Nowadays, African countries are wooed because they are perceived as the spearheads of the world economy. The Economist, the English weekly newspaper, predicts that in the next five years, seven out of ten fastest growing economies in the world will be in Africa: Ethiopia (8.1 per cent), Mozambique (7.7 per cent), Tanzania (7.2 per cent), Congo (7.0 per cent), Ghana (7.0 per … [Read more...] about Liberating Africans from the CFA “franc” trap
Tunisia
QUESTIONS ON THE FUTURE OF CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION
China’s burgeoning relationship with Africa is being decried in some quarters, including western observers – and some Africans, too – as a new form of colonialism. Such criticism is largely misplaced. First, after having preached the globalisation tenet of economic liberalisation and free competition, the West cannot really grumble about being outbid by China in the race for … [Read more...] about QUESTIONS ON THE FUTURE OF CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION
Starving for Capital in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa's appalling poverty and living conditions have been exposed repeatedly through television and the Internet. But these agonizing pictures represent only the symptoms of an underlying - and largely unreported - malady: capital flight. Capital flight stems from myriad causes: debt servicing, the awarding to foreign firms of almost all contracts financed by … [Read more...] about Starving for Capital in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa on the Sidelines, A false economic dawn?
After the collapse of the Mobutu regime Zaire, now renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been left stripped of resources, in spite of the mineral wealth being eyed covetously by foreign investors. Elsewhere, the International Monetary Fund's figures point to a significant improvement in sub-Saharan Africa. However, imposing structural adjustment, privatisation and … [Read more...] about Sub-Saharan Africa on the Sidelines, A false economic dawn?
Why the CFA franc must go
Sanou MBaye suggests that the price of maintaining links with France is too high FOURTEEN OF THE former West African French colonies use the CFA franc, whose exchange rate is pegged to the French franc, as a common currency. The CFA franc was created, in its initial form, in the 19th century to help France shape and control the economies of her colonies. The scheme was quite … [Read more...] about Why the CFA franc must go
Sanou MBaye suggests that the price of maintaining links with France is too high
FOURTEEN OF THE former West African French colonies use the CFA franc, whose exchange rate is pegged to the French franc, as a common currency. The CFA franc was created, in its initial form, in the 19th century to help France shape and control the economies of her colonies. The scheme was quite useful to France, which it helped to resist the tremors of the economic crises of … [Read more...] about Sanou MBaye suggests that the price of maintaining links with France is too high
