2014 African Transformation Report launched
The African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), in partnership with the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), has launched ACET’s 2014 African Transformation Report at a high level function at Sandton, Johannesburg in South Africa.
The launch was attended by members of the private sector, donor institutions, state departments from across Africa and the diplomatic corps at the Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel in Sandton.
The report draws on ACET’s research programme of country and sector, and thematic studies to look systematically at transformation as a broad framework for economic growth and development.
It also introduces the African Transformation Index to help African policymakers see how their countries are transforming and where they stand in relation to their neighbours.
The former Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Mr K.Y. Amoako, told the Daily Graphic that the premise of the report was that African economies needed more than just growth, if they were to transform.
He said they needed growth with depth, and that they needed also to diversify their production, make their exports competitive, increase the productivity of their farms, firms, and government offices, and upgrade their technology to improve human well-being.
Mr Amoako is the founder of ACET, which is an economic policy institute supporting long-term growth with transformation of Africa's economies.
“Getting the state and the private sector to work together, promoting exports, and developing skills for economic transformation are at the centre of ACET’s mission,” he stated.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of the Republic of Liberia commended ACET for its efforts.
She said the launch of the report was timely, recognising the imperative for a great transformative shift in Africa.
Heads of state and governments recently endorsed the African Union’s transformation vision, which aims at addressing the structural transformation of Africa’s output and trade, strengthening Africa’s infrastructure and human resources as well as modernising Africa’s science and technology sector, she stated.
“Modern economic development is by nature a process of continuous structural transformation in technologies, industries, infrastructure, and socio-economic institutions,” says Justin Lin, Honorary Dean of the National School of Development at Peking University and a former Chief Economist at the World Bank.
He noted that the report offered much practical advice, drawing from the experiences of countries that had successfully transformed, and calling on governments in Africa to use their resources and implementation capacities strategically to play an enabling role.
“The African Transformation Report, for us, is an important instrument for assessing Africa’s transformation, especially at an economic level,” the Executive Director at MISTRA, Mr Joel Netshitenzhe, said.