Aid Effectiveness in Africa
- Full civil society involvement in evaluating the Fifth National Development Plan in Zambia
- Promoting gender equality through The African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)
- Aid Information Systems in Senegal, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Aid integration in the budget of the Democratic Republic of Congo
- The e-governance system in Cape Verde
- The MDG acceleration plan in Burkina Faso
Aid is crucial for African development. Many countries are heavily aid dependent. Confronted with a multitude of development challenges, Africa is a true test for the aid effectiveness agenda.
Net bilateral Official Development Assistance to Africa (from OECD-DAC members) totalled USD 28 billion in 2009, with 25 billion going to sub-Saharan Africa.
African countries have shown a strong commitment to advancing the international aid effectiveness agenda. The report “Aid Effectiveness 2005-2010: Progress in Implementing the Paris Declaration” shows the impressive progress made by a number of African countries.
For the sub-Saharan countries, key themes for Aid Effectiveness include: climate change financing, promoting gender equality, the delivery of effective aid in fragile situations, aid for trade and South-South Cooperation.
The main African message for Busan is that both donors and developing countries must stick to their commitments. They must also widen the scope of their thinking beyond aid, to focus on support that catalyses national resources and sustainable capacities for development.
Despite major challenges, Africa has succeeded in reducing the number of people living on less than USD 1.25 a day from 58% in 1990 to fewer than 51% in 2005. Yet over 72% of people still live on less than 2 US Dollars a day. Human development and national income in Africa are on a low to lower medium level, with an average life expectancy of 54 years (2009).
Southern Africa, particularly South Africa, the countries of the Maghreb and Egypt are generally more prosperous than Central and West Africa. The continent is rich in natural resources, but revenue from these must be better managed to avoid resource related conflict.
