São Paulo – The outlook for Africa’s growth is “promising,” according to a survey released this Monday (27th) in Marrakech, Morocco, by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). This year’s edition of the African Economic Outlook report estimates that the continent will grow by 4.8% in 2013 and 5.3% in 2014.

According to the publication, the forecasts stem from a “healthy resilience to internal and external shocks and its role as a growth pole in an ailing global economy.”

According to the study, Africa’s agricultural, mineral and energy resources may boost economic growth even further, and pave the way for a breakthrough in human development.

The study points out that thus far, growth has been accompanied by insufficient poverty reduction, persisting unemployment, increased income inequalities and in some countries, deteriorating levels of health and education.

“Growth is not enough,” said OECD Development Centre director Mario Pezzini in a press release. To him, African countries must create the right conditions to convert natural resources into jobs, and to optimize revenues from said resources through intelligent taxing. The survey covers several Arab countries in the northern portion of the African continent.

The report points out four elements required so growth can be coupled with inclusion: firstly, to create the conditions for a transformation to take place, including infrastructure, education and the creation of larger and more competitive markets; secondly, sound land management, balanced and effective tax systems and the right mechanisms and incentives to cause an acceleration and diversification of the sources of growth; thirdly, governments and investors must ensure that a fair share of the proceeds from natural resources and extractive industries accrue to society through, for instance, professional training; and lastly, the report suggests that African countries can foster change and economic diversification actively, for example through corridors of development around power, transport and communication lines.

“Now is the time,” said the chief economist and vice president of the African Development Bank, Mthuli Ncube, according to the press release. “After ten years of improved stability, sound macroeconomic policies and blossoming trade links, growth has made African nations freer than ever to choose the own development paths and implement active policies for economic transformation,” he said.

*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum