Regional Development in Africa

Regional Development in Africa
Author: Norbert Edomah
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2020-08-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1789852374

Regional development is a broad term but can be seen as a general effort to reduce regional disparities by supporting (employment and wealth-generating) economic activities in regions. In the past, regional development policy tended to try to achieve these objectives by means of large-scale infrastructure development and by attracting inward investment” (OECD, 2014).A territorial and regional approach to development is crucial in addressing regional challenges, regional economic competitiveness, and reducing socio-economic discrepancies. This book provides a forum to articulate and discuss Africa’s regional development issues in view of the rising opportunities within the African region. This volume contains 14 chapters and is organized in four sections: Introduction; Industry, Trade and Investment in Africa; Agricultural Services and the Water-energy-food Nexus in Africa; and Environmental and Cultural Dimensions to Africa’s Regional Development.

The BRICS in the New International Legal Order on Investment

The BRICS in the New International Legal Order on Investment
Author: Congyan Cai
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2020-03-31
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9004376992

The BRICS in the New International Legal Order on Investment: Reformers or Disruptors is written by international experts with BRICS backgrounds. The book investigates why and how the BRICS countries modernize their approach to the investment treaty regime. The chapters are organized by BRICS countries and discuss whether they can develop a common approach to investment treaties as well as what these countries will bring to the investment treaty regime in the future. The volume provides important perspectives on how the BRICS, an emerging power hub in international society, engage in the international legal order.

African Perspectives on Trade and the WTO

African Perspectives on Trade and the WTO
Author: Patrick Low
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016-09-29
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781316626528

Twenty-first century Africa is in a process of economic transformation, but challenges remain in areas such as structural reform, governance, commodity pricing and geopolitics. This book looks into key questions facing the continent, such as how Africa can achieve deeper integration into the rules-based multilateral trading system and the global economy. It provides a range of perspectives on the future of the multilateral trading system and Africa's participation in global trade and underlines the supportive roles that can be played by multilateral and regional institutions during such a rapid and uncertain transition. This volume is based on contributions to the Fourth China Round Table on WTO Accessions and the Multilateral Trading System, which took place just before the World Trade Organization's Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December 2015.

Multinational Enterprises, Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in Africa

Multinational Enterprises, Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in Africa
Author: Bernard Michael Gilroy
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2006-03-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3790816108

How can Africa, the world’s most lagging region, benefit from globalisation and achieve sustained economic growth? Africa needs greater investment by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) to improve competitiveness and generate more growth through positive spill-over effects. Despite the fact that Africa’s returns on investment averaged 29% since 1990, Africa has gained merely 1% of global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows. The challenge for African countries is how to be a more desirable destination for FDI. The study integrates three currents of economic research, namely from the literature on (endogenous) economic growth, convergence and regional integration, the explanations for Africa’s poor growth and the growing understanding of the role of MNEs in a global economy. The empirical side of the book is based on an econometric study of the determinants of FDI in Africa as well as a detailed firm-level survey conducted in 2000.

South Africa and the World Economy in the 1990s

South Africa and the World Economy in the 1990s
Author: Pauline H. Baker
Publisher: New Africa Books
Total Pages: 286
Release: 1993
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780864862587

Furthermore, what role can international trade and investment play in spurring economic growth in South Africa, alleviating the country's poverty and promoting a more equitable distribution of wealth? These are some of the questions that came under the spotlight at an international conference organised in 1993 by The Aspen Institute and IDASA (The Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa). At this conference, held in South Africa, a number of leading economists and policy advisers from the United States, Asia, Latin America and Africa met to stimulate discussion about a range of critical issues facing the South African economy in the years ahead.

Transforming Southern Africa

Transforming Southern Africa
Author: DIVISION ON GLOBALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT. UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE. STRATEGIES
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-01-07
Genre: Economic development
ISBN: 9789211130072

This volume investigates the status of regional integration in Southern Africa. It discusses the critical challenges to be overcome and surveys the most interesting opportunities for achieving deeper regional integration.

China’s Trade and Investment in Africa

China’s Trade and Investment in Africa
Author: Alpha Furbell Lisimba
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2020-12-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9811595739

The core argument of this book is that China poses both challenges and creates opportunities for Africa, and that the transformative potentials of China-Africa engagements can be compared to Africa’s experiences with European colonialism. However, it would be patently misleading to claim any equivalence between African experiences of European colonialism with Africa’s engagements with China. Although, China does not replicate the exact colonial model, its actions have all elements of dependent relations, thus underpinning neo-colonialism with Chinese characteristics. Analysing China’s growing economic relations with Africa, this book posits that, Africa’s underdevelopment situation with China does not indicate a significant point of departure from the colonial model of development because China’s actions in Africa, although not exactly colonial, have all possibilities of Neocolonialist model with Chinese characteristics. As such the author argues that China’s increasing trade, FDI inflow and influence on the economic growth and development in Africa will result in a long-term negative impact in development outcomes and capacity building, governance practice, democratic transition and human rights for future self-reliance and sustainable development.

Regional Integration in West Africa

Regional Integration in West Africa
Author: Eswar Prasad
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2021-07-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0815738544

" Assessing the potential benefits and risks of a currency union Leaders of the fifteen-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have set a goal of achieving a monetary and currency union by late 2020. Although some progress has been made toward achieving this ambitious goal, major challenges remain if the region is to realize the necessary macroeconomic convergence and establish the required institutional framework in a relatively short period of time. The proposed union offers many potential benefits, especially for countries with historically high inflation rates and weak central banks. But, as implementation of the euro over the past two decades has shown, folding multiple currencies, representing disparate economies, into a common union comes with significant costs, along with operational challenges and transitional risks. All these potential negatives must be considered carefully by ECOWAS leaders seeking tomeet a self-imposed deadline. This book, by two leading experts on economics and Africa, makes a significant analytical contribution to the debates now under way about how ECOWAS could achieve and manage its currency union, andthe ramifications for the African continent. "

Africa's Silk Road

Africa's Silk Road
Author: Harry G. Broadman
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2006-11-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821368362

China and India's new-found interest in trade and investment with Africa - home to 300 million of the globe's poorest people and the world's most formidable development challenge - presents a significant opportunity for growth and integration of theSub-Saharan continent into the global economy. Africa's Silk Road finds that China and India's South-South commerce with Africa isabout far more than natural resources, opening the way for Africato become a processor of commodities and a competitive supplier of goods and services to these countries - a major departure from its long established relations with the North. A growing number of Chinese and Indian businesses active in Africa operate on a global scale, work with world-class technologies, produce products and services according to the most demanding standards, and foster the integration of African businesses into advanced markets.There are significant imbalances, however, in these emerging commercial relationships. These can be addressed through a series of reforms in all countries: 'At-the-border' reforms, such as elimination of China and India's escalating tariffs on Africa's leading exports, and elimination ofAfrica's tariffs on certain inputs that make exports uncompetitive 'Behind-the-border' reforms in Africa, to unleash competitive market forces and strengthen its basic market institutions 'Between-the-border' improvements in trade facilitation mechanisms to decrease transactions costs Reforms that leverage linkages between investment and trade, toallow African businesses to participate in global productionnetworks that investments by Chinese and Indian firms can generate.

Unlocking Africa's Business Potential

Unlocking Africa's Business Potential
Author: Landry Signe
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2020-04-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0815737394

Africa welcomes business investment and offers some of the world's highest returns and impacts Africa has tremendous economic potential and offers rewarding opportunities for global businesses looking for new markets and long-term investments with favorable returns. Africa has been one of the world's fastest-growing regions over the past decade, and by 2030 will be home to nearly 1.7 billion people and an estimated $6.7 trillion worth of consumer and business spending. Increased political stability in recent years and improving regional integration are making market access easier, and business expansion will generate jobs for women and youth, who represent the vast majority of the population. Current economic growth and poverty-alleviation efforts mean that more than 43 percent of the continent's people will reach middle- or upper-class status by 2030. Unlocking Africa's Business Potential examines business opportunities in the eight sectors with the highest potential returns on private investment—the same sectors that will foster economic growth and diversification, job creation, and improved general welfare. These sectors include: consumer markets, agriculture and agriprocessing, information and communication technology, manufacturing, oil and gas, tourism, banking, and infrastructure and construction. The book's analysis of these sectors is based on case studies that identify specific opportunities for investment and growth, along with long-term market projections to inform decision-making. The book identifies potential risks to business and offers mitigation strategies. It also provides policymakers with solutions to attract new business investments, including how to remove barriers to business and accelerate development of the private sector.