has been pushed beyond the single digit level, and we must all therefore work hard to re - establish low levels of inflation as soon as possible. the ability to attract fdi inflows is also a function of the supporting infrastructure and the existence of a business environment that supports innovation, initiative, and hard work. in this regard africa must not relent on efforts to improve infrastructure development, and lower the cost of doing business. this is a process which is being actively pursued in zambia, where great strides have been made to reduce the number of business licenses required and to streamline licensing procedures, in addition to the establishment of an organisation, the zambia development agency, to spearhead and support fdi flows and domestically financed investment. we do see increased interest in cross border investments from within our region, particularly in the financial sector. with respect to the need to mobilize domestic savings, africa certainly needs to expand the reach of the financial sector and to make the financial sector more efficient. in zambia, the majority of the population does not have access to financial products. the bank of zambia has therefore made advancing financial inclusion as one of its strategic objectives. zambia has a very low population density and there are many areas that are currently not served by any financial institution. reaching these areas will require the application of technology and the concept of branchless banking. to facilitate such innovation, a robust regulatory regime governing the payment system has been implemented with the enactment of the national payment systems act in 2007. in this regard, zambia is learning a lot from the advances made in countries such as uganda and kenya, where cell phone technology has expanded the reach of financial services and products. on its part the zambian government is also taking concrete steps to enhance the application of information and communication technology across the broad spread of government services and the private sector. how can we build better and more resilient institutions that boost confidence in the benefits of a market economy and can act as strong anchors of inflation expectations? earlier in my remarks i did make reference to the fact that one of the greatest dangers facing african economies is the risks that the current crisis might trigger significant policy reversals that undermine important institutions such as the government as well as the central bank. it is important that in africa, the critical work of consolidating fiscal positions and improving the governance arrangements and financial management of public resources is sustained. in many ways, fiscal sector reform reflected in the curtailment of fiscal dominance, have been the central platform upon which

, where the majority of the poor live. with deteriorating fiscal positions in the donor government, there also remains a real risk of cuts in donor flows to the mdgs are to : eradicate extreme poverty and hunger ; achieve universal primary education ; promote gender equality and empower women ; reduce child mortality ; improve maternal health ; combat hiv / aids, malaria and other diseases ; ensure environmental sustainability ; and develop a global partnership for development. developing countries. in zambia for example, government revenues during the first half of 2009 were 25 % below the projections in the 2009 budget, largely reflecting lower trade taxes as well as lower donor inflows. for africa, as a whole, recent estimates by the imf are that budget deficits will drop from a surplus of 2. 8 % of gdp in 2008 to a deficit of 5. 4 % of gdp in 2009 – with fiscal outturns deteriorating across both oil and non - oil commodity exporters. the global financial and economic crisis has also impacted foreign direct investment ( fdi ) and credit flows in africa, with serious consequences on the ability of african economies to build their productive capacities. for many countries in ssa, fdi flows as well as commercial lines of credit have been an important source of finance for growth, particularly because of insufficient domestic savings and the shallowness of domestic capital markets. in zambia, for example, over the past 5 years fdi flows have averaged over us $ 900 million per annum, particularly in the mining, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and tourism sectors. i believe this is an important part of the reason why zambia ’ s real gdp growth in 2009 is estimated at 4. 5 %, well above the 1. 5 % forecast for ssa. as indicated earlier, fdi flows to africa are projected to fall by 18 % in 2009, relative to 2008 inflows of us $ 30 million. in addition trade credits have been impaired as has the access of government ’ s to the international capital markets. efforts, for example, by several african countries to raise longterm financing in international markets through sovereign bond issues have either failed, been cancelled ( for example the ghana telecom bond issue for us $ 300 million ) or have been delayed ( for example the eurobond issues for kenya, nigeria, tanzania, and uganda ). my fourth point is related to the actual, as well as imagined, failures of the market mechanism at the heart of the advanced economies, and the inevitable institutional reforms that need to be undertaken