Event: Launching of the High Level Panel on Fragile States Report at the 22nd African Union Summit
It is my singular honour to have the opportunity to address this 22nd African Union Summit. In the few minutes I have I want to begin by thanking you for giving me this occasion. I want to thank the AU Commission Chairperson for her support in this work and for finding a slot in your busy agenda. Above all I want to express my utmost thanks to President Ellen Sirleaf for accepting my request to take on this task, alongside a remarkable team of eminent persons. Many of them - familiar, distinguished figures - are here today. They have been working hard to help the Bank and all of us better understand the process of post-conflict reconstruction; and above all the causes upstream that tear up our societies in the first place.
The performance of many economies in Africa in 2013 has been widely applauded. Yes, we know there are issues around jobs, around inclusion. We know that transformation - the ultimate objective - remains a work in progress. However, the spirit of optimism overwhelms.
In spite of uncertainties in the global economy, the projections are even better in 2014.
Sub-Saharan Africa will see growth accelerating to around 6.2%; a dozen countries will even surpass that. But tell that to someone watching images out of Bangui, Juba, Bor, Kismayo or Timbuktu. Tell that to an unemployed graduate in Tunis. Tell that to an urban slum dweller next to opulent high rise apartments. You will understand that there is a gap to deal with, both in perception and reality.
In addition, step back and observe the centrifugal forces affecting the African society today: demographics, massive urbanisation, natural resource findings, the IT revolution, inequalities, growth with few jobs, etc. We see that everywhere we go massive socio-economic forces are affecting the political trend as in Africa today.
The recent sad events in South Sudan and the Central African Republic remind us of the urgent need to find enduring solutions in order to ensure that our continent achieves durable peace and sustainable development. I wish to take this opportunity to salute the valiant efforts by IGAD, the African Union and the United Nations to find lasting solutions to these crises.
The challenges that our countries face are often complex and straddle the divide between economic and security issues. These include their root causes and manifestations, spillover effects on the neighboring countries - these are issues that concern us all. We recognize this urgent need for urgent solutions and, in some instances, regional approaches to address the myriad of development challenges posed by fragility.
Our task is to help you succeed and engage in the process of rebuilding those countries' economies once the guns have gone silent. The African Development Bank's mandate is to promote and finance the socio-economic development of Africa. Our task is to support you and help you succeed...to come in once guns have gone silent.
I would like to share with you a story. In 2005 at the request of the then-leadership of the Central African Republic the Bank began a process of helping CAR to reconstruct. We had to work through their debt arrears, build institutional capacity and put in measures to kick start the economy. I went to Bangui myself to open our office and launch these programmes. When recently the rebels took over the capital everything was looted and damaged. But we were not discouraged. We understand we have to go back, pick up the pieces. We understand the importance for the country and its neighbors, indeed Africa as a whole.
However while we fully understand that post-conflict reconstruction was within our domain of responsibilities, the Bank did not always have the knowledge of how to do so. It was learning on the job. There was no tool box, no manual as each country and each conflict is different. We had to learn fast. This is essentially what we have done over the years.
In 2003 the Bank set up a mechanism to help clear external debt arrears. In 2007 we set up a ring fenced specialized facility for fragile states endowed with about 700 million dollars. This last September that facility, having proven its worth, was beefed up to the tune of just under one billion dollars. We concentrated on three areas we considered vital for such countries:
Clearing the external debt arrears;
Building state institutions and capacity;
Kick-starting the key social economic infrastructure.
This is what we have done, for Burundi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire and Comoros, etc. This is indeed the task that awaits us in the Central African Republic, South Sudan and of course Somalia and Sahel. Over the last 10 years we have spent:
About 750 million dollars on external debt clearance;
About 700 million dollars on kick-starting the economies; and
About 150 million dollars on building state institutions.
It is an opportunity here for me to thank the countries that have contributed significantly to this effort. Along the way we have drawn many lessons. We may even have made a few mistakes ourselves, mistakes of omission or commission. We have learnt many lessons:
The link between exclusion of all sorts and conflict recycles;
The pernicious link with poverty;
The hopelessness of young people who are easily exploited by those with other agendas;
The role of the extractive industry.
We have learnt that every single country is vulnerable because of those domestic tensions, because of what happens next door, the spillovers, whether it is refugees, small arms, drugs or jihadists. There is no one category of countries to which this type of fragility applies. It is a potential risk for us all.
The High Level panel Report has made extremely pertinent observations. Some are relevant for financial institutions. Others are very pertinent for countries themselves. All of them are critical for the AU. On our part we are extremely grateful to the Panel and, where germane and within our mandates, we will see to their implementation.
As the report says, Africa is changing at an extraordinary pace: a change in many ways positive. But with change comes challenges such as rapid urbanization, youth unemployment, inequality and exclusion. Vast finds of natural resources, which oftentimes combine with other pressures and which national institutions fail to manage, result in violence as the consequence. You just have to look at South Sudan.
I entirely share the perspective that fragility is not a category of states but a risk of disruptive pressures which exist in each of our countries: the combined pressures of poverty amidst fast growth and pressures of a growing population and urbanization. I do agree that the challenges we face will be in experiencing youth unemployment, pressures on natural resources, climate change and growing inequalities.
The continued progress of Africa very much depends on our understanding of these disruptive and fast moving forces we cannot avoid. That is why I welcome the call to action in the report. Ideally we must deal with these conflicts upstream but prepare to deal with them midstream and anticipate the intractable issues to handle in the post-conflict phase.
Africa has come a long way. Africa's risk is no different from that of Asia or Latin America. But our ability to move ahead is a function of how we deal with the vulnerabilities we face today. For my part this report is a major landmark The Bank will take a careful look at its recommendations. I urge you to do the same.
I thank you all.
