African economies are among the world's fastest growing but this has not necessarily led to improved living standards, said delegates at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town on Thursday.

Some African countries had shown massive increases in growth but had failed to address everyday needs such as housing, water and health, said activist Graca Machel who urged that growth and development go hand in hand.

"In terms of growth, they've made a huge leap ahead, but look at the social indicators - they are among the worst. So growth alone is not a response," said Machel whose husband is South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.

Huge disparities
Investor interest in Africa is growing and seven African countries are expected to be among the world's 10 fastest-growing economies this year but the growth masks huge disparities on the world's poorest continent.

The International Monetary Fund predicts that sub-Saharan Africa's gross domestic product will grow by 5.5 percent this year and 5.8 percent next year.

Strong leadership
Presenting an annual report on the continent's development, former UN secretary general Kofi Annan said Africa needs strong leadership to harness the region's economic growth to benefit its people:

"The primary responsibility for progress remains with ourselves, with African leaders and their population who need to translate the continent's wealth into results and for the benefit of the people," he said.

The Africa Progress Report compiles an overview of the continent, and gives a scorecard to show countries' efforts in reaching targets such as maternal health, education and hunger.

Governance problems remain in countries such as Somalia, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe while political progress in many others looked fragile, the report said.

Over-reliance on exports
Despite the strong overall growth, many countries rely too heavily on exports of commodities - sometimes single commodities - rather than diversifying in manufacturing or other value-added industries, the report added.

"To the detriment of hundreds of millions of Africans, the continent's strong economic growth has not translated into widespread job creation and poverty reduction," said the report, which also cites rising inequality between rich and poor.

The report also sounded an alarm over rising global food prices, warning that some countries could face social unrest if subsidies and price controls were no longer affordable.

source: AFP