The Economic Development Of West Africa In The Twenty First Century

The Economic Development of West Africa in the Twenty-First Century is a book of economic theory that seeks to explain empirically how West African nations can develop their respective economies in order to not only increase the living standard of their population but to also stimulate a regional economic growth. The book subsequently presents the introduction of a new economic model to determine how economic growth could potentially occur in West Africa on a long-term basis. To demonstrate his analysis, the author has combined the elements of public choice theory, which emphasize on the political features of an economy and those of the Solow Growth Model, which focus on generating economic productivity. The combination of the elements of these two economic tools is designed to determine, not the outcome, but the process whereby economic growth in West Africa could be stimulated in a long-time period.

Having been under colonial rule for the first half of the century, by 1965 all but a handful of African countries had regained their independence and were poised to take off into an era of development. However, Africa now suffers from the most acute form of underdevelopment anywhere in the world. Bringing together a broad selection of case studies covering a wide range of key issues, this volume provides a multidisciplinary exploration of Africa's development opportunities and challenges into the twenty-first century.

This book uses lessons from history to help African countries take charge of their own economic development agenda. History is an important part of Africa’s economic development narrative, and Ocran investigates how the development outcomes between Africa and Western Europe became so divergent when in the early medieval period average income levels and economic development in the two regions differed only marginally. The sixteenth century marked a turning point, with the emergence of Western European mercantilism and capitalism and their associated exploitation of other countries. In understanding Africa’s economic development, it is crucial to recognise that Africa has not always been poor. Examining 400 years of enslavement and colonisation, this book takes us to present day Africa and economic issues affecting the continent. With selected case studies from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore to South Korea and China, Ocran proposes ways to break out of the economic development quandary Africa currently faces.

This volume is the result of the 2012 International Economic Association's series of roundtables on the theme of Industrial Policy. The first, 'New Thinking on Industrial Policy,' was hosted by the World Bank in Washington, D.C, and the second, 'New Thinking on Industrial Policy: Implications for Africa,' was held in Pretoria, South Africa.

When the time has come for a new society to make inroads in developing better and sustained living standards for its mass people, its unique creation and growth of its wealth, and its prominent impact upon humanity, it has to go beyond and push the boundaries—and this leads to creating a distinct and an efficient society. It is properly understood that no earthly and heavenly power can deny a people’s aspiration whose time has come to formulate bona fide solutions for their chronic challenges, long-lasting crises, and for a better extension of humanity in this moment, and the time to come. The future has arrived. For the purpose of West Africa to be realized and fulfilled, West Africa needs to unite into a sovereign state with a federal republic government to create a distinct and an efficient federal nation inside West Africa called the African States Union (ASU). The ASU would have the capacity to undertake huge and complex tasks—the institution of this new democratization of economic development. This concept is to build diversified economic educational tropolis (edu-tropolis) in every designated school district with a university. Most of the universities will be super universities designed as the epicenter of the local economic free zone. The institution of the edu-tropolis will be a remarkable help to accelerate the modernization of infrastructure in the new ASU federal community, such as the initiative of wiring the entire new ASU federal society for high-speed Internet access and building the complex modern transportation infrastructure, the high-speed rails that crisscross between the edu-tropolis economic school district hubs in the entire new nation. The introduction of the twenty-first-century democratic system, the century’s monoparty democratic system, would transform the African political landscape. Here are some of the basic principles: (1) no political party formation, (2) all political candidates register and campaign for public office solely under their respective individual names, (3) legally institute a fourth branch of government, the electoral branch of government. The essential role of linguistic diversity in engineering the wealth of the new West African society is the introduction of the new twenty-first-century multilinguistic ideas and policies. Set up a commission with the clear mission of creating a federal republic in West Africa through a peaceful, timely, and smooth process.

This book contributes to the debate concerning the future of the political economy of African development by addressing the important question of how African countries can strategically approach global political economy at multilateral, continental, and regional levels in view of North-South versus South-South configurations.

The debates over what African economic integration and development actually entails continue across international economic organizations, national governments and NGOs. Despite the glare of media attention and the position this issue has on international political agendas, few comprehensive accounts exist that fully examine why this process will be inevitable in the 21st century and how integration of national economies can be attuned to attaining the socio-economic goals and aspirations of member-countries. This book addresses this problem. It combines theory with application, enumerating the imperatives and initiatives governments will be forced to confront; providing insights for educators and students in African development, for policy makers in African governments, and for inter-governmental organizations.