Africa is suffering from the direct consequences of an exogenous crisis linked to excess deregulation and organization of wealth creation disconnected from production and the real economy. Through its prudent macro-economic management and the weakness of its financial infrastructure, Africa very scarcely operates on the virtual marketplace, much less dabble in speculation. As such, Africa is neither guilty nor responsible for the 2008 financial crisis, even though it bears the brunt of the collateral effects of economic externalities.
African Civil Society
Africa’s Alternative Response to the Global Financial Crisis
The Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA) offers an alternative perspective on the responses to the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis in Africa. The paradigm of economic and financial dependency can no longer adequately explain the complexity of a systemic crisis facing African Nations. The under-mentioned prerequisites must be met: break with the palliative economy, reject the conception of Africa as the variable adjustment for post-industrial economies, be ever alert to the trap embedded in the “poverty reduction” concept which is by no means synonymous with shared wealth creation, neutralize straight-jacket solutions considered as “universal solutions”, etc.
OBSERVATION DES ELECTIONS ET SOCIETE CIVILE INTERNATIONALE
Compte tenu de l’impossible alternance politique au Togo depuis 1967, plus de 27 modifications de la Constitution de 1992 acceptée par la population lors d’un référendum, l’échec des précédentes tentatives d’alternance pacifique, le nombre de victimes liées à la défense de la démocratie de la force, il devient urgent pour les Togolais et Togolaises de s’organiser en synergie pour faciliter l’avènement de la vérité des urnes au Togo. C’est d’ailleurs l’occasion de se réconcilier avec l’histoire en retrouvant le vrai paysage politique du Togo selon la décision libre des électeurs.
Should European taxpayers support Togo’s parody of election?
It is amazing to see the emerging frontiers of Democracy in Africa. Togo experienced the first “Coup d’Etat” in 1963 with the enigmatic murdering of the first elected President of Togo Sylvanus Olympio in the garden of the American Embassy. After 38 years of dictatorship led by the late Eyadéma Gnassingbé who officially died on February 5th 2005, Togo is now experiencing the leadership of Faure Gnassingbé, one of the sons. The presidential election on the 24 of April 2005 was heavily contested by a coalition of six political parties headed by a common candidate, Bob Emmanuel Akitani. The son of the first President of Togo, Gilchrist Olympio was prevented from running a constitution revisited many times to accommodate the army and those in power.
Global Value Chains and Production Networks : Promoting Capability formation in South Africa
This paper is an attempt to “operationalize” suggested UNIDO policy instruments to benchmark countries’ competitive industrial performance, taking South Africa as an example. It draws from the experience of the African Productive Capacity Initiative adopted by the African Ministers of Industry. The Initiative would become the national pillars of the respective sub-regional and national programmes in Africa on productive capacity and should help to identify the comparative advantages of regions, countries, products in Africa, using the global and local value chains approach as well as South-South Cooperation. Competition, innovation and productivity growth should take into consideration objectives such as the reduction of poverty contained in the Millennium Development Goals and social cohesion.