Africa is new global growth pole, but continent must not rest on its laurels: says Janneh

Abstract

UN Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Mr. Abdoulie Janneh said yesterday in Malabo that while Africa is increasingly being recognized as a destination for foreign investment and as a global growth pole, the continent should not be “too sanguine” about this because its growth rate of 4.7% in 2010 and projected at 3.7% in 2011, is far below the minimum growth rate estimated to achieve the MDGs. In an address to the 17th Ordinary Session of the African Union Executive Council in Malabo, Equitorial Guinea, Mr Janneh said the downward revision of Africa’s growth rate is partly due to global events like high food and fuel prices, the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, troubling fiscal conditions in Europe and political developments in North Africa. He said Africa’s commitment to improved governance since the adoption of NEPAD and APRM was not misplaced and might even have provided a safety valve in some countries by helping to maintain political stability in the face of severe economic shocks.