Independent policy advice on economic growth, business development and job creation
It’s been interesting to observe the range of arguments surrounding the topic of “Africa’s de-industralisation”. These range from whether or not Africa is indeed de-industralising, to how best to re-industrialise. Within these discussions there are interesting debates on the role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the importance of business environment reform, the need for…
Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire 1965 to 1997 In a new paper titled, “How Is Power Shared In Africa?”, Patrick Francois, Ilia Rainer, and Francesco Trebbi examine the role of ethnic elites. They investigate the ethnicity of cabinet ministers since independence (Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria,…
“Figures often beguile me,” wrote Mark Twain, “particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.’” There is some dispute as to whether Disraeli actually used this phrase, but the…
Afrobarometer has just released a new policy brief: “After a Decade of Growth in Africa, Little Change in Poverty at the Grassroots”. In it, Boniface Dulani, Robert Mattes and Carolyn Logan present data collected across 34 African countries between October 2011 and June 2013, which demonstrates that “lived poverty” remains pervasive across the continent. For the 16 countries where…
This October, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) its annual Information Economy report, which focused on the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in enabling private sector development: Information Economy Report 2011; ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development (PSD). The report shows that the potential of leveraging ICTs to develop…
A key ingredient of entrepreneurship is risk. Doing things differently, inventing and producing different things, and providing different services… all this entails risk. Entrepreneurs invest in doing things differently and the outcomes of this investment are unpredictable. In fact, these investments are more likely to fail than not. Governments stifle entrepreneurship in Africa through policy…
The Namibian newspaper on 30 August 2011 carried an article by the Namibian Prime Minister, Dr. Nahas Angula, on how to transform the African economy: Innovation, he says, “is the missing link in African development. African economic take-off can be enhanced if Africa can pay serious attention to innovation and technology. A national innovation system is a…
Entrepreneurs are important actors for sustained development in Africa. Entrepreneurship occurs when an individual or group of individuals garner their available resources and take action to achieve a desired goal. It requires a measured risk –– where the entrepreneur balances up possible failure against the benefits and rewards of success. Typically, these rewards can be…
