Economy
The benefits of globalisation flowed primarily to the developed world and its principal trading partners, among them Brazil, China, and India. As we enter the newer age of mobility, people will move across borders in ever-greater numbers. In their pursuit of opportunity and a better life, they have the potential to chip away at the vast inequalities that characterise our time, writes Ravinder Rena.
Technology has been used by others to exploit Africa for centuries. It is now time for Africa to grasp technology and finally embrace the modern age’s clay of wisdom and advancement, argues Philip Emeagwali
Micrifinace is a powerful tool for development, write Sultan Rehman Sherief and S. Tameem Sharief. They compare experiences across Africa with those in India, and identify the difficulties and challenges faced by microfinance institutions that may guide public policy in the sector.
Recent civil conflicts in Sudan, including in Darfur, have commonly been explained as clashes between competing ethnic groups. Pamela Paglia argues that this concentration on ethnicity as the primary cause for conflicts in Africa underestimates the complexity of African societies and politics.
The quest for a pan-African government is a diversion from the real challenges facing the people of continent, argues Ike Nnedu. African nations need better governments, not another layer of incompetent, rent-seeking politicians and bureaucrats.
More countries are now integrated into a global economic system in which trade and capital flow across borders with unprecedented energy. Nonetheless, argues Ravinder Rena, globalization has become painful, rather than controversial, to the developing world.
Global demand for natural resources will bring benefits to Africa — increased FDI and improved balance of trade figures — but one of the main concerns is that the scramble for Africa is fuelling corruption, environmental degradation, and internal dissent, writes Ravinder Rena
Ethiopia needs to invest more on manufacturing its own goods. The country has the resources to achieve this. What is lacking is the political will, argues Eleni Agiz.
Nigeria's economy is characterised by the paradox of poverty in the midst of abundance. Sa’idu Sulaiman outlines some measures for change to increase output and alleviate poverty in the country.
To accelerate economic development in rural areas, it is necessary to promote entrepreneurship, arguesSultan Rehman Sherief. Entrepreneurial orientation in rural areas is based on stimulating local entrepreneurial talent and subsequent growth of indigenous companies.
Africa's poverty has become an international cause celebre, a major focus of attention of good-hearted men and women who want heal the continent's problems and make the suffering go away. Should Africans be thankful for this?
The United States contends that Genetically Modified foods can help end starvation in Africa. Should impoverished African countries adopt the technology?
OPEC oil production quotas constrain the development of Nigeria's petroleum industry. So should the country quit the cartel? Mobolaji E. Aluko calls for imaginative and strategic re-thinking in this crucial sector.
African governments should consider Basic Income Grants (BIG) for their citizens as a way of dealing with poverty and stimulating economic development, argues Jackson Kariuki.
Despite enduring mass poverty in Nigeria, the attempts of successive governments to alleviate poverty have failed. Anthony Maduagwu contends that the much-heralded new anti-poverty programme of the present administration appears to be heading for the same fate, due to continued lack of transparency, inadequate planning, grassroots alienation and other fundamental problems that have hampered development in Africa's most populous nation.
Global climate change is a reality that is unlikely to go away. Nigeria cannot afford to continue ignoring the potential negative impact on its oil-based economy. It should begin to take steps to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and endeavour to diversify its economy away from dependence on fossil fuels, in both production and consumption, argues Jekwu Ikeme.
Venture capital has been behind the development of numerous high growth high technology firms in Europe, America and Asia. Nigeria and other African countries seeking real time economic growth to alleviate poverty and create jobs and prosperity for their people can also benefit from this form of investment, writes Debbie Ariyo.
The targeting of development programmes has an important role to play in linking economic growth and human development. But targeting has been controversial in Africa, especially inmulti-ethnic and diverse societies. Mohamed Damilola Olajide suggest ways to make targeting policy more effective in Africa.
Too often economic planners do not take due account of the way people actually live when formulating policies. L. Muthoni Wanyeki argues that women need culturally relevant choices of income generating skills. We need to make clearer links between the ways in which the majority of people live and the national/international framework whicht limit our choices about how to live
Nigeria's new government should put small firms policy at the top of its agenda, argues Debbie Ariyo. Trade liberalisation and encouragement of foreign investment must go hand in hand with a concerted effort to help the growth and development of indigenous small and medium enterprises, which provide the bulk of the country's employment and industrial output.
A poor reward system and harsh economic environment have undermined workers' morale and productivity in Nigeria. Victor Dike explores the problem and suggest ways that workers can be better motivated to improve their productivity.
Since the early 1980s the World Bank has promoted pricing and marketing reform of the cash crop sector in African countries. Jason A. Lovelace argues that although such reforms are often justified on the basis of higher producer prices post-reform, price liberalization and marketing reform have also been associated with the temporary collapse of forward markets that are useful to producers. He suggests ways to maintain these markets during the transition
If Nigeria is to be a successful open society, it must radically reform itself. This would entail building a market economy, where individual economic actors are responsible for creating prosperity. Backing that liberal, open and free economy, would be an unyielding government commitment to an efficient regulatory system, writes Jude Uzonwanne.
Low productivity is a a major cause of economic under-achievement in Nigeria that needs to be tackled. Higher productivity growth translates to higher living standards and expanded economic capacity, spurring further growth writes Olu Oni. He suggest ways that Nigeria can get more out of its human and material resources.
By deciding to hand over the management control of major state enterprises to international technical and financial partners, Nigerian rulers are admitting that they cannot manage their peoples' affairs. By targeting western corporations to take over these concerns, the message is clearly that Africans cannot handle modern economic institutions, argues Tunde Obadina
Africa is plainly a continent of extreme poverty. But do commonly used indicators of economic growth accurately reflect the levels of output of African societies? Tunde Obadina argues that conventional methods of calculating national output tend to overstate Africa's poverty, by ignoring the activities of large sections of its peoples.
Blaming Africa's woes on colonialism and neo-colonialism strikes a cord with many educated Africans, but the focus on external forces has drawn attention away from internal factors crucial to an understanding of Africa's condition. With or without colonialisation, African societies would still today be faced with fundamental economic dilemmas, argues Tunde Obadina
Most of Nigeria’s wealth and power comes from the control of physical assets - land, oil, iron and steel, etc. But in the 21st century, this cannot continue to happen, argues Debbie Ariyo. The main source of value and competitive advantage in the new economy is human and intellectual capital. With a population of 120 million people, Nigeria, in theory has the capacity to make a successful transition into a truly knowledge driven economy, she explains
Market reforms have failed to mend African economies because they do not address the underlying causes of persistent underdevelopment in the continent. No amount of macroeconomic stability, trade liberalisation and privatisation can engender rapid and sustainable internal growth in Africa without an appropriate cultural environment for development, argues Tunde Obadina
The emergence of the Euro is a global phenomenon with global consequences, explains Enase Okonedo. Developing countries must be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities and to mitigate the threats the Euro poses.
Africa's natural resources are being depleted with little gain to its economies. To improve their international competitiveness, African nations should treat these resources as capital, modify the present unsuitable system of national income accounting and press for reform of the global trading system that is biased against natural resource-dependent economies, argues Jekwu Ikeme.
Jude Uzonwanne, argues that with the right set of investment decisions and government policies African nations could attract an influx of foreign investment. But important lessons need to be learnt from the East Asian financial crisis.
Africa is weighed down by a heavy debt burden but unconditional debt cancellation would only reward past errant and reckless borrowing and management, argues George B.N. Ayittey. He suggests some conditionalities that would make debt relief meaningful.
Africa's political stability has deteriorated, with 20 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa's population affected by civil war today. K. Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Africa, discusses the causes of conflict, particularly its linkages with poverty; the economic consequences of war; and the imperatives for coordinated and holistic action for post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction.
|
