A ‘Marshall Plan’ for Africa’s employment challenge
Unemployment, independent of any other factor, threatens to derail the economic promise that Africa deserves. It’s a time bomb with no geographical boundaries: Economists expect Africa to create 54 million new jobs by 2020, but 122 million Africans will enter the labor force during that time frame. Adding to this shortfall are tens of millions currently unemployed […]
What Tomorrow’s Leaders Are Learning in Africa Right Now
This is the first of several commentaries on “The Paradox of Samsung’s Rise,” an article by Tarun Khanna, Jaeyong Song, and Kyungmook Lee in the July−August 2011 HBR. While it may not be intuitive to global readers, I see many similarities between Samsung’s transformation from local leader in Korea to major player on the world stage […]
In Africa, the best ‘charity’ is aid for business
he traditional approach to solving Africa’s problems has been to rely on charity and aid – free money, more or less. And while charity has done much good for millions across the continent in terms of food security, health care, emergency response, and education, its chief weakness is that its results have not proven sustainable. Africa […]
Good governance keeps renaissance on track
Free, fair and well-managed elections will increase confidence in Africa’s political class, its politics, people and economies, says Tony Elumelu. Johannesburg – I am optimistic about Africa and its future. I strongly believe a new Africa has begun to emerge, although one cannot dismiss the odd hurdle and challenge along the way. What’s come to […]
Progress in Africa Will Help Ease the Global Migrant Crisis
Images of refugees attempting to reach Europe through any and all possible means have dominated global media for weeks. Yet recent action by EU leaders to address this crisis, although laudable, in no way addresses the underlying challenges fueling the waves of migrants heading for European shores. Most of the migrants are refugees from war-torn Syria in […]
Africapitalism: empowering people works much better than giving them aid
I’ve long questioned the traditional approach to development where donors and governments invest in basic health, education and access to food in developing countries, with the hope that the beneficiaries will eventually become self-sufficient. While all assistance is to be acknowledged and appreciated,we need to rethink the ways in which we help others. We must […]
Germany’s New ‘Marshall Plan’ Must Treat Africa as an Equal Partner
One of the downsides of globalization is that local problems rarely stay local. Europe is straining under a tide of migrants, making the perilous journey from North Africa, across the Mediterranean. Tragically, thousands have lost their lives in the attempt, and thousands more who manage to reach Europe arrive only to face new challenges. European governments […]
