countries and foresees the scaling up of lending support for HIV/AIDS programs in 10 countries, as well as additional investment to ensure the progress required to achieve the gender MDG goal in 10 countries by 2008.
The Action Plan also envisages working within the African Infrastructure Consortium to mobilize resources for both country and cross-border regional infrastructure projects.
Africaat a turning point
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to present the world with its most formidable development challenge.
During the last two decades, the number of poor in Africa has doubled from 150 million to 300 million, more than 40 percent of the regions population. Yet Africa is also at a turning point:
Stronger leadership is emerging, with African countries taking ownership of and accountability for their development programs; there is better economic and social performance, with 16 countries posting average annual GDP growth in excess of 4,5 percent; two thirds of the regions economies are now recording some progress in reaching one or more of the MDGs; and average scores from the Banks Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) have been rising for the past ten years.
The full text of the Africa Action Plan is available at: www.worldbank.org/afr
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
