Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: development policy, agency and Africa in the post-2015 development agenda
- one The post-2015 development agenda: Building a global convergence on policy options
- two Debating post-2015 development-oriented reforms in Africa: agendas for action
- three Public diplomacy for developmental states: implementing the African Mining Vision
- four The role of gender in development: where do boys count?
- five Service-oriented government: the developmental state and service delivery in Africa after 2015 – are capacity indicators important?
- six Employment creation for youth in Africa: the role of extractive industries
- seven Financing the post-2015 development agenda: domestic revenue mobilisation in Africa
- eight Economic performance and social progress in Sub-Saharan Africa: the effect of least developed countries and fragile states
- nine From regional integration to regionalism in Africa: building capacities for the post-Millennium Development Goals agenda
- ten Reforming the Development Banks’ Country Policy and Institutional Assessment as an aid allocation tool: the case for country self-assessment
- eleven Development and sustainability in a warming world: measuring the impacts of climate change in Africa
- twelve African development through peace and security to sustainability
- thirteen African development, political economy and the road to Agenda 2063
- Notes
- Index
thirteen - African development, political economy and the road to Agenda 2063
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 March 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: development policy, agency and Africa in the post-2015 development agenda
- one The post-2015 development agenda: Building a global convergence on policy options
- two Debating post-2015 development-oriented reforms in Africa: agendas for action
- three Public diplomacy for developmental states: implementing the African Mining Vision
- four The role of gender in development: where do boys count?
- five Service-oriented government: the developmental state and service delivery in Africa after 2015 – are capacity indicators important?
- six Employment creation for youth in Africa: the role of extractive industries
- seven Financing the post-2015 development agenda: domestic revenue mobilisation in Africa
- eight Economic performance and social progress in Sub-Saharan Africa: the effect of least developed countries and fragile states
- nine From regional integration to regionalism in Africa: building capacities for the post-Millennium Development Goals agenda
- ten Reforming the Development Banks’ Country Policy and Institutional Assessment as an aid allocation tool: the case for country self-assessment
- eleven Development and sustainability in a warming world: measuring the impacts of climate change in Africa
- twelve African development through peace and security to sustainability
- thirteen African development, political economy and the road to Agenda 2063
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Since the turn of the millennium, seven out of the ten fastest growing economies in the world have been African, tangible proof of the continent's upward trajectory. Although 10 African countries do still have an African Union (AU) or United Nations (UN) peacekeeping presence, 85 per cent of Africans enjoy peaceful, relatively stable conditions, and these economies generate 95 per cent of the continent's GDP.
Following a 20 per cent decline between 1980 and 2000, average incomes in Africa have risen by 30 per cent since 2005. Strong commodity prices have been central to this turnaround, but other factors such as enhanced governance and macroeconomic management have played a part. Rwanda and Ethiopia, for example, although not blessed with oil or mineral wealth, have become strong performers due to their strategic efforts to galvanise their economies by attracting relevant human capital and investments. Yet significant challenges remain (Kararach, 2014a). Overall, absolute poverty has fallen, but in most places the majority of the population lives in relative poverty due to persistent inequality, which has the potential to destabilise these societies.
While some social indicators such as school enrolment and child mortality have been improving, inequalities remain entrenched, and have, in many instances, worsened. Job creation is a huge challenge in the face of a demographic ‘bulge’ of educated youth, and the underlying causes are not difficult to discern. There has been limited structural transformation or diversification. Agriculture's share of GDP has declined, but this is not counterbalanced by enhanced value addition or industrialisation. There is a general view that manufacturing growth has been hampered by fragmented markets, while poor infrastructure, particularly a shortage of energy and port capacity, remains acute (AfDB, 2014). There is increasing pressure to develop ‘smart’ policies and programmes to enhance productivity, sustain economic growth and engender greater social inclusion. Looking beyond the MDGs, the goal of eliminating poverty could be achievable within the coming decade or so, if the right policy and programmatic frameworks are put in place and bottlenecks are eliminated.
Africa is made up of 54 disparate countries in five regions, and is not a single monolithic whole. The 2014 Ebola crisis in three countries in West Africa has once again demonstrated the tendency of those outside the continent to classify it as a distinct entity.
- Type
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- Information
- Development in AfricaRefocusing the Lens after the Millennium Development Goals, pp. 365 - 392Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2015