695mln Africans are either poor or risk falling into poverty: ECA’s Acting Chief
Addis Ababa, March 15, 2023 (FBC) – Antonio Pedro, Acting Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said 695 million people in Africa are either poor or risk falling into poverty.
In his opening remarks at the 55th session of ECA’s annual Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning & Economic Development, Mr. Pedro noted that 58.8% of the world’s poorest, 695 million, people live in Africa. They are either poor or risk falling into poverty.
“Women and girls remain particularly vulnerable and we are facing a potential reversal of hard-won gains made on gender equity. Africa must lead the charge”, he underscored.
“We need to finance our development. Getting the macroeconomic fundamentals right can unlock the potential of home-grown solutions. The right domestic policy actions can move us from less than 17% Tax Revenue to GDP ratio to levels currently seen in Latin America and Caribbean countries at 21.9%”, Mr. Pedro indicated.
“If we take advantage of our rainforests and develop our carbon markets, we could unleash an estimated USD82 billion every year in value, at USD120 per ton of CO2 sequestered, and create 167 million more jobs. This surpasses the broken promises of US$100 billion on Climate Adaptation and Mitigation”, he added
For his part, Nemera Gebeyehu, State Minister for Planning and Development of Ethiopia, said; “In 2022 an array of development challenges has arisen across the continent, among others, inflation and the rising cost of living, household poverty, food insecurity, energy security, and social instability.”