PDF (2.0 MB)

294 Part Five• Credible and reliable data sets are needed for monitoring and trackingprogress in meeting the MDGs. This creates a major challengeof building a statistical base and statistical capacity in Africa. ECA isworking closely with the African Union and African DevelopmentBank to meet this challenge head-on.The fourth category of the challenges is that of managing the risks ofglobalisation. If not properly managed, globalisation may bring aboutadverse effects of trade and financial openness. It could also contributeto the brain drain of skilled workers from Africa and certainlyrequires greater partnership in the management of internationaleconomic and financial processes. These risks have to be managedsuch that Africa reaps the benefits of globalisation while minimisingthe fall-out.Of course, it must be borne in mind that sustained peace, human securityand good governance are preconditions for achieving Africa’sdevelopment aspirations and are therefore deserving of equal attention.This is the fifth challenge that I wish to highlight. For manyyears, peace and security eluded many of our countries. Countriesspent enormous amounts of limited resources on war. Infrastructureand lives were lost. Diseases spread faster than they otherwisewould have. The economic cost of these wars in terms of growthforegone is high. According to a study by two leading observersof African economies, one year of conflict reduces growth rates by2.2%. The same study estimated that it would take a post-conflictcountry roughly 21 years to achieve the GDP level that it wouldhave achieved had there been no war. Peace and security is thus asine qua non for accelerating growth and development to reach theMDGs on time. The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), put inplace by African countries themselves will help improve the conditionsof governance that are necessary for maintaining peace. It istherefore deserving of our continued support.We should recognise and applaud the impressive role of the AfricanUnion in quelling conflicts in Africa and wish them further successparticularly in troubled spots such as Darfur and Somalia. Today, thenumber of conflicts in our region has substantially decreased. However,we need to continue to support and put in place special mechanismsfor post-conflict countries such as Liberia and the DemocraticRepublic of Congo to prevent them from sliding back into war and