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African Economic Outlook 2015 - Unlocking the potential of local economies for inclusive growth

The African Development Bank, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and UNU-WIDER held a jointly organized seminar on 8 October 2015 in Helsinki, Finland, to discuss the recently published African Economic Outlook 2015: Regional development – spatial inclusion.

The seminar—‘African Economic Outlook 2015 - Unlocking the potential of local economies for inclusive growth’—was opened and chaired by Amadou Boly, UNU-WIDER Research Fellow. Pekka Puustinen, Director General of the Department of Development Policy, MFA-Finland welcomed the participants to the event. Heikki Tuunanen, an Executive Director of the African Development Bank introduced AfDB as a knowledge bank and policy partner, ‘an African Bank for African people’.

Demographic changes and spatial dynamics create challenges

The AEO 2015 was presented by Abebe Shimeles, Manager of Development Research Division, and Anthony Simpasa, Principal Research Economist, both at AfDB. The two presenters underlined that while the continent’s economy has been growing rapidly over the last few years —drawing a much more optimistic picture than only 15 years ago—the diversity of Africa’s growth experience at country-level needs to be examined carefully.

While some African countries are among the fastest growing economies in the world, others show rather low growth rates. Furthermore, African economies are increasingly affected by the global economy. Low commodity prices and China’s slowing economy are two examples of how Africa’s growth rates are affected by this increased interconnectivity.

In his presentation, Simpasa reminded participants that ‘Africa’s growth is incomplete without a human development dimension’ making reference to the special theme of the AEO 2015; regional development and spatial inclusion. He posited that economic growth in Africa has not yet generated sufficient jobs and been inclusive enough. Inequality remains a major challenge.

Another major challenge that was pointed out is the continent’s rapid population growth; Africa’s population is set to double over the next 35 years. Shimeles noted that Africa is getting younger while the rest of the world is ageing. A fact which is both a risk and an opportunity. One of the concrete challenges the population growth sets is the need to create 29 million new jobs for the young population every single year until 2030.

The need for more concrete policy recommendations

Nadia Ouedraogo, UNU-WIDER Research Fellow, was the first seminar discussant to comment on the report. She thanked the report for taking into account not only economic development but also other dimensions of human activities—be they historical, political, financial, demographic, social, environmental or cultural—that make each country unique, opening doors to a variety of development experiences.

At the same time Ouedraogo called for more concrete policy recommendations to strengthen national and regional public institutions and governance, as well as address the difficult challenges such as the lack of financial access and social infrastructure, population growth, conflict and health issues facing African countries.

The second discussant, Ambassador Sinikka Antila, Senior Advisor on Trade and Development, MFA-Finland, underlined the need for innovative development strategies. She pointed out that while there has been some level of structural transformation and diversification in many African economies, job creation is too slow as the current high-growth sectors have not created sufficient jobs.

According to Antila, capturing the demographic dividend requires fast-track education as well as social service policies, and that there is a great need for spatial planning and regional politics in order to control the rapid urbanization and to hinder regional disparities.

Political willingness and accountability are key

The discussion following the presentations and comments engaged the development specialists and civil society representatives on a wide variety of topics from literacy and women’s education to China’s role in Africa’s economic development.

Amadou Boly, Chair, concluded the seminar by reminding the audience and presenters that while social and economic policies are important, political willingness and accountability will be key for any successful implementation. In this regard, Africa’s youth will certainly need to play an active watchful role in the future.

The AEO 2015 report is the product of close collaboration between the African Development Bank, the OECD Development Centre, and the United Nations Development Programme.

Download and read African Economic Outlook 2015 – Regional Development and Spatial Inclusion

View and download presentation slides

AEO 2015 Nordic Dissemination-Helsinki