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Consolidatingmacroeconomicgains at a timeof financial crisisThe 14th Ordinary Session of theExecutive Councilof the African UnionAddis Ababa, Ethiopia29 January 2009In previous statements to this Council, I pointed to the strong economicperformance of Africa with average growth rates of above5%, which though commendable, was not enough to achieve theMillennium Development Goals. Against this background, our continentnow faces pressing challenges relating to the global financialcrisis, climate change and the maintenance of peace and security.The current financial crisis is unprecedented in scale and scope andwill impact on growth and trade as well as on investment, trade credits,remittances, and tourism. Moreover, several African countrieshave experienced volatility in their stock market and exchange ratessince the onset of the crisis. Above all, we must be concerned aboutthe impact of this crisis on the fight against poverty, which had alreadybeen negatively affected by recent historical peaks in food andenergy prices. In this regard, it is essential to keep commitments toscale-up official development assistance to African countries so as tosustain growth in the continent and protect vulnerable groups.However, we should not panic but use the current crisis as an opportunityto consolidate recent macroeconomic achievements andput measures in place to further diversify our economies. We needto increase agricultural production and diversify into manufacturingand services in order to provide jobs for our teeming number ofunemployed youth. Diversification will also give our economies theIntegrating Africa195