Meeting the MDGs in Africa

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Meeting the MDGs in Africa

• A question of unrelenting concern rather than
  despair
  
• Barcelona Development Agenda (2004)

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Meeting the MDGs in Africa

• Introduction Context
• MDGs at a glance
• MDGS Progress towards Targets
• MDGs Sub-regions likely to achieve goals
• MDGs Countries likely to achieve Goals
• Focus on Goal 1
• Why focus on Goal 1
• Trends in poverty SSA and Rest of the World
• Goal 1 progress towards targets by
  sub-regions
  
• Challenges
• Policy Directions

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Meeting the MDGs in Africa
Context

• The advent of MDGs coincided with a transition
  period from structural adjustment to PRSPs and a
  general focus on human development
  
• MDGs are RELEVANT (sets benchmarks) NECESSARY
  (MDGs as ends but also means) and URGENT
  (reasonable time bound targets) but not
  sufficient
• The usefulness of the MDGs lies in the range
  of issues that they raise, in terms of the
  fundamental development problem the continent
  faces today and the necessary policy
  interventions to address this problem

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MDGs at a glance North Africa and Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA)
CONTD
   
 
 
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MDGs at a glance North Africa and Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA)
CONTD
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MDGs at a glance North Africa and Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA)
CONTD
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MDGs at a glance North Africa and Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA)
CONTD
   
   
   
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MDGs at a glance North Africa and Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA)
CONTD
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MDGs at a glance North Africa and Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA)
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MDGs progress towards targets in SSA
Sourcewww.developmentgoals.org United Nations
database
CONTD
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MDGs progress towards targets in SSA
Sourcewww.developmentgoals.org United Nations
database OECD/DAC

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Sub-regions that are likely to achieve the goals
 
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Countries that are likely to achieve the goals
CONTD
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Countries that are likely to achieve the goals
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MDGs Why Focus on Goal 1?

• Goal 1 is essentially a principal
• component of the other goals
• The sustainability of improved
• social indicators can only be an
• outcome of economic growth

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Trends in poverty SSA and Rest of the World
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Achieving Goal 1 by Sub-region

• Slow economic growth on the continent (4
  growth gap
  
• on average) has made reaching MDG 1 very difficult

• Regional differences point towards
  specificity in pro-
  
• poor growth strategies

  Source ECA 1999 POVCALnet and ECA computat
ion
 
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Goal 1 Some positive signs (Annual percentage
reduction in poverty)
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Meeting the MDGs in AfricaChallenges

• Slow GDP growth on the continent (3 on
• average in the 90s) has made reaching the
• MDGs difficult. There is a growth deficit of
  over
  
• 4 to halve poverty
• The need to indicate pro- poor growth that
• disproportionally benefits the poor is
  crucial
  
• Attaining MDGs 2-8 is dependent among other
• things on converting commitment to actions
• both by donors and African States

CONTD
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Meeting the MDGs in Africa
Policy directions I

• Synergies across MDGs allows for some
• degrees of freedom in the choice of policy
• instruments
• Increasing growth and decreasing income
• inequality are essential characteristics of
  any
  
• poverty reduction strategy in Africa
• The relative emphasis on growth and inequality
• is country-specific

CONTD
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Meeting the MDGs in Africa
Policy directions I

• The pace of economic growth as well as the
  state
  
• of income distribution in Africa are
  determined by
  
• structural factors
• These include institutional factors that
  determine
  
• the quality of governance, as well as
  geography
  
• and economic structures
• Increasing agricultural productivity, managing
• population growth, and addressing spatial
• distribution of poverty within African
  economies
  
• are crucial policy areas.

CONTD
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Meeting the MDGs in Africa
Policy directions II

• Sub-Saharan Africa depends on three components
  for a
  
• successful drive to reach the MDGs
  commitment,
  
• contextualization, and institutional
  capacity.
  
• Commitment
• Pledges made and the mutual accountability of
  such
  
• pledges are important. In this respect a
  joint study by
  
• ECA/OECD to ensure greater aid
  effectiveness is being
  
• undertaken
• Contextualization
• Countries have started to integrate the MDGs into
  their national development frameworks (PRSPs) and
  have tailored them to their national
  circumstances (examples Rwanda,Tanzania,
  Senegal, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia)

CONTD
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Meeting the MDGs in Africa
Policy directions

• Institutional Capacity
• The development of a capable state that
• maintains peace and security, creates a
• conducive environment for the private sector
  
  
• and delivers public goods efficiently is
  critical
  
• Building statistical capacity for effective
• monitoring of development results