NEVIS Review No 22
Section I
Ref # 22.1
July 29, 2013
---------------------
Africa: transformation, more than just growth
By Annemarie van de Vijsel
(Source:
http://thebrokeronline.eu)
African
economic transformation should be inclusive, but how can this be achieved?
Experts discussed this at the launch of the preview of the 2013 African
Transformation Report.
African economies cannot transform
if not everyone is included in the process. That is what all the speakers
agreed on at the seminar entitled, ‘Challenges and potentials of African
economic transformation: can economic transformation be inclusive?’. The more
complex question at this seminar, which was held at the Institute of Social
Studies (ISS) in The Hague, is how economic transformation and inclusiveness
should be achieved.
Yaw Ansu considers employment to be
the key driver of economic inclusiveness. He is chief economist of the African
Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) in Accra, Ghana. 'We want economic transformation because
it leads to more jobs and thus to inclusion', he said. The focus should not,
however, be just on jobs. In Ansu’s view, they should be productive because
that will also lead to more inclusion. And production should be based on
science and technology.
By saying this, Ansu touched on two
elements that ACET sees as necessary for economic transformation. Besides
productivity and technology, Africa also needs diversification, export
competitiveness and human well-being for such a change to take place. This
is the main point made in the 2013 African Transformation Report, of which ACET
launched the preview at the seminar in The Hague.
Economic growth is important but, as
the report states, ‘economic growth alone will not sustain development on the
continent’. What is needed, according to the report, is ‘growth through the structural shifts from traditional agriculture
to modern agriculture, manufacturing, and high-value services. This is broadly
acknowledged. But there’s more. It is growth through expanding the technical
capabilities of people and institutions. It is growth through upgrading the
technologies that people use on farms, in firms, and at government offices. It
is growth through becoming internationally competitive and active participants
in global value chains. And it is growth through spreading prosperity by
supporting productive work and boosting consumption.’1
'Thus it is that a transforming
economy – more than just a growing economy – can weather the ups and downs of
global product and service markets, the alternating liquidity and illiquidity
of local and global financial markets, and the vicissitudes of commodity and
construction booms. Thus it is that a Ghana can become a South Korea, a Senegal
a Thailand, and a Kenya a Malaysia.'1
Economic transformation is not easy,
as the report’s title shows, describing the current state of the African
economy: ‘Growing rapidly, transforming slowly’. However, as Professor
Peter Knorringa from ISS noted, 'economic transformation is not an end in
itself'. Someone from the audience remarked that the report seems to assume
that economic transformation automatically leads to inclusiveness. 'But does
it?', he asked the speakers. In general, it does not. Incentives are needed.
As Jeroen Roodenburg from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out, access to finance, public
infrastructure and education and skills are important for inclusive growth. Mr
Ansu agreed with him that education and skills matter. 'We have to give
children the skills to participate in the new economy that we want to create',
he said.
André Lelieveld of the African
Studies Centre in Leiden explained that the promotion of commercial farming
among small subsistence farmers can make the agricultural sector more
inclusive. The growth of regional food markets can be a catalyst for economic
transformation. In his view, however, it is important that more women are
involved in commercial farming.
Although the issue of inclusiveness
is important in the preliminary African Transformation Report, some speakers at
the seminar argued that it should receive more attention and that a more
detailed approach should be adopted to achieving an inclusive economy. The
founder and current president of ACET, Mr Amoako, agreed. 'The African
Transformation Report touches upon the transformation of economies for
inclusive growth. This is also one of the pillars of the report of the High
Level Panel on the Post-2015
Development Agenda. I agree that the African
Transformation Report does not sufficiently address this topic.'
One matter that was not discussed at
the seminar is the role of different actors in the process of economic
transformation. What should the governments of the African countries do and
what are the tasks of the African Union, the World Bank, the European Union and
China for example?
ACET staff are travelling to several
countries around the world to get feedback on the preliminary report. They aim
to use this feedback for the final version of the 2013 African Transformation
Report that is to be launched in October. However, it is important that one of
the strengths of the report remains intact: the fact that it has been written
‘from within’: by African experts themselves.
[1] ACET (2013), Growing rapidly
– Transforming slowly. Preview of the 2013 African Transformation Report,
p.1
(Ed’s note- The Preview of the
2013 African Transformation Report referred to in the above article can be
found following the links in the same website we earlier indicated as a source.
Annemarie van de Vijsel works at The Broker as a project editor on the themes
Inclusive economy and Social entrepreneurship. Previously, she worked at The
Broker as a junior research editor. Annemarie studied Journalism and Media
(master) and International Development Studies (research master) at the
University of Amsterdam and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human geography from
Utrecht University.)
------------------------------//------------------------------------------------------