29 October 2013
African political and business leaders and development experts gathered in Johannesburg on Monday to discuss regional integration and its role in boosting economic growth and human well-being on the continent at the three-day African Economic Conference.
While Africa has seen high levels of economic growth over the last decade, that growth has had limited impact on boosting competitiveness and increasing the quality of life of ordinary people on the continent.
Weaknesses persist in the continent’s quality of institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic policies, education and adoption of new technologies, while there are big gaps between Africa’s highest and lowest ranked economies.
“This great gathering should do more than restate the case for regional integration; it must examine how to push the African continent to the next level, to become a global growth pole in its own right,” African Development Bank (AfDB) president Donald Kaberuka said at the opening of the conference.
“Robust action is what is now needed on non-tariff barriers, trade facilitation, and the movement of people. Africa has the political will and the strategic vision to make this happen. The time is right,” Kaberuka said.
Because of its focus on capital-intensive, commodity-based industries, Africa has seen limited economic transformation, with little investment in the manufacturing, services and agricultural sectors. Due to these limitations, the creation of jobs, markets and institutions required to help young women and men build better futures has lagged behind.
Abdalla Hamdok, deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said that regional integration would “impel Africa to economic transformation and industrialization. Capitalising on natural resources, industrialization can swiftly add value to the continent’s exports and, therefore, stimulate job creation”.
Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, director of UNDP Africa, said there needed to be a much broader definition of regional economic integration.
“True, regional integration must include investments in regional infrastructure, trade and labour mobility,” Dieye told the conference. “But countries would also gain by harmonizing regulations and standards, devising common approaches to macroeconomic policy, job creation, and effective management of shared natural resources for sustainable poverty reduction and structural economic transformation.”
While the benefits of integration are well-known and many of the legal frameworks in place, the challenge is how to further that agenda. Among the major hurdles are harmonising standards and regulations, boosting human resource capacities, and mobilising leadership and political will.
The conference will look at the political economy of regional integration and examine closely some of the practical solutions to advance it. High-level dialogues will cover integration issues ranging from finance to water resource management, fiscal convergence and harmonization of social policies.
Participants at the conference will also look at some of the trends and best practices unfolding across the continent.
Source: SAnews.gov.za-NNN-AfDB
