Opening Remarks on behalf of Mr Akinwumi A. Adesina at the 2024 African Economic Conference (AEC 2024)

2024 AFRICAN ECONOMIC CONFERENCE (AEC 2024)

 

Gaborone, Botswana

November 23-25, 2024

 

Opening Remarks on:

 “Securing Africa’s Economic Future Amidst Rising Uncertainty”

 

Opening Remarks on behalf of Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina

President, African Development Bank Group

Saturday, 23 November 2024

 

• President of the Republic of Botswana, Advocate Duma Gideon BOKO,

• Hon. Dr. Phenyo BUTALE, Minister of International Relations, the Republic of Botswana;

• Hon. Dr. Masanza Monica MUSENERO, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Republic of Uganda

• Honourable Ministers joining us virtually,

• Mr. Claver GATETE, Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

• Ms. Ahunna EZIAKONWA, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Africa, United Nations Development Programme

• Hon. Agho Oliver BAMENJU, Member of Parliament of the Republic of Cameroon

• Mr Zia CHOUDHURY, United Nations Resident Coordinator to Botswana

• Mr. Gerard Pascal BUSSIER, African Development Bank Group Executive Director for the Republic of Botswana

• Members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Republic of Botswana

• Senior Officials of the Republic of Botswana

• Management and Staff of the African Development Bank Group

• Distinguished Guests

• Members of the Press

• Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning!

1. I bring you warm greetings from Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group.

2. Let me use this opportunity to congratulate Mr. President for our election as the sixth President of the Republic of Botswana. I commend the people of Botswana for the historic 2024 elections, which is an outstanding demonstration of democracy in practice. Congratulations!

3. I thank you, Mr. President, for hosting this year’s African Economic Conference in this beautiful and historic city of Gaborone.

4. The theme of the conference, “Securing Africa’s Economic Future Amidst Rising Uncertainty”, is both timely and critical at this stage in Africa’s and global development discourse.

   Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

5. We live at a time when recurrent and overlapping shocks to global, regional, and national economies, have forced increased realization of the need for reforms at several scales.

   1. Reforms in how we conceive and implement global governance.

   2. Reforms in multilateralism and global development finance architecture.

   3. Reforms in the principles of international cooperation and economic development policy at regional and national scales.

   4. Reforms in how we harness the different forms of capital for development, including the involvement of our growing populations of youth and women in public policymaking and leadership.

   5. This list could go on.

6. With years of development practice, it is now evident that the current models of development have served the world and Africa a great deal, but inequalities remain.

   1. The rates of economic diversification and structural transformation across the African continent remain slow and uneven.

   2. While several African countries have achieved high rates of growth in their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the rates of growth in per-capita incomes have remained far too low in many African countries.

   3. Levels of unemployment remain unacceptably high, and majority of African citizens remain locked in low productivity sectors, and the rate of poverty is deepening in several countries.

   4. In recent years, geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions, weak global demand, volatile commodity prices, tighter financial conditions, climate change effects and structural challenges in global supply chains have compounded development challenges globally.

   5. As a result, Africa’s growth slowed from 4.1% in 2022 to 3.2% in 2023, particularly driven by high food and energy prices, the impact of climate change, and pockets of political instability.

   6. According to the African Economic Outlook Report, 2024:

      • Employment share of manufacturing sector in Africa increased by only 0.6 percentage points between 1990 and 2018.

      • At current growth trends, close to 9 out of 10 of the world’s extremely poor people will be in Africa by 2030.

      • Most middle-income African countries could remain stuck in a middle-income trap for decades to come, and

      • It could take African countries more than a century on average (108 years) to transition to a high-income status.

7. Speaking here in Botswana, one of Africa’s shining examples of sound democracy, with one of the highest human development index in Africa at 0.71 in 2022, and per capita income of $7,620 in 2023; there is hope for Africa. Yet, more needs to be done to address youth unemployment and income inequality. In this regard, the new youthful government in Botswana presents a significant opportunity.

8. Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, addressing these recurrent uncertainties requires a multifaceted approach:

   1. First, it calls for a fundamental re-thinking of the underpinning models of global governance, economic development policy, and new innovations in economic diplomacy and multilateralism.

   2. Second, it calls for home-grown solutions embedded in local realities. Countries need to realise now more than ever, that national development must not be outsourced. Development is a do-it-yourself business.

   3. Third, it calls for effective collaboration and equal partnerships among development institutions, countries and national governments, the private sector and citizens. To be sustainable, the development process must be inclusive – proactively harnessing all forms of capital, especially human and natural capital, with a laser focus on beneficiation and value addition.

   4. It calls for reform of the global debt and tax architecture to make it more transparent, flexible, accessible, and affordable for developing countries.

   5. The list could go on.

   Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

9. The African Economic Conference remains the leading platform for African Economists, Policymakers, Development Practitioners, and Partners to think together and craft solutions to the continent’s recurrent and emerging economic challenges and opportunities.

10. This year’s conference therefore provides a golden opportunity for participants to review the continent’s experiences and identify opportunities and strategies for building resilient development pathways for Africa, going forward.

11. Africa needs to respond to these growing and overlapping uncertainties with a resolve to turn them into opportunities for home-grown policies that build resilience, leveraging its own resources and emerging technologies to build back bolder, bigger and better.

    Your Excellencies, distinguished participants:

12. Africa can build and strengthen its own fiscal buffers, and address the perennial challenges posed by the global debt markets that have engrained debt sustainability challenges in African countries. Experience has demonstrated that, by boosting domestic resource mobilisation and strengthening macro-economic policy frameworks, countries can make their domestic as well as regional financial systems more resilient.

13. Second, we need to learn from growth contractions that result from uncertainties. Some of those contractions come from increased misallocation of capital across sectors in uncertain times. We need to refocus on fiscal discipline, improve capacity in public finance management, and facilitate more efficient resource allocation that spur growth both in good and lean times. For example, structural reforms to promote domestic and foreign direct investment can help lower borrowing costs and reduce funding needs.

14. And third, strategic pro-innovation industrial policy reforms with the right policy mix can help to boost factor productivity, manufacturing value added and inclusive economic growth. Tried and tested policies such as local content, franchising and preferred procurement could go a long way in boosting investments in value chains of competitive advantages in countries, create jobs and boost economic prosperity. I must note here that industrial policy on its own is not a magic solution to slow growth, employment creation, and poverty reduction. Rather a pro-innovation policy mix that prioritizes strategic value chain development in key competitive sectors can help to boost inclusive economic growth and sustainable development in countries.

15. To Secure Africa’s Economic Future Amidst Rising Uncertainty in the global economy, we, the African Economists, Policy makers, Development Practitioners and Partners must therefore be prepared to think without a box. For as Albert Einstein rightly noted, we cannot use the old map to chart the new world. If we continue to do the same thing over and over, we should at best, expect the same results.

16. I therefore encourage us to think innovatively during this year’s conference. We must apply the underpinning principles of economics and development policy, both theories and practices learned from experience, to craft relevant and implementable solutions to Africa’s development challenges, amid the rising uncertainties in the global economy.

    Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

17. I look forward to fruitful deliberations with a sharp focus on crafting practical, implementable and scalable African solutions to drive inclusive growth and sustainable development, in collaboration with partners and friends of Africa where possible.

18. Because together We Can.

19. To conclude, I thank you Mr. President and the people of Botswana for the warm hospitality extended to us since we arrived in this beautiful city of Gaborone.

20. Thank you!