Linking democratic election with dev't significant towards sustainable growth

Addis Ababa February 21 (WIC) - Countries need to tie democratic election with development to ensure sustainable socio-economic growth in Africa, the African Union Commission (AUC) said.

The 3rd meeting of the committee on governance and popular participation is being held here under the theme " The Developmental State: What options for Africa?" AUC Political Affairs Commissioner, Ambassador Aisha Abdullahi on the occasion said since the start of the 1990s most African states embarked on the path of democratization.

This rekindled the hopes of citizens of the continent that somehow democracy will lead to good governance and good governance to development. Currently, regular elections are held on the continent every year.

This year alone, there will be about 17 elections on the continent including presidential and parliamentary elections and referendum.

While the frequency of elections on the continent shows that democracy is being consolidated, democratic elections in themselves are not an adequate measure of good governance and development.

She said after several years of democratic elections in Africa, it is important for the conversations to shift from just democratic elections to how they can be translated into development in which a clear nexus is established between democracy and development.

The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance takes into consideration the need for a strong relationship between democracy, governance and development, she said.

Representing Ethiopia, Dr. Girum Abebe said on the occasion that developmental state is a concept that is not new to the continent.

Dr. Girum, who is also a researcher at the Ethiopian Development Research Institute, said following the economic crisis of the 70s the developmental state approach to development was demonized and debunked by institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.

He said the economic rise of the East Asian 'four Tigers' led to a re-reading of the role of the state in the developmental process.

The two-day meeting will enable ECA to draw experts' opinions for its operations in the areas of governance and public administration.
It will also review activities of ECA in the area of governance and public administration for the year 2012.

Many African states and leaders including the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi regarded developmental state approach as key towards socio-economic and political change in the continent.