World Bank boss appeals to African leaders to take tough decisions to promote growth

The World Bank has urged African leaders to take tough decisions to grow their economies. It noted that the major economic slowdown in Africa and other developing countries had the potential to scuttle efforts at ending extreme poverty; a situation that called for tough decisions.

Speaking at the launch of a comprehensive report on Poverty in Africa to commemorate the End of Poverty Day in Accra Friday, the President of the bank, Dr Jim Yong Kim, said such decisions would also mean investment in the people, and building safety nets to prevent people from falling back into poverty.

It was the first time that the World Bank had marked the day but Dr Kim said the bank would be marking it every year with the United Nations and other partners.

The Africa Poverty Report, dubbed ‘Poverty in a Rising Africa’, hailed Africa’s strong economic growth which had contributed to the improvement in the health of people and education in the past 20 years.

Portions of the report released by the World Bank said, “ An estimated 358 million people - or 43 per cent of all people living in sub-Saharan Africa – lived in extreme poverty in 2012, the  last year that figures were available, which is a decrease of five per cent from 2011.”

“The good news is that economic growth, coupled with specific health and education interventions have contributed to improving people’s lives, and contributed in many countries such as Ghana to major reductions in poverty,” Dr Kim said at the launch of the bank’s flagship report.

The report also touched on how the strong economic growth had resulted in a major reduction in poverty in several countries  including Ghana, which in  two decades cut poverty by more than half; from 53 per cent in 1991 to 21 per cent in 2012.

The high-level event was attended by President John Dramani Mahama, who jointly launched the project with Dr Kim.

Also in attendance was the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr Augustin Matata Ponyo.

Other high-ranking officials of the United Nations and the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina, were also present.

The well-attended launch, held at the Mantse Agboona in James Town, considered a deprived community in the national capital, was characterised by a display of rich Ghanaian culture, as epitomised in the Ga tradition.

The World Bank has projected that there are 347 million people living in extreme poverty in Africa today.

“The report traces two decades of unprecedented economic growth on the continent with the messages that are both encouraging and sobering,” Dr Kim said.

The bank, in a report released just before the launch said, “ The poverty report finds that progress in ending poverty in all its forms has varied greatly across countries and population groups, with the levels of achievement remaining challengingly low.”

“Africa posted the slowest rate of poverty reduction in all major developing regions with the share of people living in extreme poverty ( less than US$1.90 a day) declining only slightly, from 56 per cent in 1990 to 43 per cent in 2012,” the release added.

It continued that since 2012, extreme poverty had fallen to a projected 35 per cent in 2015 in the region, based on the World Bank’s new poverty line of $1.90 a day.

“While the percentage of Africans living in poverty has decreased over time, the sheer numbers have grown. An estimated 284 million Africans lived in poverty in 1990,” the bank said.

Poverty can end

The World Bank President said for many people, it was impossible to end extreme poverty but quickly added that, “I’m here to say that is not true; that we can and must be the first generation in human history to end extreme poverty.”

He also said the World Bank Group aimed to end extreme poverty by 2030.  “We are making progress towards achieving these goals. Global poverty is now below 10 per cent.”

Dr Kim said the bank took great interest in supporting the poor and the vulnerable, while preserving the planet for future generations.

“That is why we are in Ghana today. We came from Washington, from Kinshasa, from Abidjan from Lagos, to be in James Town to recognise the progress that Ghana has made over the past two decades, thanks to a succession of governments and also thanks to the demands of Ghanaian people to end extreme poverty,” he said.

He urged African governments to have high aspirations for the poor because,  “low aspirations can be deadly for them.”

“We must listen to the aspirations of the poor and lift up our own to meet them,” he added.

President Mahama

President Mahama took pains to outline the progress made by Ghana in addressing poverty, saying the country was one of the leaders in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The President said in spite of the successes chalked up in various sectors of the economy, some parts of the country, mostly the three northern regions were still confronted with extreme poverty with some recording 80 per cent poverty.

He said new poverty areas including James Town posed a serious challenge to accelerating the gains made and suggested that efforts must be made to address the problem head-on.

President Mahama also said climate change had resulted in a reduction in fish stock along the coastal areas, resulting in dwindling incomes for the fishing communities.

He therefore appealed to the World Bank to partner the government to improve the lives of the coastal people.

Other speakers

Both the President of AfDB and the DR Congo Prime Minister pointed out the need for African countries to move strongly towards empowering their people to reduce poverty.

Dr Adesina said Africans had become so used to poverty that they believed it was normal.

“But, that is not the case,” he said, assuring that the bank would continue to play its role in addressing poverty on the continent.