From United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa
Economic Report on Africa 2012
Unleashing Africa’s Potential
as a Pole of Global Growth
full text (pdf)
Cover - Acronyms - Acknowledgements - Foreword - Contents
Overview
1. Developments in the World Economy and Implications
for Africa
1.1 World growth slowed and unemployment stayed high
1.2 Inflationary pressures mounted
1.3 Fiscal balances improved
1.4 World commodity prices remained high
Crude oil and the global energy market
Food and beverages
Agricultural raw materials
Metals
1.5 World trade growth moderated and current account balances stayed largely stable
1.6 The US dollar depreciated as risk aversion dominated capital flows
1.7 Euro area crisis could seriously affect Africa
Trade
FDI
Remittances
Aid
1.8 Global rebalancing remains a major policy concern
1.9 Conclusions and policy recommendations
References
Notes
2. Economic and Social Developments in Africa and
Prospects for 2012
2.1 Economic performance in 2011
Weakened recovery amid social and political unrest
Still an optimistic picture
Commodity prices impacted African economies differently
Varied economic performance
Not enough jobs created, but quality of growth has improved
Inflationary pressure increased in Africa
Economic policy shifted to neutral—but still accommodative
Largely benign external positions
2.2 Recent trends in international and intra-African trade
Shifting patterns of international trade
The promise of intra-African trade hindered by high protection
2.3 Recent trends in social and human development
Primary school enrolment on the rise but educational quality still a concern
Women’s empowerment slowly gaining traction
Large steps in preventing new HIV/AIDS infections
Progress in malaria treatment
Child and maternal mortality improving but still too high
Growth’s modest effects on reducing poverty
High inequalities undermining poverty reduction efforts
Meeting the challenges
2.4 Africa’s outlook set fair
References
Notes
3. Africa as a Pole of Global Growth
3.1 Africa’s economic performance, 1960–2010
Post-independence, 1960–1985
Structural adjustment, 1985–1995
Liberalization and market-led development, 1995–2010
Implications for Africa’s development paradigm
3.2 Imperatives for Africa as a pole of global growth
Global growth poles: what they are and how they work
Africa’s growth imperative
Africa’s structural transformation imperatives
3.3 Capitalizing on opportunities and managing risks
Macroeconomic management
Demand for primary resources
Cheap manufactured imports
An industrial policy for diversified FDI
Infrastructure development with support of traditional and new partners
Diasporas
3.4 Conclusions and recommendations
Annex tables and figures
References
Notes
4. Unleashing Africa’s Development Capacity
4.1 Promoting good governance
Encouraging good political governance
Improving economic governance
4.2 Investing in human capital and technology
Prioritizing science and technology, and business development education
Investing in programmes to retrain and retool unemployed graduates
Developing national strategies to attract skilled members of diasporas
Transforming the university system to become a catalyst for change
Investing in regional centres of excellence
4.3 Investing in physical infrastructure
Recent initiatives and the financing gap
Mobilizing resources
Getting more out of current infrastructure investment through efficiency gains
4.4 Unleashing Africa’s agricultural potential
Improving access to land through tenure reform
Investing in research and technology
Reaching rural areas with financial services
Building a climate-resilient economy
Taking bold steps to empower women farmers
Industrializing through agriculture
Harnessing South–South cooperation
Forging non-State strategic partnerships
4.5 Intra-African economic integration
Changing tack: a modest proposal for intra-African integration
Eliminating supply-side constraints and weak productive capacities
Capturing growing trade and services opportunities
Achieving intra-African integration
4.6 Harnessing new partnerships
Attracting Southern FDI to develop productive potential
Prioritizing FDI in infrastructure
Building strong governance frameworks for natural resources
4.7 Conclusions and policy recommendations
Improving political and economic governance
Repurposing education for development
Reversing underinvestment in infrastructure
Boosting productivity in agriculture
Accelerating regional integration and intra-African trade
Harnessing new development partnerships
References
Notes
5. Mobilizing Resources for Structural Transformation
5.1 The need for resources
5.2 Meeting the need—external flows
ODA: the shifting ground of aid policy in Africa
Working with new development partners
Private capital flows
5.3 Meeting the need—new approaches
Mitigating risks
5.4 Meeting the need—taxation
Recent trends in tax revenues
Structural tax issues
Mobilizing and managing domestic resources better
5.5 Conclusions and policy recommendations
References
Notes
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