It is no longer business as usual
Feb 04, 2009
A BRITISH charity Oxfam has warned that donor countries are unlikely to meet their aid commitments because of the current financial crisis. Analysts have also said initial hopes that Africa might avoid the worst of the credit crunch were premature and tha
A BRITISH charity Oxfam has warned that donor countries are unlikely to meet their aid commitments because of the current financial crisis. Analysts have also said initial hopes that Africa might avoid the worst of the credit crunch were premature and that the continent will actually be hit hard due to falling demand for commodities, reduced remittances, foreign investment, tourism and tax income.
A combination of the above spells doom for a continent that is struggling to gain access to international markets in order to reduce its reliance on foreign aid to finance its budget.
The challenge for the developing world in general and Uganda in particular, is to realise that the current economic downturn is real and channel resources to the most critical sectors of the economy to mitigate the effect of this negative phenomenon.
The World Bank this week revised its growth forecast for Africa from 6.8% down to 3.5%. This paints a gloomy picture for a continent already plagued by poverty, disease and social conflict.
This means the developing world will be far off the Millennium Development Goal targets.
Goal eight talks of a global partnership for development, loosely meaning more aid from the more-resource endowed countries to the less endowed.
However, with the developed countries over the years falling short of their aid commitments, the developing world must now brace themselves for the worst.
In Uganda, we could for instance reassess whether the huge expenditure on public administration should not be revisited. The constituency development fund for MPs could also be suspended.
The Government could also look at other cost-cutting measures and such monies channeled to the critical areas like education, health and poverty alleviation.
The peace in the north should be consolidated to enable uninterrupted implementation of the on-going Peace, Recovery and Development Plan.
It is time to re-examine our expenditure because we are headed for disaster if we continue with business as usual.
A combination of the above spells doom for a continent that is struggling to gain access to international markets in order to reduce its reliance on foreign aid to finance its budget.
The challenge for the developing world in general and Uganda in particular, is to realise that the current economic downturn is real and channel resources to the most critical sectors of the economy to mitigate the effect of this negative phenomenon.
The World Bank this week revised its growth forecast for Africa from 6.8% down to 3.5%. This paints a gloomy picture for a continent already plagued by poverty, disease and social conflict.
This means the developing world will be far off the Millennium Development Goal targets.
Goal eight talks of a global partnership for development, loosely meaning more aid from the more-resource endowed countries to the less endowed.
However, with the developed countries over the years falling short of their aid commitments, the developing world must now brace themselves for the worst.
In Uganda, we could for instance reassess whether the huge expenditure on public administration should not be revisited. The constituency development fund for MPs could also be suspended.
The Government could also look at other cost-cutting measures and such monies channeled to the critical areas like education, health and poverty alleviation.
The peace in the north should be consolidated to enable uninterrupted implementation of the on-going Peace, Recovery and Development Plan.
It is time to re-examine our expenditure because we are headed for disaster if we continue with business as usual.