This emerged from a recent UNCTAD report on economic development in Africa. The report urges African states to make use of domestic financial resources in ensuring economic development of individual countries. It says this approach can achieve sustained and higher rates of economic growth and will reduce dependence on overseas donor funding. The report further says that most African countries have vast reserves of domestic resources but which are still under-utilized. The UN report calls for the establishment of what it describes as a "developmental state," which is an approach to governance and economic progress, which has resulted in phenomenal growth in several Asian nations.

By using developmental states approach, governments actively manage economic policy to encourage greater diversification and job creation. This is done while avoiding over protectionism or interventionism and further strive to increase domestic financial resources as a fuel for growth. South Africa is on course to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including halving the number of people living in poverty by 2015, says the country's Cabinet.

The eight MDGs are to:

· Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

· Achieve universal primary education

· Promote gender equality and empower women

· Reduce child mortality

· Improve maternal health

· Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

· Ensure environmental sustainability and

· Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Cabinet's assertion came ahead of the 62nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the Security Council (UNSC) Sessions in New York, US, where the progress towards the achievement of the MDGs will form part of the agenda. UN member states agreed to reach the MDGs by 2015.