Focus on Africa

A large number of the world’s most vulnerable people live in sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike many other regions with extremely poor people, there has been very little economic growth in Africa. While the number of poor diminishes in many other countries, the number increases in Africa.

Why isn’t development gaining momentum in Africa?

Jeffrey Sachs answers this question in his book The End of Poverty. Sachs is professor of economics at Columbia University in New York and acted as a special adviser to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan when Millennium Development Goals were being established.

Sachs rejects some of the explanations frequently put forward in the current debate on Africa – that the lack of economic development is due to corrupt regimes, for example. Of course this is a problem in some countries, but his point is that even countries with decent politicians have problems.

There is a vicious circle where bad health contributes to poverty and poverty to bad health. Sachs’s conclusion is that Africa will not get out of that cycle without substantial help from the outside. And those who want to help Africa to get a foot on the first step of the development ladder must understand the character of its problems.

Techniques are available that could help Africa increase crop yields, as well as prevent, relieve and sometimes cure the diseases which afflict it. But unfortunately the poorest countries cannot afford them. The lack of infrastructure is a huge disadvantage, in particular, for the many land-locked countries of the continent. Of course there are also solutions to these problems but the resources necessary for investments are not accessible.

Jeffrey Sachs argues that extreme poverty can be eliminated within 20 years, assuming rich countries do their part. In principle they have agreed to increase their aid from today’s average of up to 0.2 per cent of Gross National Product to 0.7 per cent. But most countries are still far from reaching that goal.

It should be an important mission for the Red Cross/Red Crescent National Societies in the wealthy countries to do their utmost to influence their respective governments to achieve the 0.7 per cent goal. The Swedish Red Cross, together with other NGOs, played a significant part in making the Swedish government and parliament decide on the even more ambitious goal of 1 per cent, which will soon be reached.

The low level of the aid to developing countries, the slow progress in increasing that aid, the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in all countries and the many other extensive problems in Africa can easily make you feel pessimistic. When African states became independent in the 1960s there was much optimism about their economic development. Since then a sense of disappointment has dominated. But after having read Sachs’ book I feel more optimistic than I have for a long time, and I think there are grounds for optimism.

Contrary to what was believed 30 years ago when Gunnar Myrdal published his Asian Drama, countries in South-East Asia and South Asia have shown that economic progress is achievable. And Jeffrey Sachs and others have now mapped out how the problems of Africa might be solved. So there’s no doubt, there is a golden opportunity now to take decisive steps forward. And even if the decision making in the rich countries is slow, there are signs that they take the challenge seriously.

But it is not only governments that can help. Even private people and organizations like the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement can make a difference. The new Governing Board of IFRC will, in accordance with the goals decided in Seoul, devote one of its first meetings to Africa and discuss how best we can contribute. High on our agenda should be capacity building on the community level. Personally, I think this is crucial for food and health programmes to work successfully.

Together with our sister societies in Africa, I am convinced that we can contribute to making a real difference.