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Welcome
to AFRICABIZ, 
Welcome
to Africabiz Online Synopsis
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link
Dear faithful reader,
THE NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AFRICA'S
DEVELOPMENT - NEPAD - ON THE LAUNCHING PAD
The New Partnership
For Africa's Development - Nepad - endorsed by the Organization for African Unity's
Summit (OAU) held in Lusaka, Zambia, on July 11, 2001 is now fully on the launching
pad.
The world most industrialized countries' supervision body - G-8
- had on the agenda of its forthcoming June 2002-summit at Ottawa (Canada) discussions
on how G-8's countries could support initiatives and development projects linked
to Nepad. Click here for more
on recent supporting events on Nepad.
On its part the Organization For
Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD - released at Paris (France) on February
5, 2002, a joint
report (drafted with the African Development Bank - ADB) on the African Economy
Outlook.
The Nepad initiative was hailed and approved by the report.
However, the report's team did raised some concerns about the scheme operational
validity. It had particularly expressed doubts about the availability of sufficient
financing package to supporting the implementation of Nepad's initiatives below
listed.
The main reason - according to OECD'S report - for the lack
of financing being the continuous decline of the public financial aid that the
developed countries allocate to the developing world.
From 1970 to 2000,
that public financial support - calculated as a percentage of the GDP - had dwindled
from an average of 0.7-1 % to 0.4-0.6%. And short term perspectives do not show
a possible reversal of the nose dive trend. France's Jacques Chirac discusses
the problem with several African heads of states at Paris on February 8, 2002,
during a meeting dedicated to Nepad's initiative.
COULD
NEPAD QUICKLY HELP SOLVING THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMATIC
OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES?
The conceptual policies
to ruling Nepad actions had been well defined into seven structures below listed:
1- Peace, Security,
Democracy and Political Governance Initiative.
2- Economic and Corporate
Governance Initiative.
3- Bridging the Infrastructure Gap.
4- Human Resource Development Initiative
5- Capital Flows Initiative.
6- Market Access Initiative.
7- Environment Initiative
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can see that these policies are global and not yet linked to well identified development
projects. Click here to further
review these initiatives.
Several years will pass by (in the range of
one decade to be conservative) before feasibility studies and business plans linked
to common and regional specific economic projects are drafted and agreed upon
by the different African states and approved by institutional financing bodies
such as the IMF, the World Bank and so on. Click
here for a warning issued on February 15, 2002 by a top G8 official against
"unrealistic expectations".
Owing to the urgency
to finding solutions to bridging the developing gap afflicting African countries'
economies, is it normal and wise to focus too much attention and energy on Nepad's
initiatives alone?
Even if things eventually move more swiftly one is
entitled to raising following questions:
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- Could the Nepad initiative be the driving force to solving the urgent and
acute economic development problematic African countries are now confronted with?
- Could the basic concept of Nepad - the development of common and regional
infrastructure projects - be sufficient to triggering the sustained economic development
process needed by each African country?
- Could Nepad engineer the ultimate
economic take off of any African country?
- Could Nepad create sufficient
riches for African countries' economies to allowing for the fair distribution
of wealth amongst the populations on a sustained and permanent basis?
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the long term, Nepad may become a driving force to developing
African countries. However it won't be the decisive one. Because the implementation
of global common infrastructure projects cannot properly address the low level
of economic activities prevailing now and for too long in all African countries;
and the subsequent high level of unemployment (quite 30 to 50% of the working
force available) as here
extensively exposed.
Implementation of regional projects will not boost
up the economic activity level in each concerned African country. To increase
the economic activity level in each African country, national government should
imperatively implement integrated development schemes capable of generating double-digit
annual economic growth rate on a sustained basis for three to four decades running.
Click here for more.
Otherwise,
Nepad or not Nepad, the prevailing poverty in African countries will worsen as
the growth-rate of the populations (3 to 4%) and inflation level (5% - a very
optimistic viewpoint) eat out any annual economic growth-rate below 10%. Click
here for more.
It will take us up to several decades, far beyond
the second century of the new millennium, to alleviate prevailing poverty and
create descent living conditions for all in African countries, if we do not target
double-digit annual economic growth-rate; and manage to sustain it over three
running decades. The
matter had been given due consideration here.
Could Nepad initiatives trigger double-digit annual economic growth-rate
in each African country? In a short span of time to counterbalancing the growth-rate
of the populations?
We doubt it as existing regional organizations throughout
Africa have failed till now to do so with their respective members states after
more than one decade of existence and activities.
Nepad cannot help generating
double-digit annual economic growth-rate in each African country in the short
term. Because firstly Nepad implementation will be taking at least a decade to
be fully operational and secondly the different above
listed initiatives are global and not projects oriented from the start. These
different initiatives will take two to three decades to producing visible results.
In the meantime the increase of populations will diminish the already
meager per capita GNP and African countries will be engulfed in aggravated poverty
leading to subsequent political destabilization, civil unrest and civil wars.
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Therefore, in addition to the efforts now made to promoting Nepad, national African
governments should also devise and promote projects oriented development schemes;
establishing integrated operations, which link together agriculture development,
industrial transformation of crops and expansion of related services. These projects
oriented integrated schemes will be more attractive to direct foreign investors
and to the international commercial banking system. Click
here for a case study.
Such integrated development schemes - having
the inherent capacity (Synergetic
Impact Factor) of boosting up the economic development and creating riches,
are capable, in a very short span of time of 10 years, to tremendously multiplying
the per capita Gross National Product.
Click
here for a case study on how to boost the per capita GNP from US$ 380 to US$
2,500 in ten years for an African country; and here
for further consideration on the African Renaissance.
- ADDENDUM: Here we
are. On this June 28, 2002 G-8's heads of states finished their two-day meeting
in the remote hideout of Kananaskis, Canada, without dealing properly with the
financing package needed to launching NEPAD's implementation.
The
outcome is not a surprise. G-8's leaders promised to better tackle the matter
next year. And next year, they will promise for the next one! And year after year
Africa will continue to drift into sheer poverty.
It is obvious
that the wealthy states will not hand out points of economic growth to any emerging
country. Have you ever seen a prosperous merchant freely giving market share
to competitors?
Africa will have to fight to win its share of the
world's market. We Africans will never gain anything from G-8 for free! We
will be panting year upon year after the carrot for no avail.
Let's
become realist and devise alternative strategies to control the economic development
of our countries. Just like the Asian tigers did. They didn't bank from the start
on any kind of NEPAD; It is only now that, after three to four decades of sustainable
double-digit rated economic growth, they are contemplating a strong economic union.
Russia gets G8 cash, Africa gets kind words
"The G8
was unanimous in being optimistic - and I am one of the optimists - about growth,"
said French President Jacques Chirac, promising to focus again on Africa's needs
when he hosts the next G8 summit next year". Click
here for more.
G8 pledges 'peanuts' to Africa. Click
here for more
Africa's media unimpressed with Nepad Click
here for more.
"CONTRIBUTOR'S
GUIDELINES" are
available here. You are invited
to contribute to AFRICABIZ ONLINE MONTHLY ISSUE - with articles related to
"How Africa Could Bridge The Developing Gap".
Many
thanks for subscribing to Africabiz. See you here next month on March 15, 2002.
Dr. B.M. Quenum
Click here for contact & support console
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Business
Opportunities
TROPICAL FRUIT INDUSTRY AS INCOME BUILDING POWER
FOR AN AFRICAN COMMUNITY / PART I : ESSENTIAL OIL AND FRUIT JUICE PRODUCTION
Huge quantities of tropical fruits -oranges, pineapple, papaya, guava, lime
and so on - are discarded by producers as waste in most sub-Saharan African countries.
The producers cannot sell their products as fresh fruit in a short span of time.
And for lack of cold room storage facilities, the fruits rot and are discarded
as garbage.
This is really a sad matter as the development of an industry
to processing tropical fruits into fruit juice, appetizers and essential oils
will contribute to the improvement of foreign exchange balance of any African
country.
For instance, a medium scale facility to processing 18,600 metric
tons of lime and citron during 150 operational days, yields a Gross profit of
US$ 1,296,000 obtained with a investment level in the range of US$ 2,620,000
-This
is a real niche opportunity for any African country to improving its foreign exchange
balance. It is also a perfect Economic
Catalyst
The selling prices of the essential oils, pectin and
fruit-juices - as exposed in the Turnover' section of the table available
here - are far more
higher than that of the initial fruits and will contribute tremendously to the
growth rate and the global
development process of any African country which promotes such industry.
One should bear in mind that above exposed outstanding Gross Profit margin had
been achieved with only 150 operational days based on lime / citron as raw materials.
The Gross Profit margin could easily be doubled (with marginal investments
into additional equipment) if other fresh fruits (pineapple, mango, orange, guava
etc.;) are made available all over the year as raw materials to produce concentrated
juice-fruit.
Control Your Desktop
HACKERS
AND VILLAINS ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE BOLDER - PROTECT YOUR HARD WORK
Few months ago hackers and villains in the cyberspace used only to cooked viruses
of their own and transmit it through the World Wild Word to create havoc in other
descent people computers.
Nowadays they move a step further in their
mischievous achievements. They create virus adapted to the most popular virus
scanners available on the market. They play cat and mouse with the virus scanners
developers.
If you have not done so yet, it is high time to install a
powerful virus scanner and update it regularly.
Don't make it easy for
any villain to disrupt your hard work. Take simple precautions: 1- Never
open attachment to a mail send to you by an unknown person. 2- Install
and regularly update a Virus Scanner application.
Please review
following previous issues - 24 : Beware
of freeware - 16 : Virus scanning
is not enough - and issue 27
- for additional information on how to protect your system from villains and
vandals.
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