Nigeria’s economy is indeed under severe strain but sub-Saharn Africa’s most populus nation won’t solve its economic problems via an emergency national confab.
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Economic growth is a necessary condition for development. But it can only pass the sufficient condition test if growth translates into high-earning jobs. Ghana’s recent history illustrates this.
Countries like Rwanda have shown that regional integration can enhance growth and reduce poverty. South Sudan should follow its lead in its engagement with the East African Community.
Nobel laureate and Kwame Nkrumah’s economic adviser Arthur Lewis saw Ghana as a testing ground for his ideas on economic development. But he was met with fierce resistance.
Adopting a genuinely innovative mindset to business can help companies to navigate a tough global economy. It’ll involve risks, but can deliver great rewards.
South Africa’s finance minister claimed that a number of initiatives were in place to ensure that policies are actually implemented. But they were too broad and lacked urgency and conviction.
South Africa’s government should put more effort into developing concrete strategies for dealing with the factors preventing the removal of the critical constraints on economic growth.
Malawi shows how micro and small business, with a bit of help from volunteers, can grow and create jobs
The budget showed some sense of urgency but still fell short on implementation plans. There should have been more, particularly details on cost-cutting initiatives.
There are many good things about the budget, including the promised cut to the payroll, but many of the key commitments relating to how policies will support growth are, at best, pointers.
To achieve its ambition of becoming a middle income country, Uganda must accelerate the movement of workers from agriculture and the informal sector into modern industries.
Forecasts are crucial for all economic and business activity. But looking into the future involves uncertainty and risk. Forecasts may be inaccurate, which creates a serious dilemma for policy makers
South Africans spend billions of rands paying for services that should be provided by government, thus making the tax burden considerably higher than what appears in official tax data.
Rising membership of public sector unions and the growing political influence of these unions have led to government workers earning a premium over their private sector counterparts.
The increasing use of social media in the financial sector has made it difficult for companies to exercise control, while at the same time allow employees freedom of expression in the workplace.
The modernisation of agriculture has been touted by economists and the IMF as a way of reducing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. But caution about the benefits of the Green Revolution is advisable.
If higher education is made “free” for all, the whole society ends up paying more. That’s deeply unjust in already unequal societies, such as those in Africa.
Some hard-to-hear facts are not included in the World Bank’s new discussion note on poverty and inequality in South Africa.
The decline in commodity prices means African countries must work that much harder to encourage both local and foreign smaller and junior mining companies.
Recent studies show that development aid to poor countries contributes in the long term to their economic growth. But the aid architecture has adapted slowly to a new reality.
It shouldn’t be up to universities or the government alone to fund students who qualify for tertiary education but can’t afford it. A perpetual bond system could be the answer.
South Africa’s government should urgently announce a moratorium on civil service employment growth. The country has reached its upper limit in the number of civil servants that can be sustained.
It’s easy to dismiss Africa as a place that is, at best, a provider of commodities, land and labour. A closer look shows that the continent is innovative and offers a lot more opportunities.
The Randlords left a big dilemma in their wake: contemporary South Africa is not sure whether to thank them for bringing civilisation, or to curse them for complicating future race relations.
State-owned companies are not generally needed to provide goods. Rather, they are needed to provide the foundation for a well-functioning economy and a healthy, well-informed populace.