African countries has been challenged to move beyond seeking for assistance for its socioeconomic activities hence move beyond aid as well work towards a high and long-term investment plan to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This call was made by the Director for the Regional Bureau for Africa at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) during the UNDP High-Lecel Dialogue in Accra.
According to Ahunna Eziakonwa, the “Africa Beyond Aid” move is of importance to close the current financing gap of 1.2 trillion per year required for the continent.
“This means that much more is needed beyond the US$60 billion a year received in development assistance from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED) countries”, she acknowledged.
Adding that, when these funds are correctly used and managed, development assistance could be a catalyst for broad-based economic growth and development indicating Africa is not the only region to receive development aid, but it is the region with the longest record of an independent mindset and this is unhealthy.
The future of “Africa Beyond Aid” she noted is not a far-fetched notion but there remains a dominant dependency mindset that stifles creativity and a greater sense of personal responsibility and ownership of the development agenda.
Therefore Eziakonwa used the ocassion to call for a perspective that shifts the focus of aid as life-support to effectively investing in Africa’s natural resources and wealth for transformation and development.
The UNDP High-Level Dialogue explores how Africa can optimize the use of its own resources, creativity and innovation to effectively finance its own development.
Story By: Ishmael Barfi senghana@gmail.com/barfi@thenewindependentonline.com
