Contending Issues In African Development

Taking a forward-looking approach, this book critically examines the issues and dynamics central to Africa's problematic development and situates these issues within the contents unique cultural, political, economic, and social milieu. Moving away from a simple litany of problems bedeviling Africa's economy, the book is the culmination of several scholars' efforts to identify specific causative factors. Each chapter delineates a specific issue, demonstrates the role it plays in overall development, and speculates on probable ways to meet the challenges it poses. The major conceptual and epistemological constructs considered include the tamed African State, social capacity, management of change, reconceptualized gender roles, and economic integration. Although the contributors' various approaches diverge and disagree, the epistemological variations contribute cumulatively to an understanding of the issues at the root of Africa's slow pace of development. While traversing the spectrum of issues that affect development, the book uniquely points out that the management of change is pivotal to fostering development. The authors' efforts provide a useful base for future research and help to chart a course of action leading to success in the 21st century.

In the ongoing battle against global poverty, the countries of Africa continue to present the greatest challenge. African Development offers a comprehensive introduction to the issues, actors, and institutions interacting across the diverse continent. Each issue chapter is organized around three fundamental questions: Where are we now? How did we get to this point? What are the current debates? Interspersed throughout are vivid sidebars acquainting the student with ten well-known big men and ten equally important but lesser known African actors. The text also includes the ABCs of development jargon.

This book explores development issues in Africa from the human, social, economic, geographical and political perspectives. It presents arguments as to why Africa remains less developed compared to other continents and provides recommendations to achieve effective development. The author discusses such specific questions as: Are Africans capable of developing Africa? How has nature contributed to problems in Africa? and Did slavery contribute to underdevelopment?

In 1963 there was a French agronomist named René Dumont who published a book: False start in Africa in this book it explains the economic and development difficulties that Africa was facing so since then what is the real situation of Africa today? The book is a theory-led conceptual account of the contemporary challenges that face African Development and the factors that may interact and influence at the interface of Africa development. African natural resources play vital roles in the world economic by providing the raw materials that most of the industrialized countries need for manufacturing goods and supplying services in every sector for economic growth and well-being. How come that Africa which is full of these natural resources can be the poorest continent? Africa has steadily engaged in the challenges of the twenty-first century, which began at the beginning of liberalization, which has increased economic integration, even for less developed countries or LDCs to benefit. However, there are questions about the capabilities of countries belonging LDC, especially Africa, which has cast doubt on the continent's economic progress and development. The growing list of number of key considerations and aspects that Africa needs to deal with is seemed to be impossible to know what to start.

Despite three decades of preoccupation with development in Africa, the economies of most African nations are still stagnating or regressing. For most Africans, incomes are lower than they were two decades ago, health prospects are poorer, malnourishment is widespread, and infrastructures and social institutions are breaking down. An array of factors have been offered to explain the apparent failure of development in Africa, including the colonial legacy, social pluralism, corruption, poor planning and incompetent management, limited in-flow of foreign capital, and low levels of saving and investment. Alone or in combination, these factors are serious impediments to development, but Claude Ake contends that the problem is not that development has failed, but that it was never really on the agenda. He maintains that political conditions in Africa are the greatest impediment to development. In this book, Ake traces the evolution and failure of development policies, including the IMF stabilization programs that have dominated international efforts. He identifies the root causes of the problem in the authoritarian political structure of the African states derived from the previous colonial entities. Ake sketches the alternatives that are struggling to emerge from calamitous failure--economic development based on traditional agriculture, political development based on the decentralization of power, and reliance on indigenous communities that have been providing some measure of refuge from the coercive power of the central state. Ake's argument may become a new paradigm for development in Africa.

Textbook proceeding to a comparison of political development and development administration in Africa - examines the failure of capital flow, technology transfer and development aid to bring about economic and social development; emphasizes the need for decentralization, revival of local government, political participation, promotion of nongovernmental organizations and local level institution building and an indigenous management development style; considers the role of public enterprise. References.

As the World Bank famously put it back in 1989, 'underlying the litany of Africa's development problems is a crisis of governance.' This is a collection of authoritative essays bringing together prominent Africanists in political science and public administration to look at the role of governance in African development. The goal of the book is to move beyond the status quo debates about 'structural adjustment' and to look at all the public and civic institutions which are likely to play a critical role if Africa is to overcome its economic crisis.