Finally, I will say a few words about the recent monetary policy decisions by the Reserve Bank Board. The Recent Economic Data Last week's national accounts contained positive news about the Australian economy. Over the past year, GDP rose by 3.1 per cent, which is a bit stronger than we were expecting (Graph 1).
As SAIIA has noted in one of its policy briefs, what is required is a concrete, sustainable mechanism through which Africa’s participation can be coordinated.5 It has been suggested that this could include a designated secretariat or a coordinating unit within the AU Commission that would conduct outreach, consult with a range of stakeholders, and put forward African positions at the G-20.6 SAIIA has provided some recommendations on how the capacity constraints on the continent could be addressed, which would entail, among others, the following:   collecting information about relevant issues on the G-20 agenda and preparing clear African positions in line with the continent’s overall development objectives, possibly also coordinating African delegations participating in G-20 events, as was done at the time of the Cannes Summit in 2011;  5  E Nnadozie and C G Makokera, Development: ensuring greater African participation, Policy Briefing 117, Economic Diplomacy Programme, November 2014.