Private Sector
Why: African countries need more jobs and investment to grow and improve lives.
How: By supporting micro, small and medium businesses and encouraging countries to reduce cost and risk of doing business.
Hopeful Signs: 65 percent of Africans live in high growth countries; many governments making it easier to start and run a business.
More:
Women's Empowerment
Why: Lack of opportunity for women stunts economic growth and worsens poverty.
How: By increasing women-owned businesses by 10 percent by 2009 and helping establish clearer property rights for women.
Hopeful Signs: Many micro and small African businesses are owned by women; more women parliamentarians in 31 countries.
More:
Skill-Building
Why: Most countries don't have enough skilled and educated workers.
How: By focusing on education quality and secondary, vocational and university education.
Hopeful Signs: Gross primary enrollment rate hit 96% in 2004; access to post-secondary education increasing at 15 percent a year.
More:
Agriculture
Why: 70 percent of Africans live in rural communities but agricultural productivity is low.
How: By helping improve technology and access to markets and finance.
Hopeful Signs: Land productivity rose in 38 of 46 countries and labor productivity increased in 29 countries.
More:
Clean Energy
Why: Only 23 percent of people have access to electricity; 28 of 48 countries are affected by an energy crisis.
How: By boosting generation capacity by 20 percent in 30 countries by 2012; backing energy reforms that decrease outages and lower costs.
Hopeful Signs: Resources for energy increased from US$642 million in 2004 to US$1.2 billion in 2006.
More:
Roads & Transit Corridors
Why: Africa has fewer roads today than 30 years ago—30 percent of rural people have access to an all-season road.
How: By boosting road repair and maintenance by 25 percent in 8 countries, repairing and building 30,000 km of roads by 2013, and supporting urban transit.
Hopeful Signs: Several countries have new transport strategies; regional projects decreasing traffic congestion on major corridors.
More:
Water & Sanitation
Why: Only 54 percent of Africans have access to safe water and 44 percent to improved sanitation.
How: By giving at least 2.5 million people a year access to safe water and sanitation.
Hopeful Signs: Households with access to safe water jumped 10 percent in a decade; 20 countries reforming water and sanitation.
More:
Health
Why: Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 63 percent of HIV/AIDS cases and 1.1 million malaria-related deaths annually; health systems are under stress..
How: By improving health systems and front-line services.
Hopeful Signs: Under-5 mortality dropped to between 100 and 200 in 70% of countries;people receiving anti-retroviral treatment for AIDS increased five-fold between 2001 and 2006.
More:
