Optimistic future for sub-Saharan Africa possible, says UNDP administrator

An optimistic future for sub-Saharan Africa with higher levels of human development is possible through greater engagement with other regions of the South, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administrator, Helen Clark, underlined during a side event at the African Union (AU) summit on Sunday.

Discussing the 2013 Human Development Report, Clark said the theme of the AU summit, ‘African Renaissance’, bolstered the report’s conclusion that the countries of the South are transforming themselves and the world around them.

“UNDP’s 2013 Human Development Report addresses the ‘Rise of the South’, and argues that a significant number of developing countries – including in Africa, have transformed themselves into dynamic economies with growing geopolitical clout – radically reshaping the world of the 21st century,” she said.

“Africa and the world are more interconnected through trade, investment, migration, mobile phones, and new communications technology – than ever before and sub-regional and regional entities such as the African Union, have contributed to this reality,” she continued. “Importantly, cooperation between countries in the South is rapidly increasing.

“The report stresses that the rise of the South is not just about the world’s largest countries. It puts forward more than 40 developing nations which have notably accelerated their human development progress in recent years,” she continued.

Released in March, the report and its accompanying Human Development Index (HDI) show the Africa region as having the second highest growth after South Asia over the past 10 years.