Private sector set to drive African growth, says Kaberuka

Africa’s strides for growth are benchmarked on the strength of its private sector, African Development Bank (AfDB) has said. Despite constraints such as insufficient transport networks and lack of access to power and finance, experts believe that a strong private sector will take the continent to new level.“After being hamstrung for decades by difficult political and economic conditions and burdensome government policies, it is now poised to become the main engine of growth for the African continent,” Donald Kaberuka, the president of AfDB said at launch of the 2012 African Economic Outlook in Arusha, Tanzania on Monday. The report is jointly published by the AfDB, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).Kaberuka noted that the private sector development is fundamental to ensure inclusive growth through employment creation.“The private sector is also a provider of essential goods and services to the public and a key source of the revenues that African countries need to meet their development challenges,” he added.Regardless of the continent’s efforts in poverty reduction, the report indicates that statistics on private sector activities in African countries are scarce since most of the activities are informal and carried out by micro, small and medium enterprises.Among its other findings, the report says laws and regulations critical for private sector development and corporate governance were undermined by poor monitoring and enforcement.The report reveals broadening participation and inclusion in the private sector and supporting local enterprise development are important in spurring robust employment creation and improving social well-being.“Developing Africa’s infrastructure at the pace necessary to unleash its economic potential requires a concerted effort to improve planning, preparation, and procurement capacities in line with ministries and relevant sector units; mobilise financial resources; and adopt a regional approach to infrastructure development,” says the report.The report further discloses that there is need to encourage the embedment of social and environmental responsibility, sustainability, and good corporate citizenship in private sector development. “The African Development Bank is committed to addressing the constraints on private sector development,” the report reads.In order to generate a greater developmental impact, the African Development Bank is integrating private sector development across all its operations with threefold objectives with private sector development cited as one of the four priorities of its Medium Term Strategy (MTS) for 2008-12.

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Private sector set to drive African growth, says Kaberuka