Business
Africa: Leadership needs to develop governance infrastructure needed for development
The old pessimistic paradigm of Africa’s development is outdated, but some valid elements cannot be dismissed if economic growth is to be pursued on the continent, says South African leading trade expert.
According to Peter Draper, Senior Research Associate at the South African Institute of International Affairs, political leaders of nation-states are not building the governance consensus needed for development.
A 2010 report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for instance, projected that seven out of the top ten global growth stories in the next five years will be in Africa.
Washington-based independent research body, the Center for Global Development, has also identified 17 emerging African countries with long-term growth prospects, including Ghana.
Indicators for growth, according to the organization, include entrenched democracy and accountability, new leadership, sustained economic reforms, debt reduction and improved donor relations and new technologies to leapfrog development.
