Economic Development In Africa 2015

"The services sector critical source of income and employment in Africa. As the most dominant sector in many African economies, it has become a dynamic driver of growth in the continent in recent years. This dynamism, however, has not translated into a structural transformation of the continent. Africa's services provision remains suboptimal and is delivered at a high cost. Various regulatory and policy shortcomings prevail, which explain these inefficiencies and impede Africa's capacity to fully capitalize on the potential of its services sector. If the continent is to fully realize the benefits of development, services must play an enhanced role in the growth process. Regulation of and policies for infrastructure services need to better target existing market failures and address structural impediments to improve performance in the sector and unleash the potential of Africa's services economy. The Economic Development in Africa Report 2015, subtitled Unlocking the Potential of Africa's Services Trade for Growth and Development, examines some of the major policy issues that underlie Africa's services sector and provides policy guidance on how services could contribute to Africa's regional integration and generate inclusive growth and employment. More broadly, the report discusses how services can contribute to sustainable growth and development continent-wide, especially given the enabling role of services and their capacity to link with other sectors. Africa needs to boost services trade and become better integrated in global value chains. The report makes specific and actionable policy recommendations on how to better leverage Africa's services trade and the related development, employment and growth benefits. The report emphasizes the need for greater policy coherence at the national, regional and international levels to address services sector and trade policy disconnects."--Publisher's description.

"This new book provides analyses of capitalism versus socialism as well as case studies illuminating the latest economic developments in the shift taking place in Africa."--BOOK JACKET.

The African Economic Outlook 2015 analyses Africa’s growing role in the world economy and predicts the continent’s two-year prospects in crucial areas: macroeconomics, financing, trade policies and regional integration, human development, and governance.

In recent years, Africa has undergone the longest period of sustained economic growth in the continent’s history, drawing the attention of the international media and academics alike. This book analyses the Africa Rising narrative from multidisciplinary perspectives, offering a critical assessment of the explanations given for the poor economic growth and development performance in Africa prior to the millennium and the dramatic shift towards the new Africa. Bringing in perspectives from African intellectuals and scholars, many of whom have previously been overlooked in this debate, the book examines the construction of Africa’s economic growth and development portraits over the years. It looks at two institutions that play a vital role in African development, providing a detailed explanation of how the World Bank and the IMF have interpreted and dealt with the African challenges and experiences. The insightful analysis reveals that if Africa is rising, only 20-30 per cent of Africans are aboard the rising ship, and the main challenge facing the continent today is to bring on board the majority of Africans who have been excluded from growth. This book makes the complex, and sometimes confusing debates on Africa’s economic growth experience more accessible to a wide range of readers interested in the Africa story. It is essential reading for students and researchers in African Studies, and will be of great interest to scholars in Development Studies, Political Economy, and Development Economics.

Presenting a topical analysis of the challenges and achievements of enterprise, Enterprise and Economic Development in Africa examines contributions to economic development on the continent, as well as exploring implications for policy dimensions.

One of the most prominent objectives of the Millennium Development Goals is to have member States halve their levels of absolute poverty by 2015. Whilst some developing countries are making progress towards this target, recent statistics show indicate that in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa the numbers living in poverty is increasing. One of the reasons for this is its relatively low rate of economic growth.This year's Economic Development in Africa report examines the potential of African countries to strengthen domestic financial resource mobilisation, in order to reduce dependence on official development assistance (ODA), and diversify their development resources and channel these resources to productive investments. It highlights the need for "developmental States" in Africa with the required policy space to design and implement policies that address their priorities and make optimal use of available resources in a way that leads to a virtuous circle of accumulation, investment, growth and poverty reduction.

In recent years, concerns about the outcomes and nature of economic growth have given way to a new emphasis on its quality. This volume brings together prominent international contributors to consider a range of interrelated questions concerning the quality of growth in Africa, with a primary focus on sub-Saharan countries. Contributors discuss the measurement of growth, the transformations necessary to sustain it, and issues around equity and well-being. They consider topics such as the distribution of income gains from growth; the extent to which economic growth has resulted in improvements in employment, poverty, and security; structural transformations of the economy and diversification of the sources of growth; environmental sustainability; and management of urbanization. Offering both diagnoses and prescriptions, The Quality of Growth in Africa helps envision a future that goes beyond increasing GDP to ensuring that growth translates into advancements in well-being. Although the book focuses on sub-Saharan Africa, much of the contributors’ incisive analysis has implications for countries outside the region.