Author: Donald L. Sparks
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000375404
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 57
Get Book Here
Book Description
Sub-Saharan Africa is vastly diverse, and the 49 countries of the region range significantly in terms of population, size and economic scale. The region also differs in topography, climate, history, culture, languages and political systems. Given this vast diversity, it is, accordingly, difficult to draw general conclusions about the continent’s economic performance as a whole. Additionally, the lack of current statistics for several countries makes it difficult to make accurate assessments of economic conditions. Nevertheless, some broad comparisons can be made: of the world’s developing areas, sub-Saharan Africa has the worst record in virtually all of the most important social and economic indicators: the region has the lowest gross national income per head, the lowest life expectancy at birth, the lowest youth literacy rate, the highest rate of adult HIV infection and the highest number of children not living past five years of age. This volume begins by examining recent economic developments and trends. It then looks at the major economic constraints the region has faced in recent years, breaking down those constraints as either ‘external’ (e.g. terms of trade) over which the individual countries have but limited control, or ‘internal’ (e.g. governance and economic policy), over which there is more control. The book concludes by arguing that, despite the notable challenges cited above, sub-Saharan Africa is poised for a transformation, based on closer regional economic co-operation, a growing middle class, increased demand for locally produced goods and services, and a young population.
Author: Harinder S. Kohli
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199091870
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 422
Get Book Here
Book Description
Africa faces both big opportunities and worrisome threats. The Africa that emerges over the next 40 years—whether it becomes a dynamic continent with a growing influence in the world or an economic backwater that exports its people and capital—depends on what African countries do now. The continent is growing and many socioeconomic indicators are improving, but it is no longer catching up with the rest of the world—it is not converging. This book looks at Africa’s economic performance over the last decade, highlights the difference in performance across countries, and identifies the biggest policy issues that need to be addressed if Africa is to converge with the rest of the world and meet the aspirations of its people. Despite tougher global economic conditions—slower growth, lower commodity prices, and tighter financial markets—one out of four African countries have averaged per capita income growth above three percent for the last decade. The progress of these high performers shows that it is what countries do—the policies of their governments, the responsiveness of their entrepreneurs, the integrity of their institutions, and the political will of their leaders—that makes the difference, not their resource endowments. The challenge is to extend this African best practice to more countries of the continent. This book shows that the consequences of such a “reset” can transform the continent but also that the human cost of not doing so would be staggering.
Author: Vanessa T. Tang
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319961667
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Get Book Here
Book Description
This edited volume analyzes the Mauritius economy and highlights what conditions and policies have contributed to the development of the country. The project gives a historical and economic analysis of Mauritius and provides comparative approaches looking at other developing states in Africa and Asia. This book is intended for a broad audience, consisting of not only economists with quantitative expertise but also other social scientists, policymakers and scholars interested in the intellectually fascinating exploration of Mauritius’s rapid rise and sustained growth performance.
Author: Canice Chucks Osuji
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1543489788
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book was born of the desire to share my feelings and concerns and that of others who are so much concerned about how the continent of Africa has remain dormant for centuries in terms of development and progress. Being an African and having seen the forward movement, progess and development of the other continent around the world, you begin to wonder why it has not been replicated in the Afriican continent. The continent of Africa has great resources more than many other continent in the world, both human and natural resources. However, these resources has not benefited the common people of the continent. The West, Arabs and recently Asia has enjoyed these resources more than Africans themselves. From the slave trade where the carted away our able men and women, to resources control through colonization and recently through brain drain. Our specialists and well qualified has migrated to other continents such as Europe, America and Asia leaving the continent dry in terms of qualified personnel who can man and managed the resources of the continent. These has contributed to poverty lack of quality leadership in many areas that would have moved the continent forward. After world war, America implemented Marshal plan that was used to transform and develop the Western nations. However, this kind of joint policy has not come to the mind of the West to implement in Africa where they have benefited much. Rather the continent of Africa is seen and address as the dark continent. I therefore, feel that bringing to mind of many both Africans and the West, the things we need to address to move Africa forward. I believe that if some of the points looked at in this book and other brilliant ideas by others are implemented, then the continent of Africa can emerge out of its aclaimed darkness and move forward like other continent. Let the world and African leaders learn from the history of the past and invent new ways of doing things so that they can move Africa forward in a progressive path. Strongly I believe if this is done, the Story of the continent of Africa can change like that of China. The West should desist from ripping Africa off, abstain from aiding and abetting corruption and bad leadership in the continent. The people of Africa should fight and resist wicked and corrupt political leaders, and bring to death tribal - nepotic and support of politics of clientism.
Author: Ngonlardje Kabra Mbaidjol
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004388249
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Get Book Here
Book Description
In African Countries and the Global Scramble for China, Mbaidjol engages the reader, from African perspectives and African People’s interests, in a theme that is currently fuelling international relations debates.
Author: Joana Silva
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821397710
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Get Book Here
Book Description
Inclusion and Resilience has two broad objectives. The study seeks first to enhance knowledge about the current state of existing social safety nets (SSNs) in the Middle East and North Africa, assessing their effectiveness by bringing together new evidence, data, and country-specific analysis. Second, it proposes an open and informed debate on feasible policy options for making SSNs more effective and responsive to the population's needs. In order to do this, the authors illustrate how the main goals for SSNs-promoting social inclusion, better livelihood, and resilience to shocks-have already been achieved in some parts of the region, notwithstanding huge challenges. They also identify the groups that regional SSNs should make a priority: children and people living in rural and lagging areas. The study relies on newly collected data on citizens' preferences concerning redistribution and SSN design, discussing how political economy considerations could be taken into account in designing better SSNs, and proposing an agenda for reform, using global experiences and the new evidence presented in the book itself.
Author: Mick Moore
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1783604557
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Get Book Here
Book Description
Taxation has been seen as the domain of charisma-free accountants, lawyers and number crunchers – an unlikely place to encounter big societal questions about democracy, equity or good governance. Yet it is exactly these issues that pervade conversations about taxation among policymakers, tax collectors, civil society activists, journalists and foreign aid donors in Africa today. Tax has become viewed as central to African development. Written by leading international experts, Taxing Africa offers a cutting-edge analysis on all aspects of the continent's tax regime, displaying the crucial role such arrangements have on attempts to create social justice and push economic advancement. From tax evasion by multinational corporations and African elites to how ordinary people navigate complex webs of 'informal' local taxation, the book examines the potential for reform, and how space might be created for enabling locally-led strategies.
Author: Steven C. Radelet
Publisher: CGD Books
ISBN: 1933286512
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 192
Get Book Here
Book Description
Emerging Africa describes the too-often-overlooked positive changes that have taken place in much of Africa since the mid-1990s. In 17 countries, five fundamental and sustained breakthroughs are making old assumptions increasingly untenable: - The rise of democracy brought on by the end of the Cold War and apartheid - Stronger economic management - The end of the debt crisis and a more constructive relationship with the international community - The introduction of new technologies, especially mobile phones and the Internet - The emergence of a new generation of leaders. With these significant changes, the countries of emerging Africa seem poised to lead the continent out of the conflict, stagnation, and dictatorships of the past. The countries discussed in the book are Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Author: Dambisa Moyo
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374139563
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Get Book Here
Book Description
Debunking the current model of international aid promoted by both Hollywood celebrities and policy makers, Moyo offers a bold new road map for financing development of the world's poorest countries.
Author: Nathan Andrews
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443846392
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330
Get Book Here
Book Description
From a multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary standpoint, this book challenges the teleological and unidirectional notions of development embodied in the idea of modernisation or ‘progress’ and offers a critique of the tendency to consider Africa as a basket case, which often gives the Western ‘self’ an undeserving privilege and superiority over the African ‘other’. Mostly authored by emerging African scholars, this 16-chapter volume addresses the historical application of development projects in Africa and their modern impact in economic, political, cultural, social, and infrastructural contexts, among others. The book, therefore, unearths development dynamics in specific African countries, examines the continent’s external relations, rethinks predominant ideas on development, and engages in critical examination of concepts and practices that have maintained hegemonic positions in the discussions on Africa’s development. Its uniqueness lies in the ability to bring these several voices and themes together into a concise conception of both the challenges and possibilities of Africa’s sustainable development. The book targets both the academic and policy worlds in Africa and around the world, as well as ordinary members of the public who seek to broaden their theoretical and empirical understanding on the changing dynamics on the African continent.
