African Arguments

Top Menu

  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
    • Climate crisis
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • #EndSARS
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Podcast
    • Into Africa Podcast
    • Africa Science Focus Podcast
    • Think African Podcast
  • Debating Ideas
  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

logo

African Arguments

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
    • Climate crisis
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • #EndSARS
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Podcast
    • Into Africa Podcast
    • Africa Science Focus Podcast
    • Think African Podcast
  • Debating Ideas
Politics
Home›African Arguments›Politics›Lighting Africa’s development path – By Jacqueline Musiitwa and Omolade Dada

Lighting Africa’s development path – By Jacqueline Musiitwa and Omolade Dada

By Uncategorised
April 4, 2012
1658
0

The world in which we live is a chaotic place. The triple trauma of the food, fuel, and financial crisis has wreaked havoc in a number of unsuspecting economies. Bailouts and all manner of rescue packages are sweeping across Europe and North America, even as recessions, high unemployment, and overall economic shrinkage threaten once stable economies. Certain industrialized nations, which previously grew at average rates exceeding 3 percent, are barely reaching annual rates of 2% since the global financial and economic crises struck. In Europe, unsustainable budget deficits and weak financial positions have stimulated an unprecedented sovereign debt crisis. Interestingly, although African countries experienced a downward turn in 2009 with growth rates dropping to 2.3 percent (from 6.1 percent in 2007), they have since rebounded to an average of 4.7 percent in 2010 and 5 percent in 2011. Inflation rates have also dropped, while monetary policy has been accommodative or neutral. Even a Heavily Indebted Poor Country like Ethiopia that is non-oil producing and has been ravished by drought and famine, has defied all expectations, growing at 8 percent in 2011.

There was a drop in commodity prices in 2008 (due to decreased demand from developed economies, which caused the commodities price index to drop by 56 percent), which impacted on African economies (since they continue to rely on exports of primary commodities), however prices rebounded in 2009, stabilized in 2010, and are on an upward trend. This has led a number of analysts to inquire about Africa’s possible role as the next global growth pole. Indeed, according to The Economist, 6 of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies in 2010 were in sub-Saharan Africa. They were Angola (11.1%), Nigeria (8.9%), Ethiopia (8.4%), Chad (7.9%), Mozambique (7.9%), and Rwanda (7.6%). Between 2011 and 2015, Ethiopia is expected to lead at 8.1%, followed by Mozambique (7.7%), Tanzania (at 7.2%), Congo and Ghana (7%), Zambia (6.9%), and Nigeria (6.8%). The Economist further concludes that “the simple un-weighted average of countries’ growth rates was virtually identical in Africa and Asia.” It goes on to predict that “over the next five years Africa will likely take the lead – that is, the average African economy will outpace its Asian counterpart.”

Despite these positive and impressive predictions, it is clear that Africa has a “lighting problem.” Much of the continent literally remains in the dark. While there has been a dramatic surge (pun intended) in the number of power generation projects financed through public-private partnerships and other innovative schemes, the reality is that Africa will need a formidable boost in its annual installed generation capacity. Its current total power generation capacity -estimated to be 125 GW (which is comparable to that of the United Kingdom) – is unacceptably low. Moreover, only 29 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s population has access to reliable electricity. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Official Development Assistance (ODA), and other forms of aid will certainly have a role to play in deepening the continent’s infrastructure density; however significant resources must also be mobilized locally. African countries will need to adopt innovative and aggressive domestic resource mobilization schemes to be able to finance complementary small, medium, and large sized projects to light up the continent’s future and support its ascension to the role of the next global growth pole.

While much has been said about Africa’s vast natural resource base, including its compelling renewable energy potential, the truth is, without the appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks “” and we would add “” the requisite policy instruments such as feed-in-tariffs, for instance investments in this robust asset class will remain low, while private capital maintains a risk-averse stance. Though creating the appropriate legal infrastructure takes time, governments are under pressure to deliver as soon as possible.  Nevertheless, legislatures should be wary of cutting and pasting of laws from other jurisdictions without taking into consideration the realities of their own countries.  Domestic solutions need to be found. Once in place, it is the responsibility of government to enforce the laws they enact.  Equally important is the negotiation of energy contracts.  Governments without the necessary domestic expertise to properly negotiate contracts should seek assistance.  Several international law firms provide pro bono assistance for the negotiation of the myriad of energy related contracts.  Such law firms should help increase the capacity of local lawyers.  Though the contract process is long, it is essential to do it correctly rather than rush into a concession contract for instance and be bound by unfavorable terms for several decades.  The cost of ill negotiated contracts can be a barrier towards effectively achieving power generation goals as well as lead to long and expensive lawsuits.

Private investors should be attracted both domestically as well as internationally, however, they will require adequate incentives and certainty against all manner of risks. It will therefore be incumbent upon African leaders with input from the private sector to ensure a strong business enabling environment that will catalyze the flow of financial resources to dramatically increase power generation, such that the cost of doing business in Africa drops, investments in productive sectors lead to greater growth, African populations can develop socially and economically, and ultimately so that spillover effects will have a positive global impact.

This is certainly no small feat, but we are optimistic that, given their demonstrated resilience in the face of the formidable challenges presented by the series of global crises, African countries are well on their way towards this admirable development path. We implore them not to lose momentum.

Jacqueline Musiitwa, founder of Hoja Law Group, a World Trade Organization advisor, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and an Archbishop Tutu fellow and Omolade Dada, Advisor to the Executive Secretary/Program Management Officer, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Previous Article

Somalia: Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and the ...

Next Article

Mali: how bad can it get? – ...

Uncategorised

Leave a reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • EconomySouth Africa

    Why South Africa should undo Mandela’s economic deals

  • Politics

    Africa and the War on Drugs: the West African cocaine trade is not just business as usual – By James Cockayne

  • Uncategorized

    Taxing Africa

Subscribe to our newsletter

Click here to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and never miss a thing!

  • 81.7K+
    Followers

Find us on Facebook

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Recent Posts

  • Of cobblers, colonialism, and choices
  • Blackness, Pan-African Consciousness and Women’s Political Organising through the Magazine AWA
  • “People want to be rich overnight”: Nigeria logging abounds despite ban
  • The unaccountability of Liberia’s polluting miners
  • Africa Elections 2023: All the upcoming votes

Editor’s Picks

Editor's PicksPoliticsTanzania

Dear John, I forgive you

Death has robbed us of the leader you might have become if our prayers had been answered. Dear John, Do you remember the first time I wrote you an open ...
  • In Aksum, Tigrayan region of Ethiopia. Credit: Rod Waddington.

    As a Tigrayan, my bond with Ethiopia feels beyond repair

    By Temesgen Kahsay
    January 12, 2021
  • President Emmanuel Macron of France during his three-country tour in Africa. Credit: Présidence de la République du Bénin.

    Liberté, Egalité, Impunité

    By Billy Burton
    August 16, 2022
  • Uganda's military is engaged in Operation Shujaa in DR Congo. Credit: Credit: Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Africa.

    “Total Success”? The real goals of Uganda’s Operation Shujaa in DRC

    By Kristof Titeca
    June 20, 2022
  • Malawi’s miracle island, where fish remain plentiful despite climate crisis

    By Charles Pensulo
    April 28, 2021

Brought to you by


Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licence
Articles on African Arguments are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • en English
    am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu
© Copyright African Arguments 2020
By continuing to browse this site, you agree to our use of cookies.
en English
am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu