From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:AFRICA: More attention needed for long-term development
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 22:04:20 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Latin America
Title: AFRICA: More attention needed for long-term development


washington, dec 18 (ips) -- african leaders have been too
preoccupied with urgent, short-term needs and crises and must
devote more attention to long-term development plans, according to
a report by the washington-based global coalition for africa
(gca).

and while many countries have made meaningful progress in
implementing economic reforms, ''the overall picture remains
worrisome,'' according to the report which was circulated to
officials in africa, donor nations, and multilateral agencies
earlier this month.

in addition, creditor countries must take stronger action to
reduce the debt burden on african countries and ''must provide
meaningful assurances to african governments'' that they will
receive enough aid ''to underpin economic reforms and new
political reforms,'' the gca said.

''unless action is quick and forceful, adverse trends in socio-
economic development may well persist beyond the 1990s, causing
untold human suffering and endangering the much desired pluralism
and democracy that have begun in more than 20 countries,''
according to boubakar diaby-ouattara, gca's executive director.

created in 1991, the gca is a north-south forum designed to
bring together african leaders and africa's principal bilateral
and multilateral donors. it aims to seek and build a consensus on
the continent's development policies.

chaired by botswana president quett masire, dutch development
minister jan pronk, and former world bank president robert
mcnamara, it seeks dialogue on a variety of issues faced by
african leaders today, from democratisation and governance to
regional integration.

its 66-page annual report highlights a range of problems which
currently cloud africa's recovery.

among the most important is the inability of many countries to
emerge from what is described a ''crisis mode''.

''economic scarcities, foreign exchange shortages, debt
overhangs, physical violence, natural disasters, and the
transition to a plural political structure absorb policy-makers'
attention,'' according to the report, which deplored the inability
of many leaders to focus on long-term strategies needed to put
development on a sound footing. (more/ips)

africa: more attention needed for long-term development(2-e)

africa: more attention needed (2)

while advice from external actors, such as the world bank, may
be helpful, it is ''no substitute for an indigenous effort in
individual countries,'' according to the report.

noting the spread of civil conflicts in africa, the gca also
called for the organisation of african unity (oau), the united
nations, and the gca itself to ''strengthen the mechanisms for
conflict resolution.'' at the same time, ''it is of utmost
importance that arms-exporting countries exercise restraint in
africa.''

the net transfer of funds and capital to african countries
implementing reforms remains ''a major concern'' as well.

while, leaders should pursue policies to improve savings rates
of their citizens, donors should also increase aid flows, forgive
more bilateral debt, and make debt rescheduling easier.

and while african governments should make a greater effort to
attract private investment, ''it is highly optimistic to expect
such flows will increase much in the near future''.

thus, official aid from western and multilateral donors must
continue to shoulder most of the burden for providing africa with
sufficient resources to support its long-term development.

more must also be done to reduce population growth, improve
agricultural productivity, and protect the environment,  according
to the gca.

while fertility rates have begun to fall in several african
countries, said the report, aggressive and adequately financed
family planning programmes must be put in place which may make
possible a rise in the contraceptive prevalence rate from today's
very low 10 percent to at least 38 percent by 2000.

to boost agricultural production, which has stagnated in recent
years, price reforms may not be enough.  land tenure, private
sector development, and greater participation of farmers should
get ''much more attention.  nothing short of the political
mobilisations of farmers will get governments to end their neglect
of rural constituencies,'' the gca said.

in addition, a ''major effort to build human capital'' is
needed following the spending cuts of the 1980s. this requires
more attention on and resources for health and education.

at the same time, multilateral donors, such as the bank and the
international monetary fund (imf) should seek greater
''coherence'' in their policy advice to african nations and the
degree to which their recommendations are consistent with long-
term development needs, according to the report.

it said the two agencies did not take sufficient account of the
impact of their recommendations on the environment and questioned
the effectiveness of technical assistance to africa about which
there is ''considerable skepticism''. (end/ips/jl/yjc/92)
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