African Development

Most providers and recipients of development assistance would agree that poverty eradication lies at the heart of development cooperation. They would probably also acknowledge that the emphasis on eradicating poverty is by no means new.

The Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development demonstrated unprecedented ambition to end extreme poverty, tackle inequality and leave no one behind. Bold objectives have been agreed, and financial commitments have been made.

The remarkable extractives-driven economic growth of the last decade across Africa failed to trickle down. It was jobless, it benefitted foreign corporates and the local elite, and it widened the gap between the rich and the poor.

Agenda 2063, the African Union’s long-term vision and blueprint for transformation, identifies infrastructure development as one among a few key pillars for Africa’s economic prosperity and sustainable development.

Studies by Food and Agriculture Organisation continue to show that agriculture could be the gateway to poverty elimination and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.

2015 was an exciting year for global and African development priorities in terms of innovation and re-invention. Pivotal international summits took place that focused on defining goals and targets for the global sustainable development agenda in the post-Millennium Development Goals (MDG) era.

Beco (not her real name) is a 15-year-old girl. She is still in her first year in secondary school, despite her advanced age compared to her classmates.

The year 2015 saw three international summits, from which emerged an overarching framework for ensuring global sustainable development in the post-MDGs era, and agreement on mechanisms for financing the efforts towards attainment of the goals and targets therein.  

Since the turn of the century the middle classes of the global South have taken centre-stage in economic policy circles.