Africa’s multilateral bank seeks shift from GDP narrative

AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina

*Harps on inclusive growth via education, skills upgrade

After unveiling its 2020 African Economic Outlook (AEO), which showed that the continent’s economies are growing well, African Development Bank (AfDB) however, warned that it does not reflect the true picture of citizens.

AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, who made the observation, said though Africa’s economies are growing strongly, but growth alone cannot meet the needs of the continent’s poorest citizens, because “nobody eats GDP.”

The Guardian reports that the bank’s 2020 AEO showed that the continent’s economies are growing higher than the global average and projected a steady rise from 3.4 per cent in 2019 to 3.9 per cent in 2020 and 4.1 per cent in 2021.

According to him, while these figures are laudable, they do not tell the whole story, as 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.

Inclusive growth, which he canvassed as alternative pursuit, had occurred in only 18 of 48 African countries with data, according to the report.

“Growth must be visible. Growth must be equitable. Growth must be felt in the lives of people.

“Given the fast pace of change, driven by the 4th industrial revolution – from artificial intelligence to robotics, machine learning, quantum computing – Africa must invest more in re-directing and re-skilling its labor force, and especially the youth, to effectively participate,” he said.

He said that the theme of the 2020 AOE report, “Developing Africa’s Workforce for the Future”, calls for swift action to address human capital development, where inclusive growth has been held back by a mismatch between young workers’ skills and the needs of employers.