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Africa's development in the 21st century : Reshaping the research agenda
No full textAs Africa enters the 21st century, it faces mounting challenges as well as new opportunities. Unlike in the 1980s and the 1990s, however, the conditions for Africa's sustained growth and development are more favourable today than ever before. As a result of economic reforms the overall growth has been in excess of 4.5 percent annually since the mid 1990s. There is greater consensus among Africans now than at any previous time on what needs to be done to accelerate growth, reduce poverty and promote sustainable development. The positive response of Africa's international partners enhances the prospects for sustaining the progress. Africa is also benefiting from a commodity boom and increased investment in infrastructure and the extractive industry sector. But many questions remain unanswered. The most pressing question is how Africa can best benefit from the rise of the Asian giants, China and India.CONTENTS -- Rural poverty, food insecurity and the struggle for resources -- The urban challenge in Africa -- Conflict prevention and post-conflict transformation -- Africa and the World Trading System -- Roadmaps to Africa's renewal: Global and local dimensions</p
Nigeria’s Niger Delta : Understanding the Complex Drivers of Conflict
No full textThe Lecture Series on African Security is a joint collaboration between the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) and the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI). The first round of lectures was conducted in 2008. The lectures revolve around core themes in African security studies and case studies from contemporary Africa, and they are presented by highly renowned international and national experts on Africa.</p
The African Union’s Peace and Security Architecture : Defining an emerging response mechanism
No full textThe Lecture Series on African Security is a joint collaboration between the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) and the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI). The first round of lectures was conducted in 2008. The lectures revolve around core themes in African security studies and case studies from contemporary Africa, and they are presented by highly renowned international and national experts on Africa.</p
The Starbucks/Ethiopian coffee saga : geographical indications as a linchpin for development in developing countries
No full textA coalition of Ethiopian coffee producers and the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) set up a programme to acquire trademarks in important export markets, with a view to increasing the profits on these brands for the producers. In March 2005, the Ethiopian government filed its first US trademark applications for three contested coffee names. After 15 months the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) agreed that the name Sidamo was generic and therefore could not be trademarked. This led to an outcry by some commentators, including NGOs and Intellectual Property Rights professionals. Yet, the arguments in favour of protecting indigenous knowledge under international trade rules as a linchpin for economic development and poverty eradication has been forcefully put forward by African countries and other developing countries in both regional trade negotiations and at the World Trade Organization. With the Ethiopian and Starbucks dispute in mind, James Watson and Jeremy Streatfeild eloquently explain in this piece how geographical indications can be used to enhance the capacity of farmers and economic development in Africa and other least developed countries
The African economy and its role in the world economy
No full textIn a broad survey this issue of Current African Issues presents a multifaceted picture of the current state of the African economy. After a period of falling per capita incomes that started in the 1970s, Africa finally saw a turnaround from about 1995. The last few years have seen average per capita incomes in Africa grow by above 3 per cent per year on average, partly due to the resource boom but also due to improved economic policies. Africa receives more aid per capita than any other major region in the world and there is a significantly positive effect of aid on growth. One of the most notable aspects of the current process of globalisation is the increase in trade between Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, particularly China and India. The authors conclude with a call for policy coherence among donors. The politically most problematic areas for policy change of those discussed in the paper are not aid policy but trade policy and the European Union CAP (Common Agricultural Policy). This is a challenge to EU policy makers, since the latter areas are probably the most important to change if we take our commitment to development seriously.CONTENTS -- Comparative performance of the African economy -- Financial flows to Africa -- The Asian drivers -- Impact of debt reduction initiatives -- Opportunities and constraints for growth -- Impacts of HIV/AIDS -- Gender and economic growth -- Brain drain -- Trade policy reform and African development -- Economics actors in a risky environment</p
Demography and the development potential of sub-Saharan Africa
No full textPopulation growth in Africa has laid the foundation for the eventual development of a prosperous region. Since the 1950s, sub-Saharan Africa has doubled its population twice over to become one of the most populous regions in the world. If sub-Saharan Africa succeeds in taking advantage of this population potential, the sub-continent could become a major player in the world economy. A major reason sub-Saharan Africa remains poor is the very high child-dependency arising from a very high total fertility rate, and low life expectancy based on both high infant mortality and high adult mortality rates. Reduced mortality and lower fertility are key requirements if sub-Saharan Africa is to enter a development trajectory that makes possible increasing per capita incomes and reductions in poverty.CONTENTS -- The demographic transition -- Infant mortality -- Life expectancy -- Fertility -- Population growth -- Age-structure change and economic growth -- Other macroeconomic effects of changing age structure -- Child labour and poverty -- Migration and social unrest -- The future of sub-Saharan Africa: A demographic perspective</p
Somalia : a nation without a state
No full textReport from four public seminars on the conflict in Somalia, held during October and November 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden with Nuruddin Farah, Somali Novelist, Roland Marchal, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre d’Études et de Recherches Internationales, Paris, Asha Hagi, member of the Somalia Transitional Federal Parliament and civil society activist, Jens Odlander, Swedish Ambassador for the Somali Peace Process, Shane Quinn, Programme officer at the Life and Peace Institute, Sweden, and Sahra Bargadle and Hayan Ismail from the swedish-somali Diaspora. Marika Fahlén, Special Advisor for the Horn of Africa at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs acted as moderator for the panel discussion.The seminars were jointly organized by the Life and Peace Institute, The Nordic Africa Institute and ABF Stockholm.CONTENTS -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Map of Somalia -- Seminar 1: “To Whom Does Somalia Belong?” A Novelist’s Account of the Somali Conflict. Nuruddin Farah -- Seeminar 2: The Role of Religion in the Somali Conflict and External Ways to Deal with. Roland Marchal -- Seminar 3: Women’s Contribution to Peace in Somalia. Asha Hagi -- Seminar 4: Panel Discussion: Somalia – Prospects for Peace? -- Bibliograph
Young female fighters in African wars : conflict and its consequences
No full textIn the numerous armed conflicts that are tearing the African continent apart, young women are participants and carry guns alongside their male comrades-in-arms. Challenging the stereotype of women in African wars as victims only, this issue of the Nordic Africa Institute Policy Dialogues shows how in modern African wars women have often been as active as men. Female fighters are victimized, yet they are not mere victims. Girls and young women who volunteer to fight often possess quite considerable strength and independence. Programmes for disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating former fighters must be based on better understanding of the range of women's roles and experiences in war and post-war settings in order to act in a gender-sensitive way and to empower this group of women in the aftermath of war.CONTENTS -- Women and war -- Female fighters : disarmament and demobilization -- Surviving peace</p