WASHINGTON, November 13, 2008 -- The World Bank has urged the United States of America under President-elect Barack Obama to provide "bold leadership" in bringing about the "combination of development assistance, investment, trade and other technical and partnership support" needed by Africa to transform from a continent "still wrestling with pernicious poverty" to one that is the "next growth pole" for the world.
In an interview published Thursday by The Guardian ( Nigeria), the Bank's Vice President for the Africa Region Obiageli Ezekwesili, described the election victory of Barack Obama as "an epic event", adding that it demonstrates that even what may seem impossible can be attained with a clearly articulated vision.
"So, if all things are possible, it means that Africa's development within decades of this millennium is possible," Ezekwesili argued.
Ezekwesili reiterated the appeal from the Bank for the G-8 group of industrialized nations to honor the pledges they made at Gleneagles in 2005 to double Overseas Development Assistance to US$25 billion to Africa by 2010.
"The world is looking to that leadership for Africa. There has to be a strong voice, not for a re-commitment to the Gleneagles (pledges) but a realization of the Gleneagles commitment," Ezekwesili said, adding, "This is vital for us... that is very important to Africa at the moment."
Ezekwesili dismissed the perception that investing ODA in Africa is putting money into a bottomless pit. "What Africa has demonstrated is that it can grow," she said, recalling that Africa's regional average growth rate of 5.7 percent per annum has been higher than the growth rate in many other developing countries, except countries like China and India.
She praised African leaders for embracing the kinds of reforms "that enable the private sector to be the drivers of the growth process". Governments in Africa, she explained, "have pursued judicious and sound macro-economic policies... have also built on the foundation of good governance... tidied their public finance and tried to be efficient and more effective in the way they apply resources".
By and large, "my expectation therefore is for President Obama to provide bold leadership for the G-8 to lay out actual financial plans by each country for getting to the doubling of aid to Africa by 2010," Ezekwesili concluded.
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