Q&A: 60 seconds with Winnie Byanyima

Winnie Byanyima is the Executive Director of Oxfam International. Here we speak to her about the upcoming World Economic Forum on Africa, taking place in Cape Town on 4th and 5th June.

1) What is on your agenda for WEF Africa 2015?

This week political and business leaders from across Africa will meet in Cape Town to reflect and build on Africa’s recent economic fervor and growth. But African governments, business and people are not benefiting as they should be from this progress. This is partly due to policies and practice linked to financing for development that are set against them. Currently, these financing rules only work in favor of wealthy vested interests, which are often based in the world’s richest countries. This undermines efforts by African countries to grow and prosper sustainably. Oxfam is advocating solutions to this, such as the reform of the global tax system and universal access to quality education. Africa’s young population could be a huge economic asset if inequality were addressed. If all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty. This is equal to a 12 per cent cut in global poverty.

2) Do you think the issue of inequality is being taken more seriously since the campaign you launched at Davos in January?

At Davos we released a paper about how the world’s richest 1% will own more than the rest of us by 2016. That striking statistic has somewhat pushed inequality up the global agenda with the issue more on people’s minds now – be they poor, rich or in between. For Africa, the World Bank recently found that the 10 richest people here own the same as the poorest half of the continent – that’s over half a billion people. But we are still waiting for political leaders to take action that would halt this rising inequality. Africa can only deliver inclusive growth and sustainable development if, for example, tax evasion and avoidance were reduced and unhealthy tax competition stopped.

3) What is needed to build a real consensus around this subject?

Consensus is growing day by day. Leaders from Barack Obama to the Pope are aware of the dangers of inequality, as is the IMF and the World Bank. It is being more commonly accepted how inequality is not good for growth or development. Africa’s working-age population is due to double to 1 billion in the next 25 years, surpassing both China and India. Securing sustainable inclusive growth for the next 25 years means delivering economic growth that benefits all Africans – including its young people. But this can only happen if inequality is properly addressed. We must continue challenging leaders to take action.

4) If you could achieve one single outcome in Cape Town, what would it be?

One outcome I would like to see would be political and business leaders in Africa putting their weight behind calls for real reform of the global tax system, as well as introducing a more progressive approach to taxation in their home countries.

This WEF Africa Leader series conversation was first published in Business Report in association with WEF. Follow WEF Africa coverage on Twitter #AF15 or #IndyAF15.

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Author: Winnie Byanyima is the Executive Director of Oxfam International. 

Image: Winnie Byanyima speaks during the session ‘The Global Agenda 2015’ at the Annual Meeting 2015 of the World Economic Forum at the congress centre in Davos, January 24, 2015.