UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Carlos Lopez has commended Africa for registering the highest economic growth in the current global slump.
Speaking at the 28th Executive Session of AU Executive Council Meeting on Wednesday in Addis Ababa, Lopez pointed out that despite conflicts, drop in demand and commodity prices, high currency volatility as well as devastating El Nino, Africa is going still at high speed pace of registering economic growth.
Lopez added that Africa’s mega projects including the new Suez Canal and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam have not been affected by the seasonal troubles.
“We are hopeful that the fundamentals of our prospects are there and intact. We have internationally low debt levels, public deficit still under control and the steady increase in investment from countries like India and China have given us huge opportunity to trust our future.” he added
Lopez however lamented that there is high incidence of conflicts among African countries with low capital income, low life expectancy and meager economic opportunity.
He further revealed the economic performance of the conflict areas is on average 10 percent below that of conflict free areas in most GDP performance categories.
He said the extreme economic inequalities can in turn trigger violence and therefore called on governments to exert their maximum efforts to narrow the gap between poor and rich.
He finally expressed his optimism that both the African Renaissance and Agenda 2063 will be realized by utilizing natural resources, modernizing service, enhancing democracy good governance and sustaining peace and security in the continent.
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