AU makes widespread reform proposals to drive African industrial growth
Yaoundé, Cameroon (PANA) - The African Union Commission has called on countries to rapidly ratify treaties aiming for the creation of the Central Bank, Monetary Fund and the Investment Bank to help mobilize the wealth required to finance rapid economic growth and create more jobs.
The AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Prof. Victor Harrison, said putting Africa on a broad economic growth path required crucial reforms at national, regional and continental levels and taking measures required to maintain economic stability as well as currency reforms to reduce business risks.
“No stone should be left unturned in our efforts to ensure Africa enjoys a second decade of growth,” Harrison said during the Third AU Specialised Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs and Integration, underway in Yaoundé, Cameroon from 4-8 March, 2019.
The creation of the African Investment Bank, to be based in Tripoli, was approved in 2009 with an initial capital of US$25 billion, to help finance regional projects and private sector activities across boundaries.
The setting up of the African Monetary Fund, to be located in Cameroon, has been delayed with no ratification of the 2014 protocol received as of Jan 2019 and a steering committee which operated from Yaoundé, reportedly abandoned ship for lack of facilitation.
Similar initiatives towards the creation of the Central Bank based in Abuja, Nigeria, have also made little headway.
The ministers, technical experts and representatives of economic think-tanks like the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the Harare-based African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) are meeting to discuss the nature of economic reforms required to move African economies to a 7% growth rate.
The AU official said Africa reported a sustained average growth of 4.7% between 2000 and 2017 becoming one of the fastest growing regions in the world. The growth did not lead to the creation of quality jobs and most economies failed to drive growth from oil and minerals to other sectors.
The current ministerial conference is exploring the nature of policies required to ensure that additional 12 million jobs are created every year within Africa as well as helping countries to embrace policies that would enable economies to benefit from the global growth from digitalization of services and trade.
Harrison emphasised the imperative need for countries to move away from the colonial era economic policies based on the export of raw and unprocessed commodities. He said the development of new sectors based on technology would enable countries to graduate to the secondary sector of exporting processed agricultural goods, such as chocolate industries in West Africa.
The AU official said developing a secondary sector driven by export of commodities was crucial for Africa’s economic growth as well as the expansion of processed goods.
“This agenda requires joint effort at the regional level. It has become imperative to mobilise resources and to do this, we require the African Investment Bank, the African Capital Market and all efforts we can master to reduce the exchange rate volatility and reduce risks,” the Commissioner said.
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