The African Development Bank (AfDB) has burst the bubble of African countries obsessed with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures, saying “nobody eats GDP”.
The AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, cautioned African countries as he unveiled the Bank’s flagship economic report last Thursday.
The 2020 African Economic Outlook (AEO) showed that the continent’s economies are growing well, higher than the global average. The report projected a steady rise in growth in Africa from 3.4% in 2019 to 3.9% in 2020 and 4.1% in 2021.
According to the report, these figures do not tell the whole story. Across the continent, the poor are not seeing enough of the benefits of robust growth. Relatively few African countries posted significant declines in extreme poverty and inequality, which remain higher than in other regions of the world.
However, Adesina thinks “Growth must be visible. Growth must be equitable. Growth must be felt in the lives of people.”
The Bank’s flagship report states that increased investments in education is key as well as progressive universalism in education spending—setting high priorities for the poor and disadvantaged and focusing on basic education first where social returns are highest.
To better match skills with job opportunities, the report recommends that governments need to develop a demand-driven education system in tune with rapidly emerging jobs in the private sector, including software engineers, marketing specialists and data analysts, the report says.
“Africa is blessed with resources, but its future lies in its people…education is the great equaliser. Only by developing our workforce will we make a dent in poverty, close the income gap between rich and poor, and adopt new technologies to create jobs in knowledge-intensive sectors,” noted Hanan Morsy, Director of the Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department at the Bank.