Africa still faces corruption, climate change, increasing water scarcity, biodiversity and ecosystem loss, natural disasters, energy crises, poverty and more. All these issues threaten the development impact within the continent and the quality of life for those residing there.
There is a saying that “teamwork makes the dream work”, which can also be said about Africa. To truly see growth in the continent, there needs to be teamwork when it comes to development. This article will highlight the importance of unity and how it can be achieved.
Innovation is an important part of development. Innovative developments mean thinking outside the box and creating something new and highly beneficial. This is exactly what Africa needs in all sectors, whether it’s in the weak education system or the overly worked health care system. By coming together, there can be room for innovative thinking that can help the continent deal with its challenges and shortcomings. This can help create effective ways to push economic growth throughout the continent and ensure that people residing here see their basic needs met.
While Africa may be a developing continent and may have a long way to go, this does not mean each country in the continent does not have its own strengths. For example, most nations in Africa are rich in natural resources. They can use those resources to trade within each nation and other countries and become an effective way of generating money. To date, African countries have always needed financial assistance from other countries. According to this article, African countries are working towards building the Africa they want, and the first thing they need to do is use their strengths to work towards being able to finance their own activities. The importance of national unity for development is that this can further help African countries develop and ensure that these infrastructure developments aren’t done through loans from other countries, which will need to be paid later, thus slowing down proper economic growth.
To face Africa’s development issues and challenges, Africa needs to be able to be innovative. But, for the sake of innovation, there needs to be a good amount of healthy risk-taking. Being united as a continent can help foster innovation, potentially benefiting the entire continent. As an underdeveloped continent, it is hard to take risks as there is a lot at stake. It makes more sense to find other alternatives; however, those other alternatives may not lead to impactful benefits. When working together, all these nations will find effective solutions to build and grow their economies. Since they are working together and have a helping hand should the need arise, it is much easier to take risks.
DBSA's role is to bring African economic development solutions that work towards building Africa's prosperity. Through fund management, planning, preparation, financing and more, we drive inclusive growth and secure innovative solutions that will benefit the country through socio-economic developments. To achieve our purpose as a development finance institution, we need to mobilise funding resources that will go towards projects that help build a better tomorrow for Africa through sustainable infrastructure planning and development. By doing this, we aim to eradicate poverty and dependency. But to do that, we need Africa to work together as a continent and help us find ways to bring change.
The African continent has a great amount of potential, and through working together, we can foster a continent that can solve its challenges – from climate change, poverty, unemployment, inequality, and more. At DBSA, we want to build a better Africa for all. One that will improve the quality of life for citizens and ensure that they have the skills to sustain themselves, their families and the economy to compete and trade fairly with other countries.
A Guest Editorial