The controversial 2013 African Economic Outlook was finally launched on Thursday at the Sheraton Addis Hotel, following lengthy delays and accusations of outdated forecasts and data.
[Picture:Eugene Owusu, Lamin Barrow Ahmed Shide and Mekonnen Manyazewa]
The report was questioned by pundits, including Costentinos Berhe (Ph.D.), a scholar at the Addis Ababa University (AAU), who pointed to the failure to incorporate the issue of illicit money outflows and the corrupt acquisition of natural resources by countries in the Far East, most commonly China. The report was also criticized for not emphasizing the shifting political economies of the continent, which according to Costentinos lead to a significant change in the constitution of Africa.
According to the economic outlook report, Ethiopia performed well yet remains behind the top ten performers. Rwanda was mentioned for coming in the leading group, achieving a 7.6 percent growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In contrast, Ethiopia shies away from the report in the top performers list, yet the East African nation has remained a single digit, fast growing country three years in a row. However, the economic outlook omitted Ethiopia following projections of 6.9 percent growth. Lamin Barrow, resident representative from the African Development Bank (AfDB), told The Reporter that it was an oversight. Experts from the Bank said that the report needs to be revised, since it lags behind recent international forecasts that boldly mention Ethiopia in the higher trajectories of economic growth. However, according to Eugene Owusu, resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the economic growth of Ethiopia and most African countries hangs way below the margin to impact human development. Just five African countries feature in the top level of human development progress. Owusu noted that economic growth in Africa resulted in depletions in natural resources of the continent. According to Owusu, Ethiopia is closing in on the discovery of oil yet it this does not guarantee development in a human perspective.
The AfDB, together with UNECA and UNDP, launched the annual reports of African Economic Outlook for 2013 and African Development for 2012. The outlook report praises the continent for staggering economic growth, however downside risks are bringing more challenges to economies across Africa.
The crisis in the global economy and regional shocks, according to the Bank report, did not halt the accelerating economies. However, Africa’s growth was not prudent in the longer term, especially where it had been disturbed in the short term by political instabilities and delayed reforms, such as reduced tourism revenue in countries like Egypt and Tunisia. Lower commodity export earnings and financial inflows, which are lured by the global financial crisis, are among the downside risks and potential challenges that Africa has to render during 2013.
WRITTEN BY BERHANU FEKADE, TheReporterEthiopia.com
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