Sub-Saharan Africa's economic performance is very low

An official of the Commonwealth Secretariat has observed that the average economic performance of Sub-Saharan Africa Countries has been less than satisfactory in the last 40 years.

George Saibel who is the Director of the Special Advisory Services Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat says serious steps must be taken so that Africa frees itself from the quagmire of poverty that has faced it since colonial days.

According to him, the lack of economic advancement in Africa has had enormous consequences on the welfare of the majority of people on the continent.

Africa has received a lot of donor support in the past and this Mr. Saibel says has not done or changed the fortunes of Africa in spite of the numerous and massive international aid programmes and strategies that it has seen.

Mr. Saibel made these remarks at a workshop on export competitiveness which was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Ghana Export Promotion Council. He said the inability of Africa to witness any massive economic ascendancy in the last 40 years has led to a profound re-think on how best technical assistance and support services can be delivered in Africa for it to achieve empirical economic growth in the future.

The conclusion of this idea of re-thinking from the Commonwealth Mr. Saibel says is to define their mission and mandate for desire to work as a trusted partner for all Commonwealth people, as a force for peace, democracy, equality and good governance which is a catalyst for global consensus building and a source of assistance for sustainable development and poverty eradication.

Speaking later to the dailyEXPRESS, Mr. Saibel reiterated the fact that Africa and for that matter Ghana has seen some slight economic improvement over the couple of years but adds that the truth is also that there are still very compelling issues in Ghana with poverty levels very high.

According to him, it is only increased growth together with increased revenue that will position the country to be able to advance against poverty but currently there is not enough being done on that level.

Mr. Saibel also added that the Commonwealth jointly organised the workshop with the Ghana Export Promotion Council so that other successful Commonwealth countries could share their experiences with local exporters.

As international trade is liberalized and borders are opened Mr. Saibel says only countries that are able to compete will survive in the export industry.