The 8th African Development Forum (ADF VIII) opened in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, on Monday
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, October 23, 2012/ - The 8th African Development
Forum (ADF VIII) opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday with a call on
African countries to harness their huge natural resources for the benefit of
their growing populations.
Addressing participants at the opening ceremony, the African Development
Bank (AfDB) (http://www.afdb.org) Group Operations Vice President, Aly
Abou-Sabba, noted that Africa was now in a position where it should be using
its natural resources for accelerated wealth creation to bring about
socio-economic transformation.
Speaking on behalf of AfDB President Donald Kaberuka, Mr. Abou-Sabaa said
that Africa is home to some of the world's largest deposits of oil and gas,
gold reserves and strategic minerals, such as uranium, cobalt and bauxite,
and has an undeniable comparative advantage in natural resources.
"The challenge for the continent is how to govern and harness this rich pool
of natural resources to achieve a broad-based growth," he said.
Mr. Abou-Sabaa outlined three critical factors that must be in place for the
continent to shift from being "resource cursed" to "resource blessed": 1)
Promoting responsible investment for broad-based growth; 2) Strengthening
governance for enhanced transparency and accountability; and 3) Building
capable and responsive states for human development and economic
effectiveness.
Speaking earlier, the new Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission
for Africa (UNECA), Carlos Lopes, noted that Africa accounts for three
quarters of the world's platinum supply, half of the diamond and chromium,
and one fifth of global gold deposits.
The continent is also a major supplier of cobalt, copper, iron and coal, and
home to 60 per cent of the world's uncultivated arable land.
Despite such wealth, Africa neither consumes its minerals nor adds value to
them before exporting them. It has high potential to feed the growing global
population, but can hardly feed it population because of underdeveloped
agriculture that results in low crop yields, he said.
Mr. Lopes recounted how outsiders continue to reap enormous benefits from
Africa's resources, citing the case of Glenocore, a Swiss company that
mainly operates in the Democratic Republic of Congo and whose assets are
worth more than those of the country where it operates. Glenocore is
currently negotiating a deal with another Swiss company, Xstrata, to "create
a $70 billion dollar mining powerhouse," he said.
"Of the 20 major mining companies currently operating in Africa, only
Anglo-Gold Ashanti is home-grown," Mr. Lopes said.
All the inputs of the mining companies are imported, he added, and nearly
all outputs are exported without processing; while the most important tasks
are performed by expatriate labour.
According to Mr. Lopes, illegal fishing costs Africa US $629 million
annually, which can cover the infrastructure funding gap of a country like
Mozambique. The revenue lost from illegal fishing on the waters of Somalia
alone could have funded the country's UN coordinated development programme
for 2011.
The last 10 years have witnessed a phenomenal rise in commodity prices in
which African countries benefitted the least, he said, noting that average
net profits for the top 10 global mining companies grew by 156 per cent in
2010, whereas the take for governments grew by only 60 per cent, most of
which were accounted for by Australia and Canada.
Illicit financial flows from Africa, mainly from the extractive sector, also
amounted to $50 billion a year, he told participants.
Given the state of affairs, Mr. Lopes said it is imperative that African
countries exercise greater strategic control over their natural resources.
For her part, the African Union Commission Chair, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma,
raised several questions concerning Africa's wealth and development paradox
that the forum should consider, in addition to formulating ways and means of
tackling them.
"Africa is today, among the fastest-growing regions in the world. How come
the growth is not generating enough jobs for our people, especially the
youth? How come the jobs our people have are low-level and poorly paid?" she
said.
In his intervention, Ethiopia's Industry Minister, Mekonnen Manyazewal,
suggested that Africa needed a developmental state and transformational
leadership to effectively govern and harness its natural resources.
The Forum, which runs from October 23-25, 2012, is on the theme, "Governing
and Harnessing Natural Resources for Africa's Development".
The ADF, a UNECA flagship biennial event, is convened in collaboration with
the AU Commission, AfDB and other key partners to establish an
African-driven development agenda that reflects consensus and leads to
specific programmes for implementation. It is attended by a large number of
participants including Heads of State and Government, African member state
policy-makers, development partners, other United Nations agencies,
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (IGOs/NGOs), academia,
practitioners, civil society organizations (CSOs), the private sector,
eminent policy and opinion leaders and other concerned stakeholders.
Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African
Development Bank