Japan will lead African development
Jun 10, 2008
Two events this year – the recent Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) and the Group of Eight Summit in July – present unique opportunities for Japan to demonstrate its fruitful partnership with the African continent and global leadership on sustainable develop
By Obiageli Ezekwesili
Two events this year – the recent Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) and the Group of Eight Summit in July – present unique opportunities for Japan to demonstrate its fruitful partnership with the African continent and global leadership on sustainable development.
Africa’s development potential
Africa is on the rise. Economic growth is up, conflicts are down, and there is a growing sense of optimism across the continent. The steady pace at which many African economies are growing – averaging 5.4% a year for the past three years – would be a source of envy for many industrialised countries.
On the business front, Africa is increasingly competitive. Ghana and Kenya were ranked among the top 10 business-friendly economies in 2008, even as the latter has suffered a temporary setback. More children are going to school, and remaining in school. Health indicators are up, and child mortality is decreasing. Nearly half of sub-Saharan Africa’s population lives in countries that are rich in oil, gas or hard mineral resources. The unprecedented boom in commodity prices offers new opportunities to mobilise mineral wealth for sustainable development.
Emerging risks
But new risks are emerging: soaring prices of basic food grains, rising incidence of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, and increasingly, threats posed by a changing climate. In the past year, wheat price has gone up by 120%. Rice prices have skyrocketed to near historic levels – rising about 75% globally. Painful as these price increases are to the consumers in industrialised countries, they strike an even more devastating blow to the world’s poorest people – children, as young as four or five, forced to flee the safety of their rural communities to fight for food in teeming cities; mothers deprived of nutrition for healthy babies. For these families, food purchases account for anywhere between 50 to 75% of income, leaving no margin for survival.
Over the last couple of months, riots have broken out in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Mozambique, and Senegal. According to World Bank estimates, the price spike could push over 100 million people deeper into poverty, wiping out seven years of hard-won development gains. World Bank president Robert Zoellick recently called for a “New Deal on Global Food Policy†that was endorsed by 180 ministers. To help African countries cope with the food crisis, the World Bank is making $100 million available to Burundi, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Cote-d’Ivoire, while countries survey their needs for further support.
Japan’s dramatic success in transforming its post-war economy and emergence as an industrial superpower hold powerful lessons for African development:
Agriculture and infrastructure development
These are the areas where Japanese interventions could deliver lasting development results. Agriculture is a life line of African economies, frequently accounting for one-third to one-half of the gross domestic product of many nations.
Boosting productivity on millions of small farms is vital for generating broad-based growth, increasing food availability and cutting poverty. Over a generation ago, the Green Revolution boosted food production in Asia and Latin America, transforming food-deficit countries into grain exporters. But it bypassed Africa. A new, greener revolution, with a smaller ecological footprint is urgently needed for Africa. For many Africans, rice is food. With Japanese support, the New Rices for Africa (NERICA’s) programme is spelling hope. Nations in western Africa pay $2b annually for imported rice. A bigger push, involving the private sector is needed for rice and other staple crops – beans, cassava, maize, pearl millet, sorghum and other crops that are a mainstay of African diets. Cutting-edge agricultural technologies are necessary for raising farm productivity, and Japan has a lot to offer in this area.
The World Bank’s 2008 World Development Report focused on the importance of agriculture for sustainable development. We are nearly doubling our agricultural lending, from $450m to $800m in Africa. We are heartened that Japan is contributing $100m for emergency food assistance programmes. And it is gratifying that the food crisis will feature prominently at the Group of Eight Summit, heeding prime minister Yasuo Fukuda’s call for more attention on this crucial area.
Infrastructure development
This is the second priority area. Poor infrastructure is weakening Africa’s ability to provide its citizens with decent education and health services, and preventing farmers from accessing lucrative regional and overseas markets. Japan’s massive and unparalleled domestic investments in infrastructure and water resources management offer useful lessons for Africa. The fact that only one in four Africans has access to electricity, and less than five% of Africa’s hydropower potential has been tapped shows the great potential for infusing technology-led private sector investment in this area.
Japan’s focus on sustained investments in hydraulic infrastructure to regulate river flows, improve water and sanitation services in booming urban centres, providing reliable irrigation, and improving flood control offer important lessons for all developing countries. Japan’s scaled-up investments in African infrastructure provide a much-needed booster effect, giving Japan the moral authority to highlight Africa’s infrastructure challenges during the Group of Eight Summit.
Japan’s support to poor countries
Japan has long been a steadfast supporter of the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional financing arm for the poorest countries. Thanks also to Japan’s support, the 15th replenishment of IDA netted $42b to finance the fight against poverty over the next three years.
Sub-Saharan Africa will not achieve the first Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving poverty and hunger by 2015. Eighty percent of African countries show poor progress on improved sanitation, and 44% of the population still lacks access to clean water. The region lost 9% of its forest cover between 1990 and 2005. And with over 22 million people infected with HIV, Sub-Saharan Africa is tragically the global epicenter of the disease.
By working together, Japan, the World Bank, and the international community can lay the foundations for strengthened development cooperation to achieve the MDGs, and help Africa reach its full potential. That must be the enduring legacy of TICAD and the Group of Eight Summit.
The writer is the World Bank Vice-President for the Africa Region. The paper was first published by the Japanese mass circulation daily, Nikkei
Two events this year – the recent Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) and the Group of Eight Summit in July – present unique opportunities for Japan to demonstrate its fruitful partnership with the African continent and global leadership on sustainable development.
Africa’s development potential
Africa is on the rise. Economic growth is up, conflicts are down, and there is a growing sense of optimism across the continent. The steady pace at which many African economies are growing – averaging 5.4% a year for the past three years – would be a source of envy for many industrialised countries.
On the business front, Africa is increasingly competitive. Ghana and Kenya were ranked among the top 10 business-friendly economies in 2008, even as the latter has suffered a temporary setback. More children are going to school, and remaining in school. Health indicators are up, and child mortality is decreasing. Nearly half of sub-Saharan Africa’s population lives in countries that are rich in oil, gas or hard mineral resources. The unprecedented boom in commodity prices offers new opportunities to mobilise mineral wealth for sustainable development.
Emerging risks
But new risks are emerging: soaring prices of basic food grains, rising incidence of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, and increasingly, threats posed by a changing climate. In the past year, wheat price has gone up by 120%. Rice prices have skyrocketed to near historic levels – rising about 75% globally. Painful as these price increases are to the consumers in industrialised countries, they strike an even more devastating blow to the world’s poorest people – children, as young as four or five, forced to flee the safety of their rural communities to fight for food in teeming cities; mothers deprived of nutrition for healthy babies. For these families, food purchases account for anywhere between 50 to 75% of income, leaving no margin for survival.
Over the last couple of months, riots have broken out in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Mozambique, and Senegal. According to World Bank estimates, the price spike could push over 100 million people deeper into poverty, wiping out seven years of hard-won development gains. World Bank president Robert Zoellick recently called for a “New Deal on Global Food Policy†that was endorsed by 180 ministers. To help African countries cope with the food crisis, the World Bank is making $100 million available to Burundi, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Cote-d’Ivoire, while countries survey their needs for further support.
Japan’s dramatic success in transforming its post-war economy and emergence as an industrial superpower hold powerful lessons for African development:
Agriculture and infrastructure development
These are the areas where Japanese interventions could deliver lasting development results. Agriculture is a life line of African economies, frequently accounting for one-third to one-half of the gross domestic product of many nations.
Boosting productivity on millions of small farms is vital for generating broad-based growth, increasing food availability and cutting poverty. Over a generation ago, the Green Revolution boosted food production in Asia and Latin America, transforming food-deficit countries into grain exporters. But it bypassed Africa. A new, greener revolution, with a smaller ecological footprint is urgently needed for Africa. For many Africans, rice is food. With Japanese support, the New Rices for Africa (NERICA’s) programme is spelling hope. Nations in western Africa pay $2b annually for imported rice. A bigger push, involving the private sector is needed for rice and other staple crops – beans, cassava, maize, pearl millet, sorghum and other crops that are a mainstay of African diets. Cutting-edge agricultural technologies are necessary for raising farm productivity, and Japan has a lot to offer in this area.
The World Bank’s 2008 World Development Report focused on the importance of agriculture for sustainable development. We are nearly doubling our agricultural lending, from $450m to $800m in Africa. We are heartened that Japan is contributing $100m for emergency food assistance programmes. And it is gratifying that the food crisis will feature prominently at the Group of Eight Summit, heeding prime minister Yasuo Fukuda’s call for more attention on this crucial area.
Infrastructure development
This is the second priority area. Poor infrastructure is weakening Africa’s ability to provide its citizens with decent education and health services, and preventing farmers from accessing lucrative regional and overseas markets. Japan’s massive and unparalleled domestic investments in infrastructure and water resources management offer useful lessons for Africa. The fact that only one in four Africans has access to electricity, and less than five% of Africa’s hydropower potential has been tapped shows the great potential for infusing technology-led private sector investment in this area.
Japan’s focus on sustained investments in hydraulic infrastructure to regulate river flows, improve water and sanitation services in booming urban centres, providing reliable irrigation, and improving flood control offer important lessons for all developing countries. Japan’s scaled-up investments in African infrastructure provide a much-needed booster effect, giving Japan the moral authority to highlight Africa’s infrastructure challenges during the Group of Eight Summit.
Japan’s support to poor countries
Japan has long been a steadfast supporter of the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional financing arm for the poorest countries. Thanks also to Japan’s support, the 15th replenishment of IDA netted $42b to finance the fight against poverty over the next three years.
Sub-Saharan Africa will not achieve the first Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving poverty and hunger by 2015. Eighty percent of African countries show poor progress on improved sanitation, and 44% of the population still lacks access to clean water. The region lost 9% of its forest cover between 1990 and 2005. And with over 22 million people infected with HIV, Sub-Saharan Africa is tragically the global epicenter of the disease.
By working together, Japan, the World Bank, and the international community can lay the foundations for strengthened development cooperation to achieve the MDGs, and help Africa reach its full potential. That must be the enduring legacy of TICAD and the Group of Eight Summit.
The writer is the World Bank Vice-President for the Africa Region. The paper was first published by the Japanese mass circulation daily, Nikkei