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PRESS RELEASE
Uporaji wa sekta za mbao na uvuvi unaizuia Afrika isiendelee - Kofi Annan
Ripoti ya Jopo la Maendeleo ya Afrika ya mwaka huu inawahimiza viongozi wa Afrika kupambana na ukosefu wa usawa na kuitaka jamii ya ulimwengu kukabiliana na uporaji wa rasilimali za bara hili.
Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/app.png
Photo Kofi Annan: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1052 (Kofi Annan, Chair of the Africa Progress Panel)
Download the Report: http://www.apo-mail.org/APP_Summary_SW.pdf
An audio stream opens up on May 8 at 2PM GMT and closes at 15h00 GMT – journalists need not register and can simply click the link: https://mixlr.com/odi/embed/
Download the Infographic "Africa's Food Exchange": http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/infog_3_foodexchange.jpg
Download the Infographic "Africa's Losses: Cost of Illicit Outflows": http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/infog_5_africalosses.jpg
Ripoti hii ya 2014 ya Jopo la Maendeleo ya Afrika (http://www.africaprogresspanel.org), Nafaka, Samaki, Pesa: Kugharamia mageuzi ya Kijani kibichi na Samawati, inawahimiza viongozi wa kisiasa wa Afrika kuchukua hatua hususa sasa ili kupunguza ukosefu wa usawa kwa kuwekeza katika kilimo. Pia, inataka hatua ya kimataifa kuchukuliwa ili kukomesha kile kinachotajwa kuwa uporaji wa sekta za mbao na uvuvi.
“Baada ya zaidi ya mwongo mmoja wa ukuzi, kuna mengi ya kushangilia,” Bwana Annan atawaambia viongozi wa kisiasa na wa kibiashara, wakati wa kuzinduliwa kwa ripoti hii katika mkutano wa Baraza la Kiuchumi la Ulimwengu kwa Afrika (World Economic Forum for Africa). “Lakini ni wakati wa kuuliza kwa nini ukuzi mkubwa wa jinsi hii haujasaidia hata kidogo kuwainua watu kutoka katika umasikini na kwa nini utajiri mwingi wa Afrika umeharibiwa kupitia mazoea ya ufisadi na uwekezaji usio mnyoofu.”
“Afrika ni bara lenye utajiri mwingi, kwa hivyo ni kwa nini fungu la Afrika katika utapiamlo ulimwenguni, na idadi ya vifo vya watoto inaongezeka haraka jinsi hii? Jibu ni kwamba ukosefu wa usawa unadhoofisha uhusiano kati ya ukuzi wa kiuchumi na maendeleo katika hali ya maisha ya watu,” alisema Bw. Annan.
Hata ingawa wastani wa mapato umeongezeka kwa theluthi moja katika mwongo uliopita, kuna Waafrika wengi zaidi sasa wanaoishi katika umasikini-takriban milioni 45- zaidi ya waliokuwepo katika mwisho wa miaka ya 1990. Malengo mapya ya kimaendeleo huenda yakajaribu kuodoa umasikini Afrika kufikia mwaka wa 2030 - lakini kwa mkondo wa sasa, Mwafrika mmoja kati ya Watano bado atakuwa akiishi katika umasikini mwaka huo utakapofika.
Bw. Annan, ambaye aliathiri kwa kiwango kikubwa Malengo ya Maendeleo ya Milenia, asema: “ Mbali na kuahidi kutimiza malengo makuu, nchi zinapojiunga na mfumo huu mpya wa kimaendeleo ulimwenguni zinapaswa kuahidi pia kupunguza mapengo yasiyoweza kutetewa katika bara hili, kati ya matajiri na masikini, maeneo ya vijijini na mijini, wanaume na wanawake.”
Waandishi wa ripoti hii wanatambulisha kilimo kuwa msingi wa ukuzi ambao utapunguza umasikini. Wanadhihirisha kwamba masikini wengi wa Afrika wanaishi na kufanya kazi katika maeneo ya vijijini, na kwa wingi ni wakulima wadogo wadogo.
“Nchi ambazo zimejengwa juu ya misingi ya sekta bora za kilimo - kama vile Ethiopia na Rwanda- zimeonyesha kwamba maeneo ya vijijini yanaweza kuwa kichocheo kikubwa cha ukuzi wa pamoja na upunguzaji wa umasikini,” Bw. Annan atasema katika uzinduzi.
Ripoti hii inahimiza kuwe na “mageuzi ya kijani kibichi ya Kiafrika,” ambayo yanadondoa masomo kutoka kwa mageuzi ya bara la Asia na kubadilishwa ili kufaa hali za Afrika.
Kwa wakati huu, gharama ya uingizaji wa chakula kutoka nchi za nje ni dola za kimarekani bilioni 35, kwa sababu kilimo cha ndani kimekumbwa na uzalishaji wa kiwango cha chini, ukosefu wa uwekezaji, na ujitengaji wa kimaeneo. Kuongezeka kwa uwekezaji katika miundombinu na utafiti kunaweza kuinua kwa kiwango kikubwa mavuno ya eneo hili na mapato ya wakulima. Kwa wakati huo huo, kuondoa vikwazo vya kibiashara ndani ya Afrika kunaweza kufungua soko mpya.
Hata ingawa ripoti hii inakosoa viongozi wa Afrika, Ripoti ya 2014 ya Jopo la Maendeleo ya Afrika inaipa changamoto jamii ya kimataifa kuunga mkono jitihada za kimaendeleo za Afrika. Inadhihirisha kwamba sekta za kilimo na mbao ndizo sekta mbili muhimu zinazohitaji kuimarishwa ili kupambana na uporaji wa rasilimali za asili.
Uvuvi haramu, usiodhibitiwa na usioripotiwa umefikia kiwango cha juu kupindukia katika maji ya pwani ya Afrika. Afrika Magharibi hupoteza takriban dola za kimarekani bilioni 1.3 kila mwaka. Zaidi ya gharama za kifedha, uporaji huu huangamiza jamii za kivuvi ambazo hupoteza nafasi muhimu za uvuvi, utayarishaji na uuzaji wa samaki. Dola zingine bilioni 17 hupotezwa kupitia ukataji haramu wa miti.
“Uporaji wa rasilimali ni wizi uliopangwa na unaofichwa kwa hila katika biashara. Meli za biashara za uvuvi za kigeni, ambazo husajiliwa katika nchi za Kiafrika kwa hila, na kupakua samaki katika bandari ambazo hazirekodi mapato yao, hazina maadili,” alisema Bw. Annan, akiongeza kwamba shughuli hizi haramu hukuza tatizo la ukwepaji wa kodi na kampuni bandia. Ripoti ya 2014 ya Jopo la Maendeleo ya Afrika inahimiza kuwepo kwa usimamizi wenye wahusika wengi wa sekta ya uvuvi ambao utatekeleza vikwazo juu ya meli ambazo hazisajili na kuripoti mapato yao. Ripoti hii aidha inazihimiza serikali ulimwenguni pote kuidhinisha Makubaliano ya Port State Measures, mkataba ambao unalenga kuwazuia waporaji kupakua mapato yao haramu katika bandari.
Viongozi wa kisiasa wa Afrika wameshindwa kusimamia rasilimali za asili kwa masilahi ya wanaozimiliki kihalisi- watu wa Afrika. Pamoja na kupoteza pesa kupitia uporaji na usimamizi mbaya wa kifedha, Waafrika wanapoteza pesa za kigeni, si ambapo wafadhili wanapokosa kuweka hadi zao tu, bali pia wakati Waafrika wanaoishi katika nchi za kigeni wanapotuma pesa kwa familia zao. Inakadiriwa kwamba kila mwaka bara hupoteza zaidi ya dola za kimarekani bilioni 1.85 katika ada za kupindikia zinazotozwa kwa huduma hizi.
Zikiwa na mapato makubwa ya rasilimali, serikali za Afrika sasa zina nafasi ya kutengeneza mifumo bora ya kodi – na kutumia pesa za umma vizurikwa njia ya usawa, ripoti hii inaongeza. Kwa mfano, asilimia 3 ya pato la jumla la eneo (GDP) kwa sasa huelekezwa kwa ruzuku za nishati ambazo kwa sehemu kubwa huenda kwa watu wa tabaka la kati kati. Pesa hizo zinapaswa kugeuzwa na kupelekwa kwa matumizi ya jamii ili kuwapa masikini nafasi bora ya kutoroka mtego wa umasikini.
“Uwezo wa Afrika wa kukabiliana na hali ngumu, na ubunifu ni mkubwa,” asema Bw. Annan. “Tuna idadi kubwa ya vijana wenye nguvu. Wajasiriamali wetu wanatumia teknolojia kubadilisha maisha ya watu. Tuna rasilimali za kutosha kulisha si sisi tu bali na maeneo mengine pia. Ni wakati kwa viongozi wa Afrika - na wawekezaji shirika wenye uwajibikaji - kuibua uwezekano huu mkubwa.”
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of the Africa Progress Panel (APP).
Ikisimamiwa na Kofi Annan, Katibu Mkuu wa zamani wa Umoja wa Mataifa, Jopo hili lenye watu kumi hutetea, katika viwango vya juu sana, maendeleo endelevu na yenye usawa barani Afrika. Jopo hili hutoa chapisho lake kuu, Ripoti ya Maendeleo ya Afrika, kila mwaka mwezi Mei. (http://www.africaprogresspanel.org)
Kupata habari zaidi, tafadhali wasiliana na:
Victoria Williams, Hill+Knowlton Strategies - (m) +27 72 452 1772
Barua pepe: victoria.williams@hkstrategies.co.za
Geraldine Trennery, Hill+Knowlton Strategies - (m) +27 82 677 5201
Barua pepe: geraldine.trennery@hkstrategies.co.za
http://www.africaprogresspanel.org
http://www.facebook.com/africaprogresspanelna
https://twitter.com/africaprogress
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If you cannot read that message, click here.
APO content is copyright free and can be republished at will.
PRESS RELEASE
Plunder of timber and fisheries is holding Africa back - Kofi Annan
This year’s Africa Progress Report calls on African leaders to tackle inequality and demands global community tackle plunder of continent’s natural resources
Download the Report: http://www.apo-mail.org/APP_Summary_EN.pdf
Photo Kofi Annan: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1052 (Kofi Annan, Chair of the Africa Progress Panel)
Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/app.png
An audio stream opens up on May 8 at 2PM GMT and closes at 15h00 GMT – journalists need not register and can simply click the link: https://mixlr.com/odi/embed/
Download the Infographic "Africa's Food Exchange": http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/infog_3_foodexchange.jpg
Download the Infographic "Africa's Losses: Cost of Illicit Outflows": http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/infog_5_africalosses.jpg
The 2014 Africa Progress Panel report (http://www.africaprogresspanel.org), Grain, Fish, Money: Financing Africa’s green and blue revolutions, calls on Africa’s political leaders to take concrete measures now to reduce inequality by investing in agriculture. It also demands international action to end what it describes as the plunder of Africa’s timber and fisheries.
“After more than a decade of growth, there is plenty to celebrate,” Mr Annan will say when he releases the report. “But it is time to ask why so much growth has done so little to lift people out of poverty – and why so much of Africa’s resource wealth is squandered through corrupt practices and unscrupulous investment activities.”
“Africa is a continent of great wealth so why is Africa’s share of global malnutrition and child deaths rising so fast? The answer is that inequality is weakening the link between economic growth and improvements in wellbeing,” he said.
Although average income has risen by one-third in the past decade, there are more Africans living in poverty now – around 415 million – than at the end of the 1990s. New global development goals are likely to aim to eradicate poverty by 2030 – but on current trends, one African in five will still be in poverty when that deadline arrives.
Mr Annan, who played a central role in shaping the Millennium Development Goals, says: “When countries sign up to the new global development framework, they should pledge not only to meet ambitious targets but also to narrow the region’s indefensible gaps between rich and poor, urban and rural, and men and women.”
The report’s authors identify agriculture as the key to growth that reduces poverty. They point out that most of Africa’s poor live and work in rural areas, predominantly as smallholder farmers. “Countries that have built growth on the foundations of a vibrant agricultural sector – such as Ethiopia and Rwanda – have demonstrated that the rural sector can act as a powerful catalyst for inclusive growth and poverty reduction,” Mr Annan will say at the launch.
The report calls for a “uniquely African green revolution” that adapts the lessons provided by Asia to African conditions. Africa currently imports US$35 billion worth of food because local agriculture is dogged by low productivity, chronic underinvestment, and regional protectionism. Increased investment in infrastructure and research could dramatically raise the region’s yields and the incomes of farmers. Meanwhile, eliminating the barriers that restrict trade within Africa could open up new markets.
While critical of African governments, the Africa Progress Report 2014 also challenges the international community to support the region’s development efforts. It highlights fisheries and logging as two areas in which strengthened multilateral rules are needed to combat the plunder of natural resources.
Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing has reached epidemic proportions in Africa’s coastal waters. West Africa is conservatively estimated to lose US$1.3 billion annually. Beyond the financial cost this plunder destroys fishing communities who lose critical opportunities to fish, process and trade. Another US$17 billion is lost through illicit logging activities.
”Natural resource plunder is organized theft disguised as commerce. Commercial trawlers that operate under flags of convenience, and unload in ports that do not record their catch, are unethical,” Mr Annan said, adding that these criminal activities compound the problem of tax evasion and shell companies. The Africa Progress Report 2014 calls for a multilateral fisheries regime that applies sanctions to fishing vessels that do not register and report their catches. The report also calls on governments around to world to ratify the Port State Measures Agreement, a treaty that seeks to thwart the poachers in port from unloading their ill-gotten gains.
African political leaders have failed to manage natural resources in the interests of the true owners of those resources – the African people.
As well as losing money through natural resource plunder and financial mismanagement, Africans miss out on money from abroad, not only when aid donors fail to keep their promises but even when those in the African diaspora send remittances home to their families. It is estimated that that the continent is losing US$1.85 billion a year because money transfer operators are imposing excessive charges on remittances.
With greater resource revenue, African governments now have the opportunity to develop more effective taxation systems – and spend public money more fairly, the report adds. For example, 3 per cent of regional GDP is currently allocated to energy subsidies that principally go to the middle class. That money should be diverted into social spending to give the poor a better chance of escaping the poverty trap.
“Africa’s resilience and creativity are enormous,” Mr Annan says. “We have a rising and energetic youth population. Our dynamic entrepreneurs are using technology to transform people’s lives. We have enough resources to feed not just ourselves but other regions, too. It is time for Africa’s leaders – and responsible investment partners – to unlock this huge potential.”
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of the Africa Progress Panel (APP).
Chaired by Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, the ten-member Africa Progress Panel (http://www.africaprogresspanel.org) advocates at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. The Panel releases its flagship publication, the Africa Progress Report, every year in May.
For further information, please contact:
Hill+Knowlton Strategies (d) +27 11 463 2198
Victoria Williams (m) +27 72 452 1772
Email: victoria.williams@hkstrategies.co.za
Geraldine Trennery (m) +27 82 677 5201
Email: geraldine.trennery@hkstrategies.co.za
http://www.africaprogresspanel.org
http://www.facebook.com/africaprogresspanel
https://twitter.com/africaprogress
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