Africa is on the move but rich countries must do more to dismantle trade subsidies if living standards are really to improve in the world's poorest continent, according to the World Bank's deputy head. Juan Jose Daboub, a former Salvadorean finance minister who took over as the bank's managing director in July, said he had been impressed during his first visit to the world's poorest continent by the vibrancy of the private sector. "Africa is on the move. There are definitely a lot of good signs, a lot of positive signs," Daboub told a news conference in the Senegalese capital Dakar at the weekend. "The path to prosperity means generating opportunities for people to take destiny into their own hands." Despite Africa's rosiest economic outlook in more than a decade, Daboub said obstacles to private investment in the continent of 900 million people still needed to be torn down. He cited endless red tape in some states, a bewildering array of internal tariffs and taxes, and persistent graft.
