Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28 March 2012-After a decade of transformative
economic, research and development efforts, Africa is poised to
achieve its vision for progress – if policymakers, researchers, civil
society and the media are able to properly analyze and communicate the
continent’s ongoing development challenges and successes.
That’s a key message of this week’s New Partnerships for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD) Colloquium and Congress held at the African Union
Headquarters in Addis Ababa. Past and current African leaders,
including NEPAD founders and past Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo
and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, led a day-long exploration
of NEPAD’s impact on African development.
Historically, African development issues largely have been interpreted
by western media, which focus on poverty, conflict and health crises.
During this week’s summit, NEPAD leaders lauded impressive development
milestones in areas such as agriculture, technology, health and
policy. Many were the result of pioneering initiatives launched by
NEPAD.
Zenawi, who also chairs NEPAD’s Head of State and Government
Orientation Committee (HSGOC), highlighted what he called a “new era
of renewed momentum.” Zenawi noted that key partnerships established
with the G8, G20 and South-South cooperation platforms have already
strengthened African development efforts. And while issues like
climate change and the global financial crisis disrupted European
currency markets, Africa’s GDP growth rates reached a peak of 6
percent in 2007.
“Growth in Africa is projected at 5 percent in the next decade, but
only a double digit growth can make Africa a globally integrated
economy,” Zenawi said. “In doing this, we need to move beyond managing
poverty. I believe very strongly that NEPAD can act as the stimuli for
prosperity on our continent.”
The NEPAD event was preceded by several related meetings of African
Finance Ministers and policy makers, who explored their role in
fueling the past decade’s development progress. NEPAD CEO, Dr. Ibrahim
Mayaki, said Africa’s historic image of donor dependency is also
eroding, thanks to a potent mix of demographic factors.
“Given the density of our natural resources, the youth of our
population and the extraordinary growth in business and IT sectors,
African leaders are being guided towards a leadership agenda,” Mayaki
said.
“Less than 60 million Africans now live in countries where donor aid
is more important than national investment policy,” Mayaki said.
“Increasingly, accountability mechanisms are improving the ability of
leaders to make credible efforts to improve the quality of life for
their citizens”.
However, despite this significant shift towards socio-economic
transformation, NEPAD officials acknowledged that many of Africa’s
major successes and ongoing development challenges remain unreported
by media. And while issues such as HIV/AIDs, malnutrition, poor
infrastructure cannot be ignored, summit leaders believe that better
reporting can fuel a new consciousness about Africa’s development
prospects.
They urged African journalists to not only take responsibility for
analyzing the continent’s development issues, but also embrace
ownership of the development story, which could guide international
media towards a more authentic portrayal of the complexity of African
development challenges.
For example, few would dispute the pivotal role of agriculture in
Africa’s development progress. Agriculture contributes 35 to 40
percent of GDP and employs 65 percent of (Africa’s) labor force.
African agriculture is already suffering from extreme climate
variability such as more frequent droughts. Crop losses of 10-20
percent are projected due to climate change. Agriculture also
contributes to climate change through emission of carbon dioxide,
nitrous oxide and methane as well as being a major driver of
deforestation in many regions. But without access to information and
support, many journalists on the continent are either uninformed or
cannot accurately convey the urgency of these issues to policy makers
and the public.
Prior to the NEPAD’s Congress and Colloquium, CTA partnered with NEPAD
to host a one-day sensitization workshop for journalists and
communications specialists from 14 countries. The workshop was aimed
at discussing ways on how best media can play its role in accelerating
the AU/NEPAD agenda.
Michael Hailu, Director of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and
Rural Cooperation (CTA), explained the importance of supporting media
and providing journalists with the research and information they need
to allow Africa to tell its own story.
“The media is an important channel for information that can educate
people and empower them to effect positive change. It can help in
sharing success stories from one country to other countries; inform
vulnerable communities of impacts of a changing climate and how they
can adapt to them, and can promote new approaches that improve yields,
inspire action, or even bring about policy change where needed.”
Both organizers and participants agreed there is a dire need for the
creation of a formal journalists’ support network, to capitalize on
increasing momentum about the role of insightful development coverage
in fueling transformative policies.
NEPAD, CTA and their partners believe the time is ripe for fueling
African-based analysis of development, at a uniquely critical moment
in history.
With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) fast approaching, African
media must be equipped to analyze whether governments are developing
the necessary policies and ordering their fiscal priorities to reach
targeted MDGs. They must be prepared to either applaud those countries
that have made authentic progress, or carefully explain the failure to
reach those goals by other countries.
About NEPAD
The New Partnership for Africa\’s Development (NEPAD) is a programme of
the African Union (AU) adopted in Lusaka, Zambia in 2001. NEPAD\’s
objective is to enhance Africa\’s growth, development and participation
in the global economy.
In February 2010, the 14th AU Assembly established the NEPAD Planning
and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) as a technical body of the AU
to replace the NEPAD Secretariat. The NEPAD Agency is a key outcome of
the integration of NEPAD into the AU.
Read more about NEPAD\’s Principles, Programme of Action, Priorities
and desired Outcomes by visiting: www.nepad.org
About CTA
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a
joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific
(ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to
advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and
encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries. It
provides access to information and knowledge, facilitates policy
dialogue and strengthens the capacity of agricultural and rural
development institutions and communities. CTA operates under the
framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.
For more information on CTA visit: www.cta.int