Addis Ababa, March 15, 2023 (FBC) – In her remarks at the 55th session of ECA’s annual Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, ECA’s Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist, Hanan Morsy has urged nations to pursue pro-poor and inclusive macroeconomic policies.
Hanan Morsy also stressed the need to leverage climate finance for decent job creation, and carve a structural development path that’s just and meets people’s needs with industrialization and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that are acting as catalysts.
Africa accounts for the highest proportion of world’s poor which is 54.8% in 2022, overtaking South Asia that is 37.6%, and 546 million people were living in poverty in 2022, a 74% increase since 1990, she noted.
Stephan Karingi, Director, Regional Integration and Trade Division of the Economic Commission for Africa, for his part, explained about regional integration in Africa, saying continent remains constrained by huge infrastructure gaps, with an estimated annual financing need of between $130 billion & $170 billion, and an annual financing gap of between $68 billion & $108 billion.