Africa at 50: Five major tasks ahead

 A special summit of African heads of state and government was held on 25-27 May 2013 in Addis Ababa to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union. The following extract from the opening address by Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Chairperson of the African Union, identifies five major tasks ahead for the continent's leadership.

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PREVIOUS generations paid enormous sacrifices to liberate our continent from all forms of subjugation and restore the freedom and dignity of the African people. The major responsibility of the current and future generations of Africans is, therefore, to create a continent free from poverty and conflict and an Africa whose citizens would enjoy middle-income status. I believe this is the new spirit of Pan-Africanism that should inspire current and future generations to fulfil the dreams of our Founders for a peaceful, prosperous and united Africa.

Africa's Renaissance cannot be realised without bringing about a paradigm shift in our political and socioeconomic governance. We all recognise by now that the policy orthodoxy imposed on us from outside to simply 'get the prices right' did not help us to break the vicious cycle of poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth. Therefore, we have to do more than 'getting the prices right' and play a proactive role in pushing forward our transformation agenda taking due cognisance of the nature of our respective political economies and development potentials.

In my view, there are five important measures that we need to take. First, we have to invest in the development of the agricultural sector, to transform our economies from the bottom up and lift millions of our people from abject poverty.

Second is the need to build human and technological capability. We cannot simply compete on the basis of our factor endowments. Hence, we need to assimilate technology developed elsewhere and move up the technology ladder.

Thirdly, we need to build infrastructure, a sector neglected over the past decades. Lack of adequate infrastructure is a difficult bottleneck, which arrests growth. We need, therefore, to undertake massive investment in infrastructure, establishing national and regional networks of roads, railway, telecommunication, electricity and other infrastructures.

Fourthly, when we say the state should play a proactive role, it does not mean that we need to stifle the private sector. On the contrary, we should get rid of the political economy of rent seeking and create a dynamic and vibrant private sector.

Last but not least, we need to nurture democratic governance and popular participation in order to create a favourable condition for the realisation of our vision. We can ensure neither peace nor development in the absence of democracy and popular participation and inclusive growth.

Of course, we need the continued support of our friends and partners in our development endeavours. First and foremost, we seek their understanding on the need for us to have the policy space to design and implement our own development strategies based on the objective realities of our countries and drawing valuable lessons from other successful development experiences. We need the support and solidarity of our partners in all these endeavours, which means fulfilling commitments already made in various international fora. It cannot be over-emphasised that we also need a favourable global environment, particularly a fair trading regime, which is critical for boosting our economic growth.

I trust that this special occasion will afford us the opportunity to rededicate our efforts towards the socioeconomic emancipation of Africa and renew our partnership with the rest of the world. It is my earnest hope that by the time Africa celebrates the centenary of the OAU/ AU by the year 2063, we will have achieved the dreams of our Founders for a peaceful, prosperous and united Africa. 

This extract was earlier published in the South Bulletin (Issue 74, 5 July 2013).

*Third World Resurgence No. 278, October 2013, p 10