Who's keeping Africa down: politicians or unfair trade structures?
Listen to four experts spar on what presents the biggest impediment to African development: poor governance or trade barriers.
Richard Cockett, the Economist's Africa Editor, quoting the Nigerian experience, said that political reform, not aid nor trade, is key to growth in the continent that is more deeply corrupt than any other part of the world.
Mike Gidney, from Fairtrade Foundation disagrees. He argues that corruption is not limited to Africa and pointing fingers at politicians has limited effectiveness: "politicians can't possibly generate the development impact that could be achieved through an increase in trade."
The debate, which included Kenyan filmmaker and activist June Arunga and professor Tunde Zack-Williams, took place on June 2 and was a part of the Hay Festival dubbed the 'Woodstock of the mind.'
Comments (5)
Delicious
E-mail
Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
"the continent that is more deeply corrupt than any other part of the world" ???
Jeffrey Sachs debunks this view and the Global Corruption Index does not offer strong support for it. Many Asian countries with corruption scores similar to those of African countries have grown dramatically in the past 20 years.
Posted by: Gillian | Jun 14, 2007 10:29:31 PM
Trade Barriers is one of Africa's problems in Development.though this barriers are a result of corruption and bad governance.
Posted by: ikem charles pache | Jun 14, 2007 11:36:26 PM
"Africa is keeping itself down"
Africa must show its willingness to d evelop before anybody can help. There is an african proverb that says "first clean your house before calling for help to neat it" Thats exactly what we Africans need to do. Our politicians must show willingness to develop before we blame anybody else.
Posted by: Franco Wandabwa | Jun 16, 2007 10:00:40 AM
From the desk of Dr. Sidney Okolo…
Africa problem lies in its culture, beliefs, and thinking that has contributed to its vulnerability to bribery and corruption. It has become a custom that is handed down from one leader to the next. This behavior has dogged Africa, which is the critical problem why most countries remain underdeveloped. Everyone wants to lead in order to get the share of the wealth, while the rest suffer. Unless corrective measures are taken by the World Bank and the rest of the donor countries, Africa will remain a continent with most natural resources but least developed in the world.
Dr. Sidney Okolo
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ibaweb
Posted by: Dr. Sidney Okolo | Oct 9, 2007 12:06:06 PM
Trade barriers are a reality that businesses all over the world have to contend with. Some succeed while too many African businesses fail. Sanitary and phytosanitary regulations, codes on product safety and labeling will not go away. Enterprises from the BRIC have risen to the challenge to meet these requirements and overcome these barriers. They have done this at considerable cost and through significant effort. In many African countries, the factors that are key are the following: a deficient public sector that doesn't provide adequate services like infrastructure, and the uncertainty that businesses must face when investing in capital needed to overcome trade barriers.
African enterprises also need to build and develop through increased regional trade. At present in West Africa, ECOWAS countries trade relations are cordial on paper (at press conferences and state meetings) but adversarial in practice.
Posted by: internationalstrategy.org | Oct 13, 2007 5:21:17 AM