Great news from Africa

Africa as a whole is on track to achieve key targets of the Millennium Development Goals, but challenges remain

From Ghana to Mozambique, Africa’s economic pulse is quickening. More than half of the world’s fastest-growing economies are in Africa, and according to a new World Bank report, (“Africa’s Pulse” Vol 8), the continent’s economy is expected to grow more than 5% next year. This is great news.

Strong economic growth can create jobs, raise incomes and usher in development. But GDP is just one measure of progress. Another key indicator to watch is a set of targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which assess whether these economic gains translate into improvements for the poorest people.

Endorsed by all UN member states in 2000, these eight ambitious goals — from halving hunger and poverty to reducing child mortality by two-thirds and ensuring universal primary school enrolment, all by 2015 — serve as a global report card.

Two years before deadline, the world has a lot to be proud of: 700m people have been lifted from extreme poverty; 2bn have gained access to clean water; 20m lives have been saved by treatments for TB; HIV infections have fallen by 20%; and 8m more people are receiving life-saving antiretroviral drugs.

Thanks to investment in better health care, maternal mortality rates are down 47% and 14 000 fewer children die each day; 90% of the world’s children are enrolled in primary school, a rate that represents parity between boys and girls.

This success was made possible, in part, by the goals themselves. Unlike many international resolutions, the MDGs are time-bound, concrete and measurable. Another critical factor has been African leaders, who have taken ownership of development in their countries and quadrupled their MDG spending since 2000.

While there remains wide variability, the results speak for themselves. Africa as a whole is on track to achieve key targets for primary education, combating HIV/Aids, TB and malaria and promoting gender equality. And progress has been widening and accelerating. In 2012, 15 of the 20 countries which made the greatest progress on the MDGs were from Africa, among them Benin, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Malawi and Rwanda.

Ethiopia, for example, has just met the MDG goal of reducing child mortality, cutting deaths from one in five children a year to one in 15. That is still much higher than mortality rates in rich countries but it means hundreds of thousands more children are alive today who otherwise wouldn’t be. Malawi and Tanzania have done the same.

Of course, challenges remain. The continent still suffers from the world’s highest under-5 mortality rate and the world’s largest burden of maternal deaths. Poverty reduction has been too slow for Africa to achieve the target of halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty.

SA has a special role to play in this effort. In the robust debate over what new goals the world should rally around after 2015, it serves a dual role as the only African nation in the G20 and part of a small group of countries currently mandated by the African Union under the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia to come up with a common African position by next January’s AU summit.

As part of this process, it will be important to acknowledge that continued economic growth is the indispensable engine to drive progress. But it is equally critical to ensure the MDGs and their successors continue to give African countries a clear North Star — or Southern Cross — to steer towards. Investing in areas from enhanced vaccine coverage for children to improved seeds and training for smallholder farmers who can then better feed and educate their families is not just the right thing to do: by building Africa’s human capacity they help create healthier, better educated citizens who are the foundation of long-term prosperity. Suzman is president of global policy & advocacy at the Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation