Today is Africa Day; a time to update our views about the continent

Today is Africa Day; a time to update our views about the continent

Africa Day is the annual commemoration on May 25 of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity, which later became the African Union (AU).

The day is celebrated around the world, and provides a welcome reminder of the continent’s rich culture and resilience.

In Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been the driving force behind Africa Day celebrations, since 2006, supporting a programme of community-based and policy-focused initiatives around the country.

Africa Day is also an opportunity to change the way many people in Ireland think about Africa. Research commissioned by Dóchas has shown that our attitudes to the African continent have changed little since the 1980s.

When asked “Do you think Africa is better or worse off today than it was 20 years ago?”, over half of respondents in the survey by Amárach Research said that they feel Africa is in a similar or worse position now than 2 decades ago, despite huge evidence of change in the last decade: 

  • Many African economies are booming. With an average growth of 4.8% from 2001 to 2011, Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world.
  • Africa is home to eight of the world’s 15 fastest growing economies since 2000, and many African countries are becoming more business friendly.
  • An increasing number of Africans are enjoying higher living standards.
  • Between 2000 and 2012, primary net enrolment rates increased from 60% to 78% and in 2012 there were 35% more school children in school than in the year 2000.
  • Between 2000 and 2012, the lives of an estimated three million children under age five were saved from malaria
  • Sub-Saharan Africa is reversing the incidence of tuberculosis: The estimated number of new tuberculosis cases fell from 321 per 100,000 people in 2002 to 255 in 2012.
  • The incidence of new HIV cases in the region fell by more than half between 2001 and 2012.
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of people with access to an improved drinking water source increased by 16 per cent between 1990 and 2012, despite major population growth.
  • Maternal and child mortality have declined by 47 and 44% respectively.

And opportunities for Irish businesses are also growing: It has been reported that trade between Ireland and Africa is expected to reach €24 billion by the end of this decade and that exports from Ireland have increased by approximately 25% in recent years while imports from sub-Saharan African countries have doubled. Irish companies such as the Kerry Group, Guinness, ESB International and Glanbia Nutritionals are already operating on the continent with more Irish companies expected to follow suit in 2015 and beyond.

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 (Photo: the founding fathers of the Organisation for African Unity, in 1963)

 

 

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