Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label African Economy

Africa, China, India – Relationships in Transition? ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Tim Steinecke)

India- Africa Forum Summit ( Image credits- Flickr / MEA official image gallery) Source- The Diplomat Author- Tim Steinecke In late October, the majority of Africa’s heads of state followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation and travelled to New Delhi for the third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS). The high-profile summit came at a time when India’s political and economic relations with African states have generally been overshadowed by the more prominent “Sino-African relations,” as all action between China and African states is styled. Many observers were expecting the policy-savvy Modi to use the IAFS to introduce a new era of India-Africa relations, potentially even outlining an Indian strategy to address the perceived omnipresence of China in Africa. While Modi rhetorically made use of the special connections between Africa and India, the summit nevertheless remained within known territory of international approaches to Africa. Modi promised concessional l

Africa’s Moment, Dashed Again ( Source- The National Interest, Author- Samuel Rines)

A mobile advertisement van in Uganda ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Future Atlas) , Attribution- Future Maps Source- The National Interest Author- Samuel Rines Booming commodity markets and plenty of foreign investment made it appear that Africa was (finally) about to have its moment.  It was to be the new growth engine emerging to take the reins as Asian economies matured. Data from the World Bank indicate that Africa’s Gross Domestic Product has risen by 77 percent this century through 2013, with some of the larger Sub-Saharan nations performing exceedingly well. In total, Sub-Saharan nations have more than doubled their GDP and a few countries have tripled it. As commodity prices marched relentlessly higher, Africa stood a chance of becoming the latest economic miracle. But it was not meant to be. The old plagues of Dictators and Dutch Disease were only masked by the commodity boom. As China’s infrastructure investments wane and low (at least relative to re