A Keynote address at the 40th anniversary of Africa confidential by K.Y. Amoako UN under secretary general and executive secretary of ECA : the market, democracy and development

This keynote address delivered by K.Y. Amoako UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA, at the Market, Democracy and Development in Africa. Mr. Amoako, on his remarks highlighted that, Africa to achieve the internationally agreed target of reducing poverty by half by 2015, its economies would have to grow by eight percent per annum; more than double the rate achieved last year. The World Bank calculates that the poverty reduction goal will be met in most parts of Asia and Latin America. The analysis, covering 33 countries, shows that while 26 countries registered positive changes, seven countries experienced substantial decline. A key finding is that most of the best performers benefited from the cessation of civil wars, greater stability, economic, and political reforms. The lack of confidence by Africans in their own governments is manifest in the poor supply side response to the economic reforms undertaken over the last decade. Macro balances, or getting the prices right, is not economic reform just as casting a ballot is not democracy.