24th ordinary session of the African Union executive council: statement by Carlos Lopes UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA

Abstract

Statement by Carlos Lopes UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA at 24th Ordinary Session of the African Union Executive Council. On his remarks Mr. Lopes highlighted that, Since our socio-economic realities were so similar, part of the answer lies in the fact that Africa did not have an agricultural revolution and did not use industrialization to reduce poverty. China instead helped the world halve extreme poverty. But one cannot be simplistic in the analysis. It is true that Africa’s aggregate need to reduce poverty was much higher than China’s. The main difference between China and Africa is that China had the policy determination rather than just “will” to charter a path that consolidated its growth and structural transformation. Its leadership had vision. It worked, but even there, now, it has to change. Some Chinese workers are angry and demanding more. We can learn from their example and avoid rebellion. However, a scale of problems, we are way behind. The issues faced by China or Brazil, Turkey or Western Europe are mostly middle class issues, not poverty issues.