World Bank President David Malpass met with Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina on his first trip after taking his postAnd the problem will only accelerate as the population on the continent grows in coming decades.AFPThe International Monetary Fund and World Bank have had a mixed record in addressing the longstanding challenge of poverty on the continent since the institutions were founded 75 years ago.
In the most recent numbers available, World Bank data show extreme poverty fell worldwide to a new low of 10% in 2015. The number of extremely poor people – those who live on $1.90 a day or less – has fallen by more than one billion since 1990. Even with the IMF forecasting the region will see economic growth of 3.5% next year, it is not enough to create the 20 million jobs needed each year to absorb new entrants into the labour market.
The former US Treasury official, who was an outspoken critic of the World Bank, stresses that the bank must be more effective in its work to alleviate poverty and improve living conditions. Masood Ahmed, who worked at the IMF and World Bank for nearly half their 75 years of existence, says the challenge is enormous, especially as climate change threatens to disrupt everything else.
For example, getting state-owned monopolies out of the way of private enterprise, and improving the legal system “allows businesses to start, that allows people to get skills that they need for jobs,” he said.
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