390 Million Africans Living In Extreme Poverty

The clock is ticking

By Sylvester Samba

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has lamented that, with an estimated 390 million people living in extreme poverty, hunger and food insecurity, Africa is in a race against time to deliver on its regional and global development goals. According to a press release issued on behalf of the Bank stated also that, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Sunday 22nd September, 2019, African heads of states and governments met to emphasize urgent collective action and the need for greater collaboration between the United Nations and the African Development Bank to fast-track Africa’s development.

The release noted that the meeting convened by the African Development and the United Nations is "the first of its kind" between the two institutions taking place at the UN Headquarters, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said.

The 2030 Agenda for the continent Sustainable Development - United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and the African Development Bank’s High 5s, the time for action is now. Mohammed said it was time to join forces to deliver. Africa’s premier institution needs much more support. The clock is ticking. I am convinced that with a change of pace, driven by a greater sense of urgency, and global collective responsibility, Africa can still achieve the SDGs.

The two-hour meeting, moderated by the African Development Bank, was attended by seven African presidents – from Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Ethiopia, and Lesotho, in addition to representatives of some 30 governments.

The leaders, the release noted spoke of what had worked in their countries - including mainstreaming development goals into national plans, scaling up initiatives, and the implications of harmonizing policies and strategic entry points for the implementation of development goals at national, regional and global levels.

Ambitious development initiatives undertaken by the Bank with regional collaboration are already showing success, such as Desert to Power, which aims to provide access to electricity for 250 million people across the 11 countries of the Sahel, 90 million of them through off-grid systems.

Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa called the SDGs Africa’s “highest challenge.” Stemming the tide of illicit financial flows, public debt, and tax evasion would be urgent measures to be taken by leaders if they meant to stay on track.

Areas for potential collaboration include climate change in Africa, gender mainstreaming, promoting private sector investment, measures to utilize risk insurance to mitigate the impact of natural disasters in Africa, and, appropriate security arrangements to support the Bank’s operations in fragile states in the continent; The African Continental Free Trade Area, which came into force this year, and creates the world’s largest free-trade zone, another major area for collaboration under the partnership. The United Nations Development Program assessment shows achieving the Bank’s High 5s' allow Africa to achieve about 90% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).