George Kararach

Regional integration policies to support job creation for Africa’s burgeoning youth population

Africa is going through a youth bulge with more people under 25 than above 50 in all of its countries. Creating opportunities for the burgeoning number of youth is a challenge that cannot be solved only at the country level. Regional integration poli- cies that expand the opportunity space by increasing the size of economies and markets will be critical. Also needed are regional policies that can support the development and enhancement of innovation systems including investment in science and technology education to speed up the creation of a cadre of young people that can lead the transfor- mation of stages of production from dependencies on primary products and extraction. Policies and Programs that can modernize agriculture and support effective creation of value chains that enhance the value added from agriculture that can excite youth back to the rural areas would also be needed. This paper explores the challenges facing countries in Africa in relation to its demographic transition, investigating the type of policies that would be most effective to address the challenge. The subsets of policies at the regional level are given special attention due to their opportunity expanding nature. Concrete examples of what has potential from observed results in other regions of the world are provided.

Reflections on the Green Growth Index for developing countries: A focus of selected African countries

The GGKP (Green Growth Knowledge Platform) (2013) provides a useful overview as to why indicators are inevitable for green growth to inform policy agenda. From the GGKPs perspective, indicators: Are needed to focus attention and provide benchmarks against which to measure the adequacy of policy responses. … For demand-based measures (such as carbon dioxide intensity of consumption), policy implications are further complicated by a host of factors at play, including issues related to international trade and transport and the interaction between trade and environmental policies. Many of these caveats can be overcome by reporting and interpreting indicators in the appropriate context, along with taking into account country-specific ecological, geographical, social, economic, structural, and institutional features (GGKP, 2013: 34-35). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Capacity development in Africa: New approach motivated by thinking on “animal spirits”

Animal spirits in modern economics has a specific meaning; it refers to the restless and inconsistent element in the economy as well as the peculiar relationship people have with ambiguity and uncertainty, which tends to lead to paralysis or incredible confidence and energy in decision‐making and risk taking. Animal spirits have also been used to explain peaceful periods and instability or interpret track records of success and periods of disarray or spectacular failure, high levels of trust and confidence or extreme pessimism and distrust. Willingness to undertake extreme effort or self‐sacrifice to get things done is another expression of animal spirits, which can again go in the opposite direction with people shirking responsibilities, and practicing generalized selfishness or individualism. Such behaviours can have visible effects on the performance of public agencies or civil service agencies, in the behaviour of leaders in the public or private sector, or in the economic performance of a country. Differences across agencies and countries over time can also be explained if one is able to distinguish the effect of animal spirits. Using a logistic model, this paper tests for the existence of “animal spirits” in the capacity development interventions spearheaded by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)‐funded institutions. The analysis and findings highlight, amongst others, the importance of non‐economic factors in shaping the capacity development sphere. Understanding this nature of animal spirits is critical to designing and implementing effective programs for capacity development in Africa. It is particularly important to focus on issues of leadership and leadership development, including the capacity for leaders to instil confidence and piece together stories that motivate people into a common vision of the future or to achieve common objectives.

Peri-urban agriculture in Southern Africa: miracle or mirage?

Peri-urban farming is a common phenomenon across much of Africa. The extant literature describes it as a critical source of household food, a trend that is intertwined with such factors as declining incomes of urban households, high rates of urbanization, and a need to serve an emerging niche market in African cities. However, the literature indicates that the practice does not play a major role in Southern Africa. Triangulating research methods and methodologies, and critically examining the literature, this paper argues that peri-urban agriculture is a viable livelihoods response to the complex challenge of feeding a burgeoning mass of urban residents amidst declining food production. The paper concludes that the apparent lack of political will necessary to promote peri-urban agriculture is reflected in weak or absent policy frameworks, resulting from enormous capacity deficit. African states must be able to balance the need to preserve physical esthetics of the cityscape with the promotion of peri-urban agriculture needed to mitigate the negative impacts of changes resulting from the changing urban landscape. African cities need the capacity to develop and implement policies that foster ecologically sound peri-urban agriculture, including appropriate land use reforms.

Fiscal Policy, Long-Term Growth and Structural Transformation in Africa

Fiscal policy is an important macroeconomic policy tool that can be used to promote growth, equity objectives and structurally transform African economies. This can be done by raising the necessary revenue and making prudent and strategic long-term development-oriented expenditure interventions. Tax revenue-to-GDP ratio is increasing in the continent but needs to be enhanced via the reduction of the informal sector. Econometric analysis reveals the importance of reliable service provision by governments to enhance tax compliance. Further evidence is provided about the significant positive association between growth in Africa and government investment. Our findings suggest that policy measures focusing on investment and fair redistribution of growth gains provide better social inclusion, equitable spatial development and poverty reduction. Expanding the fiscal space is possible through the expansion of the existing tax base and improving the administrative and institutional efficiency of tax revenue collection.

South-South Cooperation: How Does Gender Equality Factor in the Emerging Multilateralism?

The global south is emerging as a large market, attracting investors globally. Better linkages among countries in the south have a gender dimension in the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge across countries. A number of issues relating to gender need specific attention including access to education by girls and women; risks of trafficking of women and children; gender, trade, and regional integration; poverty levels among women; democracy, human rights, and gender; as well as intellectual property rights, indigenous knowledge, and the role of women. Data and analysis is critical to deal with these issues and there is a role for capacity development to ameliorate them. Organizations like the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) contribute to addressing the many facets of capacity challenges to enhance gender equality by supporting institutions, policy development and program implementation processes at local, national, regional, and continental levels. There is also opportunity to draw on the experiences of specific women-lead initiatives such as the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF)1 — based in Ghana yet operating continentally.

Conclusion: Prospects for ACBF and African Human Development/Security

The world of ‘development’ at the turn of the decade is very different from the turn of the millennium (Desai and Potter, 2008) let alone in the immediate cold war period when the HDR was first generated (UNDP, 2010). Then, optimism surrounding political and economic liberalisation prevailed, characterized by the ‘Washington Consensus’. Now, eroded by the continuing global crisis, optimism is in short supply. However, globalization has not been negative for all countries, communities and companies (Rudra, 2008). Rather, the traditional definition of geographical worlds of development — North, South, East and West (Hettne, 1995) — is being superseded by a tripartite differentiation into OECD, BRICs or ‘emerging economies’ or ‘developmental states,’ and fragile or failed states. As Jan Nederveen Pieterse (2011) suggests in the opening quotation, the new central axis may become South-East rather than North-South. In turn, the range, location and incidence of ‘global’ issues have evolved with special significance for the ‘global South’ (Reinert, 2007).

Introduction: Africa’s Second Half-Century: Enhancing Capacity for Sustainable Human Development and Human Security

Into the second decade of the twenty-first century, Africa faces an unanticipated ‘second chance’ (www.mckinsey.com): how many ‘developmental’ (Chang, 2002a, 2002b, 2007; Fine, 1999, 2006; Mkandawire, 2001; Weiss, 2003) versus ‘fragile’ states (ACBF, 2011) will it have by 2020? The interrelated prospects for both BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and the continent are being transformed by the current global financial crisis: as the South expands and the North contracts, what will be the nature of South-North (S-N), even East-South (E-S) (Davies, 2011; Pieterse, 2011), relations in future? The 27 states of the EU now include the debt-shackled PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain): is this a disincentive to African regions to sign Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)? There are clearly new institutional forms and a shifting global order that require a rethinking of development cooperation (Davies, 2011; Leipziger, 2011). Indeed, the world economic crisis is generating new pressures that provide the global South with a new role as host to emerging powers and economies (Addison, Arndt and Tarp, 2010; Kararach, Leautier and Luhanga, 2011).