Can Africa fulfill the Millennium Development Goals by 2015? That's a question that is often asked anytime there is a discussion about MDGs. It was on many lips during the celebration of the International Women's day on March 8. Behind the question of course is a lot of cynicism by the questioner (s). There is a generalized doubt that the MDGs, may not be met on schedule in a majority of African states. Official reports and anecdotal evidence suggest that at current pace even by 2050 the goals may still remain unmet by these states.

The situation is not helped by the fact that most of the reports available are usually aggregated. Hence the negative conclusion that Africa's progress is at best very slow and patchy. Like all generalizations and aggregated statistics they hide the specific, more positive picture of steady progress on a number of the goals in quite a few countries across Africa. It also panders to the fashionable Afro pessimism that caricatures events in Africa promoting embedded attitudes of 'Hopeless Africa'. 'Helpless people and continent' that needs the help and handout of everybody else except its own peoples and leaders.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s long-term development, including attainment of the MDGs and continued progress beyond 2015, depends on mobilizing domestic financial resources and channeling them to productive private and public investment. From roughly the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, many of the countries in the region undertook financial liberalization in order to promote such an objective. This One Pager evaluates the outcomes by examining the experience of 19 countries that have liberalized (see Serieux 2008).

During 1965-1985, almost all African countries followed what orthodoxy now labels as policies of ‘financial repression’, i.e., maintaining (administered) low interest rates and directing cheap credit to certain enterprises and sectors in order to foster rapid growth. Between 1986 and 1995, many of these countries underwent a process of domestic financial liberalization, instituting market- determined deposit and lending rates, eliminating directed credit, creating more competitive conditions and reducing the flow of credit to the public sector.

For the past six weeks I have been travelling in the western, eastern and southern parts of Africa. The mission (as these trips are grandiosely described in United Nations' vocabulary) has been to assess situations on the ground regarding the implementation and achievement of the Millennium Development goals (MDGS) in the various countries.

This is the mid-year in the 15-year terminal date set for the achievement of the goals. The other and more immediate reason for the travels is to see what preparations are being made by various partners of the UN millennium Campaign for this year's Guinness Challenge to beat the record set last year for standing up against poverty.

The UN Millennium Campaign's Global Director, Salil Shetty, led the missions. It involved meeting with various UN country teams, Government officials, National Coalitions for the Global Call Against Poverty (GCAP) / MDG campaigners and local and international NGOs, among others. We have been either together or individually in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi.

Huge kudos to CARE for taking a bold and reasoned stand on how best to deliver food aid to developing countries. Kudos as well to the New York Times for the front page coverage of the CARE decision—how remarkable to see food aid so prominently featured in the NYT!—and its other recent coverage (subscription required) of how U.S. policy affects poor African farmers. As the NYT reported:

CARE's decision is focused on the practice of selling tons of often heavily subsidized American farm products in African countries that in some cases, it says, compete with the crops of struggling local farmers. The charity says it will phase out its use of the practice by 2009...

"If someone wants to help you, they shouldn't do it by destroying the very thing that they're trying to promote," said George Odo, a CARE official who grew disillusioned with the practice while supervising the sale of American wheat and vegetable oil in Nairobi, Kenya's capital."

The Ugandan government announced it will pay a $10 monthly allowance to the country’s “chronically poor.” Any Ugandan who was born, raised or has lived in poverty all their life will be eligible, officials said in a recent BBC article.

On the surface, the announcement is positive. Indeed, optimists will argue that though the amount is small, it is a small step towards ensuring that families are able to meet some of their basic needs. Some will even argue that the handouts will give the will give the poor a sense of hope because as the saying goes “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.”

One must commend the Uganda government for the bold gesture taken. This gesture will bolster the wonderful efforts made in the area of Universal Primary School which has led to unprecedented school enrollment and the narrowing of the access disparities in regards to the ratio of boys to girls a key pointer for gender equality. The halting and reverse on the rates of HIV/AIDS has been a commendable effort and a point to be emulated by other African countries.

I came back from R&R a few weeks ago ready to go—well almost! I admit that it was a bit difficult to face coming back to a remote area after a lovely week in Kenya. I armed myself with a supply of chocolate to ease the transition and returned to the field.

I stopped in Dubie on route to Shamwana because the program team was completing the distribution of household kits there. Dubie is a logistical hub for our operations in Katanga—we store most of our program inputs (food, household kits, etc.) until we are ready or able to distribute them. Dubie is a large town (population 12,000) by local standards, but is still very, very rural. Our house and office are in separate locations there, so we walk to work through various people’s gardens, much to the amusement of all the kids in the area. It seems that the constant stream of Concern staff in the area in the last few months has not reduced our sense of novelty to the people, so we are accompanied by a posse every morning. I haven’t spent much time in Dubie since the first couple weeks after I arrived in DRC, but the kids still all remembered me and were calling my name as I walked around. It’s useful for when I get lost; I have an appalling sense of direction, and it’s no help that every little road here looks the same. I got lost the other evening, and a little boy took me by the hand and led me home!

Disparities between gender, social classes and geographic regions in Rwanda are escalating as economic progress leads to an accumulation of wealth in the upper income brackets, describes a United Nations report. This scenario, which neglects the rural poor, could impair Rwanda's ability to reduce poverty rates through economic growth alone and the ability to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"Disparities cut across all sectors and undermine Rwanda's progress towards the MDGs in all areas from health to education and even poverty reduction," said Moustapha Soumare, the UN Resident Coordinator in Rwanda.

Though the life expectancy in Rwanda has risen and the number of people relying on agriculture is projected to drop to 50%, there are many areas that still need improvement. The report "Turning Vision 2020 into Reality: From Recovery to Sustainable Human Development," advises that Rwanda needs more mutually accountable partnerships. An estimated US$140 per capita per year from the public sector is necessary for MDGs related development as is increased aid for national development.

"Rwanda needs to increase investments in development sectors, mainly in agriculture," stated James Musoni, Rwanda's Minister of Finance and Economic as Rwanda finalizes its Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy.

The UN report was commissioned by the UNDP and prepared by different stakeholders from government, civil society and donors, and researchers from the National University in Rwanda.

At a meeting  of HIV/AIDS experts in Sydney, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, announced that more people are becoming infected with HIV than are currently being treated. This is disappointing news in the global progress toward achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 to combat HIV/AIDS, as the world acknowledges the halfway point of the goals this year.

Although nearly two million more HIV/AIDS patients have access to anti-retroviral drugs than three years ago, new infections are spreading faster than the global campaign to treat and educate patients. There are six new infections for every one person that receives treatment. According to World Health Organization statistics, only 28% of the world's HIV/AIDS patients receive anti-retroviral drugs.

The Fourth International AIDS Society conference, attended by 5,000 delegates from 133 countries, also addressed the extremity of the problem in Asia and Africa.

African leaders have again squandered yet another opportunity, a historic one, to lead decisively but instead go for the least common denominator, the line of least resistance by deciding not to decide.

The all important issues of a government of the Union that was billed as The Grand debate at the recently concluded AU summit has been referred to yet another committee of Foreign Ministers that will report at the next summit in January in Addis. The fundamental differences between those who desire a concrete road map to a Union government and those who only think of concrete road blocks were masked by the language of consensus and modalities.

We are all familiar with the saying that the best way to kill an idea is to form a committee about it. How many more committees do we need to make this decision? The so called debate itself was the result of a Study and report presented to the heads of state that has taken almost two years to reach. All the arguments for and against were contained in that report and the three options were clear. One, immediate formation of a Union government. Two, a gradual process leading to Union government by consolidation of regional economic communities and economic convergence. And last, the formation of a Union government that gives political authority to the AU in specified areas, align national policies to continental policies and rationalizes the RECS to become affective building blocs for the Union government. Wherever one stands on this debate deciding on these issues are vital to move forward. Too many decisions, agreements, protocols have been made, agreed or signed at the continental level without any implementation at the national level. The suggestion of a Union government was meant to give an effective legal and political framework to these agreements and mandatory enforcement mechanism.