Cape Town — The Africa Progress Panel, a top-level international group formed to monitor whether the world's leaders are meeting their commitments to Africa, has issued the following series of recommendations to African and international leaders on how to help the continent through the current global economic crisis:

We Are Facing a Development Crisis

The financial meltdown that evolved into an economic recession has now become a development crisis. Combined with the food crisis, the volatility in fuel costs and climate change, it threatens to reverse Africa's recent progress and endangers its people's lives. The prospect of reaching the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, already a cause for serious concern, now looks even more distant.

We believe that these extra-ordinary times call for concerted action on the basis of shared responsibilities by African and international leaders to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the continent's economies and people, preserve progress and ensure that Africa is given the chance to contribute to global recovery and clean development.

The Main Responsibility to Act Rests With African Leaders

We believe that the main responsibility for safeguarding their people from the effects of the crisis rests with Africa's leaders. Their challenge is to maintain stability and economic growth, to support a participatory approach in setting, and driving national development strategies, to heed their commitments regarding governance, accountability and transparency as well as to find ways in which Africa's capacity to act in a more coordinated and concerted fashion can be strengthened and in which its needs can be communicated more clearly on the global stage.

Economic And Fiscal Prudence Must Be Maintained

The appropriate policy response depends on country-specific circumstances. As African Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors articulated before the London G20 Summit, the priority for all sub-Saharan African countries must be to contain the adverse impact of the crisis on economic growth and poverty, while preserving the hard-won gains of recent years, including macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability.

We call on Africa's leaders to resist temptations to respond to weakening balance of payments positions with protectionist measures, or by reverting to administrative controls.

Africa Needs A Stronger Voice In the International Institutional Architecture

It is clear that Africa is profoundly affected by wider global dynamics like the economic downturn and climate change. It is also clear that, as a continent of nearly a billion people, it is under-represented in many formal and informal international processes, and where it does have adequate representation, Africa lacks negotiation capacity.

We call on Africa's leaders to use this opportunity to press for substantial reforms of the world's governance structures to make them more representative, supportive and ultimately effective, and to focus on the strengthening of negotiating capacities, notably prior to the Copenhagen Summit on climate change.

Africa Needs Immediate Assistance and Access To Resources

At the same time, today's recession will not be overcome by institutional reform alone. The nature of the crisis is such that African countries need immediate support to maintain economic activity and protect those least able to withstand its woes.

We call on the IMF, World Bank, and the African Development Bank to ease access to credit and provide urgently-needed funds, preferably grants rather than loans, to compensate for the loss of domestic revenues, remittances and FDI and to address urgent social needs.

We also call on G8 and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries to extend the cut-off date for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Programme from the end of 2004 to the end of 2008 to give Africa's poorest countries more economic leeway.

Donors Must Deliver On Their Aid Commitments

While official aid from the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members to sub-Saharan Africa rose by 11 percent in 2008 - a welcome increase following declines in 2006 and 2007 - the prospects of reaching the global Gleneagles target of $130 billion per year by 2010 are uncertain.

The additional money needed to meet this target is a fraction of the support provided to rescue financial institutions in rich countries, and a tiny proportion of their fiscal stimulus packages. We believe that the crisis calls for exceeding Gleneagles commitments to help poor countries meet increased needs.

International Political Commitment To Africa's Development Must Be Maintained Beyond the Crisis

The economic and political effects of the current crisis put growing pressure on donor countries. As domestic concerns mount and public finances become increasingly strained, their commitment to African development will be tested, especially once the full extent of the economic downturn becomes apparent.

We need new coalitions to maintain the political commitment around the achievement of development goals; African voices advocating more and better aid and investment need to be loud, clear and at the centre of this effort.

Aid Needs To Be Used To Help Reduce Aid Dependency

Aid cannot be the basis for financing sustainable growth, but as experience around the world has shown, including in Asia and Europe after the Second World War, aid can be used to build capacities for growth and development.

We call on Africa's leaders to sustain and deepen efforts to increase domestic resource mobilization and investment flows, while reducing dependence on international aid. We also call on development partners to direct more official development assistance (ODA) towards building government capacity to promote trade, entrepreneurship, and domestic resource mobilization.

Africa Needs A Green Revolution

More than 70 percent of Africans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Yet agriculture is not realizing its potential either as a driver of economic growth, or to ensure that everyone has access to sufficient food and a balanced diet.

The food crisis is by no means over and accelerating climate change threatens to further reduce agricultural productivity in Africa. We call on Africa's leaders, their international partners and the private sector to intensify efforts to realize the continent's vast agricultural potential.

Africa Needs A Strong Common Position On Climate Change

Africa is the region which contributes least to climate change, but will arguably be the most affected. Its agriculture, water supply, disease burden and natural resources are already being profoundly impacted and the humanitarian, economic and financial implications of climate change are growing.

Africa has a major stake in the forthcoming negotiations on a new post-Kyoto framework, including to ensure a fair deal that allows it to seize clean development opportunities. We believe that Africa must develop and articulate a common position, championed by Heads of State, ahead of the December 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to ensure that the special needs of least developed countries, most of which are in Africa, are taken into account.

Scope For Investment In Clean Energy And Infrastructure Is Vast

Africa's severe lack of sufficient, reliable transport and energy infrastructure not only reduces business efficiency, it also limits the volume of trade, constrains food security and hampers regional integration. We believe that overcoming infrastructure deficits through public private partnerships and targeted investment is essential and offers opportunities for economic growth, jobs and a thriving private sector.

Emerging Partners Can Become Champions of Development

The importance of emerging partners like China, India and Brazil is growing by the day. As some of the continent's largest trading partners and sources of investment, they have been instrumental in boosting growth rates and spurring much needed infrastructure improvements in Africa for many years.

However, they have much more to offer to the continent than just economic partnership. We believe that their unique development experience, particularly with respect to food security and health, uniquely position partners from the global South to support achievement of the MDGs in Africa.

Africa Can Contribute To Global Recovery

The potential for investment in Africa's real economy is vast, particularly in infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture and the telecommunications sectors. More investment in these sectors will not only create jobs in Africa, but also create markets for developed countries. We believe that, if given the chance, Africa can provide a valuable growth platform for the global economy and pioneer clean development models that contribute to global efforts to manage climate change.

The African members of the Africa Progress Panel include former United Nations chief Kofi Annan, the former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, activist Graça Machel, Botswana's central banker, Linah Kelebogile Mohohlo and the former Ivorien minister and business leader Tidjane Thiam.