FOREWORD

Resource mobilization lies at the heart of sustainable development. As the world enters a decisive phase in the battle against COVID-19, Africa must develop innovative finance mechanisms to build back better, prepare for potential future pandemics, and protect the lives of its rapidly growing population.

Bringing together contributions from some of the most respected scholars and practitioners in their fields, this book – Sustainable Development in Post-Pandemic Africa: Effective Strategies for Resource Mobilization – carefully examines a wide range of issues in the development finance domain. The authors, cognizant that the time for bold action is now, propose concrete ideas to ensure that the current crisis does not erase years of development gains.

Africa has been hit hard by the pandemic: our continent endured the worst economic shock in half a century, with gross domestic product contracting by 2.1% in 2020. Behind these statistics are stories of unimaginable hardship. The taxi driver, the street vendor, the vegetable grower – for the countless Africans who earn their living in the informal sector, a day without work is a day without food. According to estimates from the African Development Bank Group, the pandemic is likely to push at least 29 million people into extreme poverty. The gravity of the situation compels policymakers and public officials alike to formulate a unified response to fend off the worst global humanitarian disaster in recent history.

Almost two years since Africa recorded its first case of COVID-19, less than 10% of the population has been vaccinated. Poor health infrastructure, a lack of funding for training and deploying medical staff, as well as vaccine storage issues continue to plague the continent. Only 21 of 54 countries have the health infrastructure to deal with an emergency of this magnitude with several having fewer than 10 physicians per 100,000 inhabitants, far below the minimum 100 physicians per 100,000 inhabitants recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Africa cannot rely on others. To protect ourselves from future pandemics, we must boost investments in quality healthcare and dramatically increase our capacity to manufacture vaccines.

At the African Development Bank Group, we spare no expense to realize the dream of a better Africa. Since 2015, millions have benefited from our High-5 strategy to Light Up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the Quality of Life of the People of Africa. We are driving Special Agricultural Processing Zones (SAPZs) in rural areas that will allow Africa to export raw materials and add value to products. We actively support the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). And through our Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) program, we are bridging the $42 billion financing gap facing women in order to help create prosperity for all. These and other initiatives are thoroughly analyzed in the subsequent chapters of this volume.

Edited by two foremost African scholars in the field of international trade and development, Dr. Fred Olayele and Dr. Yiagadeesen Samy, Sustainable Development in Post-Pandemic Africa provides invaluable insights on how to reconfigure current financing sources under a forward-looking framework that incorporates non-traditional financing tools and mechanisms such as public-private partnerships, gender lens investing, new growth drivers, and emerging and disruptive technologies capable of unlocking market failures that hamper sustainable development financing.

Simply put, this is compulsory reading for anyone interested in the strategic and sustainable development of our continent.

I commend the editors and their contributors for this timely publication.