“Nobody Eats GDP” African Development Bank President, Akinwumi Adesina Says

President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has said that while Africa’s economies are growing strongly, “nobody eats GDP.”

Akinwumi Adesina said this during the unveiling of AfDB’s flagship economic report, dubbed the 2020 African Economic Outlook (AEO).

“At the end of the day, it is not GDP growth that matters.  Nobody eats GDP,” Akinwumi Adesina, said.

Akinwumi went ahead to say that growth must be visible, equitable and felt in the lives of the people.

According to the report, Africa’s economies are growing well, higher than the global average. The report projected a steady rise in growth in Africa from 3.4 percent in 2019 to 3.9 percent in 2020 and 4.1 percent in 2021.

According to Akinwumi, these figures do not tell the whole story. Across the continent, the poor are not seeing enough of the benefits of robust growth. Relatively few African countries posted significant declines in extreme poverty and inequality, which remain higher than in other regions of the world.

Inclusive growth occurred in only 18 of 48 African countries with data, the report revealed.

The theme of the 2020 Africa Economic Outlook report, Developing Africa’s workforce for the future, calls for swift action to address human capital development in African countries, where inclusive growth has been held back by a mismatch between young workers’ skills and the needs of employers.

The Bank’s flagship report states that increased investments in education is key as well as progressive universalism in education spending—setting high priorities for the poor and disadvantaged and focusing on basic education first where social returns are highest. Its recommendations include improving access to education in remote areas, incentives such as free uniforms and textbooks, banning child labor and improving teaching standards.

To better match skills with job opportunities, the report recommends that governments need to develop a demand-driven education system in tune with rapidly emerging jobs in the private sector, including software engineers, marketing specialists and data analysts, the report says.