Economic Development in Africa Report 2016: Debt Dynamics and Development Finance in Africa

The Trade and Development Board

1. Welcomes the Economic Development in Africa Report 2016: Debt Dynamics and Development Finance in Africa;
    
2. Reiterates UNCTAD commitment to supporting Africa, as reaffirmed by the Nairobi Maafikiano, in order to contribute to the implementation of the Agenda 2030 and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals;
    
3. Calls upon UNCTAD to continue to address the special trade and development concerns and needs of Africa including through the provision of policy analysis and advice, and capacity-building;
    
4. Emphasizes that Africa’s development goals will require structural transformation and economic diversification; for this, adequate levels of financing for development are needed from domestic and external resources;
    
5. Recognizes the importance of the information economy for the development of Africa;
    
6. Also recognizes that it is estimated by various sources that the required investment to finance the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa could amount to between $600 billion and $1.2 trillion per year;
    
7. Takes note with concern of the rising level of external debt stock in Africa, as well as lower shares of concessional debt, higher interest and lower maturities which are most likely to increase the debt burden of both heavily indebted poor countries and non-heavily indebted countries in Africa;
    
8. Underlines the importance of effective debt management and calls upon UNCTAD to continue its work on capacity-building for debt monitoring and management, including through the Debt Management and Financial Analysis System;
    
9. Takes note of the policy recommendations that, in order to achieve development goals and structural transformation in Africa, adequate levels of financing for development from domestic and external sources have to be raised;
    
10. Recognizes the critical role of official development assistance in financing for development, and stresses the importance of realization of internationally agreed commitments in this regard;
     
11. Takes note of the policy recommendations that innovative mechanisms of financing can make a positive contribution in assisting African countries to mobilize additional resources for development on a stable and predictable basis;
     
12. Notes that public–private partnerships can be another financing modality, especially for infrastructure development; however, there is a need for caution from a debt management perspective as public–private partnerships are often treated as an off-budget transaction; a public–private partnership policy framework is therefore required to properly assess, monitor and evaluate public–private partnerships;
     
13. Takes note of the significance of remittances in the totality of external flows to Africa, and encourages UNCTAD to continue its work on research and analysis, within its mandate, on enhancing the impact of migrants’ remittances on development, including their social and economic benefits, reducing their transaction costs and expanding access to financial services, while respecting their character as private funds;
     
14. Takes note with concern that illicit financial flows out of Africa are negatively impacting development in the region, that these issues require action at the national and international levels, and calls upon African countries and the international community to enhance its efforts to tackle these challenges;
     
15. Invites development partners to enhance support for African countries to sustain public and private investment in productive and infrastructure sectors so that they are able to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and achieve Africa’s development goals as contained in the African Union’s Agenda 2063;
     
16. Notes with concern the data limitations in several economic, financial and social spheres, and urges UNCTAD to address issues related to data availability as part of fulfilling its mandate, recognizing the need to overcome data limitations and build analytical capacities for debt monitoring and management;
     
17. Notes also with concern the limited analysis on women’s empowerment, and therefore calls on UNCTAD to strengthen its work on the contribution of women’s empowerment in particular, to mitigate poverty, bearing in mind that only 20 per cent of women in Africa have access to formal financial services;
     
18. Encourages UNCTAD to continue its research and analysis on policies for mobilizing resources to finance Africa’s development aspirations and maintaining debt sustainability.