Development support monitor 2009: Africa in our hands

Although Africa attracted $43 billion in private capital, $40 billion in remittances and $38 billion in aid in 2008 it still faces a considerable resource gap. Such financial support, some would argue, is needed to ensure progressive mobilisation of Africa’s domestic resources and, in turn, social and economic development. However, do the figures match the international pledges of support for Africa; and are resources being directed in line with African governments’ professed commitments i.e. to help communities most in need.

This comprehensive report is an attempt to to establish the extent to which people’s voices are heard in the commitment and allocation of resources by donors and African governments. Five key areas are analysed as indicators of responsive practice:

• poverty, food security and agricultural development
• resources for grassroots development
• regional integration
• education
• health, water and sanitation.

The authors offer a number of findings/recommendations, including:

• The recent food-price hikes have caused an additional 28 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to sink into poverty. Appropriate pro-poor agricultural development policies targeting smallholder farmers for interventions at a scale large enough to cause a turnaround in the sector are needed
  
• Overseas Development Aid to Africa excluding debt relief has gradually increased since 2005. However, G8 countries are off their 2010 target of doubling aid to Africa by 27% on average
  
• Grassroots participation is still limited to consultation only. Grassroots communities do not have real influence on actual budget allocations and spending decisions. As a result, there is misalignment between community priorities and government priorities in many cases
  
• African countries need to increase their dependence on regional trade in order to catalyse
  sustainable economic growth and offset international trade imbalances
  
• Quality of education in Africa is still a significant challenge. In Chad, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo, under 50% of primary school teachers are trained. Burkina Faso and Niger have fewer than 30% of secondary school teachers trained
  
• Meeting the MDGs on water and sanitation further requires a deliberate approach to scale up safe water access points, especially in rural areas.