Monrovia, Feb. 5 -- For more than a decade, much of Africa has been moving forward. Economic growth is rising, poverty is falling and democratic governance is spreading. But the global financial crisis threatens to undo this progress by reducing investment, exports and aid just as they should be expanding to build on these successes.

By Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, contributing writer

While international attention has been understandably focused on events in Darfur, Somalia and Zimbabwe, countries across the continent including Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique and Liberia have been quietly turning their economies around. Economic growth rates regularly exceed 5% in many nations. The key to this progress is stronger African leadership and more acc...