The role of governments in spurring African economic take-off

Report of the MEFMI Annual Combined Forum
For Ministers, Governors and Permanent Secretaries
Washington DC, October 7, 2013
Foreword

Welcome to this report on the recent Combined Forum of the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI).

Taking place in Washington DC on October 7, 2013, this annual event drew ministers, governors and permanent secretaries and their deputies from across the 13 MEFMI countries. The theme of this year’s Forum, which was supported by EY and Investec, was: “The role of governments in spurring African economic take-off.”

There is no doubt that Africa’s recent story has been shaped by rapid-progress and rising optimism. Of the top ten fastest growing economies in the world, six are in Africa. African policymakers have, perhaps unknowingly, been thrust ever more firmly to the centre of the global economic stage in recent years. What began as a continent with a well-stacked demography taking giant post-independence strides toward fiscal and monetary discipline was underpinned by a decade of insatiable demand for African commodities from the burgeoning East. Now, as the traditional “developed” economies – formerly the world’s beacons of economic example – wrestle with arrested growth and questionable sovereign standing, African nations represent some of the leading sources of global economic advancement.

Diversifying economies, strengthening trade and democratization are sweeping across all corners of the continent. But it’s not all good news. In Africa, 9% of our workforce is unemployed and 50% of the continent’s youth are without jobs. In addition, African economies continue to face a persistent infrastructure gap that, despite some progress, remains a stubborn impediment to even stronger growth. It was to this mixed backdrop that delegates from Eastern and Southern Africa gathered in Washington DC.

When MEFMI was created in 1994, it was with the intention of bringing together policy-makers – in particular permanent secretaries, central bank governors and finance ministers, from across our region.We wanted to start a conversation, one that would ricochet across borders and identify the solutions to common problems,while at the same time pin-pointing what works and what doesn’t work. In short, we wanted to help foster a stronger sense of collaboration that can help deliver sustainable growth, jobs and private sector investment that we all aspire to. In Washington DC, we just about achieved that.

Covering issues such as job creation, the financing of new infrastructure and how to make it easier for the private sector to flourish, the event identified practical solutions and shared ideas about what we, as Africans, can do to improve our situation. We were honored to be joined by so many of our region’s leaders. Their insights, expertise and vision for the future demonstrate that, while challenges of course remain, the positivity that is coursing across our region and continent looks set to intensify in the years to come.