Poor countries and vulnerable people are facing a barrage of shocks: economic shocks such as volatile food prices and financial crises; environmental shocks and natural disasters such as droughts, floods, and earthquakes; food safety, diseases, and health shocks; and social and political shocks such as conflicts and violence that disrupt the food supply and threaten food and nutrition security.
Mahlet Fasil
The 2014 edition of the Economic Commission for Africa flagship report was launched Monday in Addis Ababa, with the unanimous view that industrialization is crucial to Africa’s continued development. Aptly themed, “Dynamic Industrial Policy in Africa,” the Report outlines several key messages, including the crucial fact that “industrial policy in Africa is essential if we are to address market failures and build capabilities within the continent.”In remarks at the opening, Mr. Abdalla Hamdok, Deputy Executive Secretary of the ECA reiterated Africa’s current narrative of economic progress and successful development and said, “We are witnessing a growth assertiveness on the continent that has resulted in better macroeconomic performance like never before.”
Africa's rich natural resources offer a unique opportunity for a
breakthrough in improving the lives of Africa's citizens, says a
major new report launched today by Kofi Annan, the former
UN Secretary-General, but too often these resources are
plundered by corrupt officials and foreign investors.
Rising inequalityis also blocking Africa from seizing that
opportunity, the report shows.
The 2014 Africa Progress Panel report, Grain, Fish, Money:
Financing Africa's green and blue revolutions, calls on Africa's
political leaders to take concrete measures now to reduce inequality
by investing in agriculture. It also demands international action to end
what it describes as the plunder of Africa's timber and fisheries.
