Putting Africa on a Sustainable, High-Quality Growth Path

• Pages: 324-326

Page 324

Following are edited excerpts of an address by IMF Deputy Managing Director Alassane D. Ouattara at a seminar on the IMF and Sustainable Development, sponsored by the Swiss Coalition of Development Organizations, in Berne, Switzerland, August 25.

What does "sustainable development" mean? Initially, the focus was on the environment, but increasingly its meaning has been broadened to embrace the economic and social aspects of development as well. At the IMF, we strongly believe that high-quality growth lies at the center of sustainable development-that is, growth that brings lasting employment gains and poverty reduction, provides greater equality of income through greater equality of opportunity, including for women, and protects the environment.

Has the world moved any closer to sustainable development in recent years? I will focus my remarks on Africa-where the challenge of high-quality growth is the greatest. Certainly, Africa as a whole has made enormous strides in recent years, with growth picking up and per capita incomes on the rise. But poverty is still widespread, per capita incomes are far too low, and much remains to be done to improve health conditions and education, and reduce unemployment.

How can we help Africa catch up with Asia and Latin America, especially against a background of accelerating globalization? The answer lies in a new global partnership of Africa, the industrial countries, and the multilateral institutions. This partnership should have three objectives: increased growth with equity and financial stability; improved social conditions, particularly in the areas of health and education; and environmental sustainability.

Africa needs to sharply accelerate reforms to fully integrate itself into the world economy and take advantage of the opportunities globalization offers: higher productivity and living standards, access to a wider range of goods and services at lower costs, and the chance to mobilize a larger volume of financial savings to restore and speed up eco-Page 325nomic growth and development and alleviate poverty. But globalization also poses new risks. For many African countries, given their limited access to capital markets, perhaps the greatest risk is marginalization-a process that threatens to leave behind those countries that fail to harness the new forces at work in the world...