Addis Ababa — Ethiopia's decade-long record of double-digit economic growth was often cited as a model for other developing countries by speakers at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development that has just ended in Addis Ababa.
The government aspires to make Africa's second most-populous nation a middle income country. World Bank data shows that most of the country's growth has happened in the agriculture and service sectors.
At a panel discussion on the topic "Transforming Africa: Modernizing Agriculture, Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization and Sustainable Infrastructure and Energy", Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, said infrastructure has been one of his government's top priorities.
"We are constructing more than two thousand kilometres of railway lines," he said. "We are building a massive energy program, including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam." He said the country aims to become a leading exporter of power in the region.
He believes that Africa is enjoying a "renaissance", pointing out that sound macroeconomic policies, peace and stability and the expansion of the private sector has led to "spectacular growth trajectories" in many countries. Revenues from mineral exploration are growing, incomes are rising fast, there is "dynamic expansion of agriculture productivity" and the continent is experiencing demographic dividends from its fast-growing population, he said.
He cited a 2013/2014 Doing Business report which he said shows that sub-Saharan Africa is now business friendly, having accounted for five out of the top 10 countries that have demonstrated remarkable improvements in regulatory frameworks.
Another panellist, Carlos Lopes, the head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said the contribution of agriculture to growth in the continent as a whole has been shrinking. The service sector was growing, but industry was not.
"Industry and manufacturing have been contributing less and less to the GDP of the continent, excluding parts of North Africa," the UNECA boss told his audience, comprising mostly government representatives.
He urged them to focus on industrialization and manufacturing as way of creating a large number of jobs in order to make development "more inclusive", pointing out that continent is projected to have a population of 1.1 billion people of working age by 2040.
Lopes urged African governments to make better use of their "resource richness" by boosting inter-African trade in agricultural and mineral products, and "transforming goods into higher value-added products rather than exporting them raw."
The outgoing president of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, also a panellist, told the meeting that there is a need for a big push.
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While acknowledging that after decades of underdevelopment, the last 10 years have witnessed some change - particularly in infrastructure - he lamented that "it is not possible for transformation to take place if economies are growing at five or six percent...
"Let's not be naïve ... private investment alone cannot close the infrastructure gap," Kaberuka cautioned. Citing the example of Ethiopia, he said countries need to work together to build railways, ports, airports and telecommunications projects.
The four-day conference brought together thousands of delegates from governments, bilateral and multilateral institutions, civil society and business leaders to discuss sources of finance for sustainable development.
At one of dozens of side events, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told a session deliberating the usage of data to harness development that smart use of data is critical for development: "Data can accelerate progress on inclusion by shining the light on the situations of women, youth and other disadvantaged groups," he said.
In sub-Saharan Africa, he added, gender disaggregated data in agriculture has transformed understanding of the challenges facing female farmers: "The insights create opportunities to pursue policies that will allow all of Africa's farmers to realize their potential," he noted.
