There is strong consensus that regional integration is indispensable in promoting intra-African trade especially with a large African market of one billion consumers, which can be a powerful engine for growth and employment. Despite the underlying market potential for both cross-border and export trade, the volumes and values of the goods traded in the regional […]
Africa
Posted inNews/Politics
Have we forgotten Mohamed Bouazizi?
Two years ago last Friday, a young man from Tunisia named Mohamed Bouazizi died of burn wounds after literally igniting what the world has come to know as the Arab Spring. Bouazizi, a fruit and vegetable vendor immolated himself after suffering humiliation at the hands of a police officer who confiscated his goods, ostensibly because […]
Posted inGeneral
Yes, there’s more to Africa than poverty
By Zdena Mtetwa Let us be wary of becoming blindly defensive Africans who deny the challenges faced by our continent, sweeping the dirt under the rug, as though it did not exist. But with the same breath, let us also be brave Africans who stand for the brand Africa, highlighting the hard work of our […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Informal cross-border trade should be formalised
Despite being a source of income for many living on the African continent, as much as 43%, informal cross-border trade is regarded as illegal. Informal cross-border trade refers to trade in processed or non-processed merchandise that may be legal imports or exports on one side of the border and illicit on the other side and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Towards a low-carbon Africa
Renewable projects are being planned and implemented throughout Africa, bringing both immediate and long-term solutions to Africa’s energy challenges while congruently attempting to reduce greenhouse gas production and emissions. As a country extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, South Africa has identified water, disease, food security and environmental migration as key areas where […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Investment flows back into Africa
Over the past 10 years, foreign direct investment (FDI) has helped boost sustainable economic growth in many African countries. In theory, FDI can assist to accentuate productive capacity, employment and exports. When properly managed, it can also bring secondary benefits in the form of transfers of technology, management expertise and marketing skills. With continued liberalisation […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Africa’s 2040 employment problem
Over the last decade, six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, there are troubling indicators that this exponential growth has not resulted in robust growth of “good” jobs. In other words, those offering higher wages and better working conditions – especially for the young. Exacerbated by a delayed demographic transition, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
State capacity key to economic growth
Historically, in the developing world, active macro-economic and industrial policy on the part of the state is more often than not greeted with pessimism and scepticism. This very prevalent competency and trust-deficit emanates from valid concerns that the state — specifically in the developing world — is often too inefficient and too corrupt (sometimes both) […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Inequality, a direct link to political instability
Addressing the challenges of inequality around the world, specifically in Africa, is becoming increasingly paramount. Degrees of inequality at all levels of society negatively impact on poverty-reduction strategies, result in inefficient resource allocations by governments and policymakers, wasted productive potential, exponential growth in dependency ratios within society as well as impaired institutional development. In Africa, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Africa on track for millennium goals
The African continent’s progress in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 has gathered pace and credibility over the past few years. Africa continues to make incremental progress on the majority of the eight development goals aimed at improving social and economic conditions in the world’s poorest countries, which all 193 UN member […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Keeping Africa’s growth up, poverty down
These are uncertain times for the global economy. The recovery in the US remains sluggish, the debt crisis in Europe is unresolved and more alarmingly, there are signs of a slower growth in China. The global economic crisis, which started in 2007, has not spared the African continent. According to the 2012 African Economic Outlook […]
Posted inGeneral
Giving the world a human face
Since it began centuries ago, the South African struggle has been premised on creating a just and equal society that would, ultimately, be a home for all, irrespective of race, class, position or background. If African warriors who served under African kings like Ngqika of the Xhosa, Shaka of the Zulus and Moshoeshoe of Basotho […]