Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy


Book Description

This book highlights the key issues, opportunities and challenges facing African firms, industries, cities and nations in their quest to compete successfully in the global economy. Exploring a topic which has grown in importance as Africa faces a period of subdued economic development, this edited collection takes a unique multi-disciplinary, multi-industry and multi-country approach. The authors provide insights into a broad range of issues, including competitiveness measurement and evaluation, sectoral competitiveness of declining and emerging industries, threats of the ‘Dutch Disease,’ and talent competitiveness. This timely book offers a response to the urgent need for the diversification of economies and the advancement of manufacturing in Africa, appealing to scholars of international business and economics.










Investment and Competitiveness in Africa


Book Description

The book provides a detailed analysis of the nature and determinants of finance and trade and their relationship with Africa’s competitiveness. Investment is examined in its various forms (financial vs. physical), and sources (private, public, domestic and FDI), as well as its relation to the size of domestic markets and export potential. The dimensions of trade related to financial development, trade costs, development of value chains and regional integration are also studied. The capacity of finance and investment to boost Africa’s competitiveness is assessed to inform continent-wide economic policy.




The five most competitive African countries as a benchmark for other African nations


Book Description

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2006 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios, grade: 1,5, University of Cooperative Education Mannheim, course: International Seminar, language: English, abstract: This term paper on hand analyses the competitiveness of five African nations. Depending on the data from the WEF, five African nations have been chosen. These are in detail South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius and Egypt. The main goal of this paper was to analyze these countries in their competitiveness and benchmark them as an example for other African nations. Therefore this paper first gives an overview on the current political situation, the geographical conditions and the historic background to each country. Each country then is analyzed in the primary, secondary and tertiary sector and gives details on the main economical challenges of each country. The benchmarking deals with the performance in different categories which are Government Efficiency, Business Efficiency, Economic Performance and Infrastructure. The paper on hand comes to the conclusion that the selected five countries are indeed very competitive countries within the African continent. They all have dealt with problematic fields of their economy in the past in their individual way and thus improved their performance. The majority of these five countries still have to work harder on these problematic areas to reach a worldwide competitive level, some of them have already reached this level to some extent. The necessary background information and statistics have been taken from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and various reliable internet resources. The paper on hand analyses the data within the past 16 years or more, depending on the question analysed.




International Competitiveness in Africa


Book Description

This book offers insight into international trade and foreign direct investment competitiveness in Africa. It examines two policies frequently used to enhance international competitiveness in Sub-Saharan African economies: exchange rate policy and productivity-related policy.




Can South and Southern Africa become Globally Competitive Economies?


Book Description

Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where the population is worse off today than it was 20 years ago. Thus, global interest has shifted away from Africa, and Africa is referred to as the 'marginalised continent'. But is this decline inevitable or is it reversible? The papers in this book attempt to answer this question, examining policies to avoid marginalisation and ensure that Southern Africa, the most promising part of the continent, and South Africa, its engine of economic growth, become competitive in the new world trade order.




Competition, Competitiveness and Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa


Book Description

Does greater product market competition improve external competitiveness and growth? This paper examines this question by using country-and firm-level data for a sample of 39 sub-Saharan African countries over 2000–17, as well as other emerging market economies and developing countries, and finds that an improvement in domestic competition is associated with a signficant increase in real GDP per capita growth rate, achieved mainly through an improvement in export competitiveness and productivity growth. Price levels, including of essential items, are also generally lowered with an increase in competition. Moreover, at the firm-level, evidence shows that greater competition—proxied through a decline in corporate market power—is associated with an increase in firm’s investment and the labor’s share in output. These effects are more pronounced in the manufacturing sector and among domestic firms compared to foreign firms.




The Five Most Competitive African Countries As a Benchmark for Other African Nations


Book Description

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2006 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios, grade: 1,5, University of Cooperative Education Mannheim, course: International Seminar, language: English, abstract: This term paper on hand analyses the competitiveness of five African nations. Depending on the data from the WEF, five African nations have been chosen. These are in detail South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius and Egypt. The main goal of this paper was to analyze these countries in their competitiveness and benchmark them as an example for other African nations. Therefore this paper first gives an overview on the current political situation, the geographical conditions and the historic background to each country. Each country then is analyzed in the primary, secondary and tertiary sector and gives details on the main economical challenges of each country. The benchmarking deals with the performance in different categories which are Government Efficiency, Business Efficiency, Economic Performance and Infrastructure. The paper on hand comes to the conclusion that the selected five countries are indeed very competitive countries within the African continent. They all have dealt with problematic fields of their economy in the past in their individual way and thus improved their performance. The majority of these five countries still have to work harder on these problematic areas to reach a worldwide competitive level, some of them have already reached this level to some extent. The necessary background information and statistics have been taken from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and various reliable internet resources. The paper on hand analyses the data within the past 16 years or more, depending on the question analysed.




The Palgrave Handbook of Africa’s Economic Sectors


Book Description

This handbook provides a reference resource to showcase insightful and nuanced perspectives on Africa’s agriculture, industry, services, and manufacturing sectors; factors affecting the sectors’ competitiveness; and the sectors’ contribution to employment, economic growth, and sustainable development. It also addresses the potential benefits that the sectors could harness from the planned Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), and in particular how CFTA could increase the efficiency and competitiveness of these sectors. This book provides evidence-based holistic analyses of the past and current state of Africa’s economic sectors, with a strong emphasis on tangible and specific policy recommendations for the purpose of enhancing future economic growth, employment, and sustainable development of the continent. It also assesses the impact of the first-ever Continental Free Trade Area in Africa, and its potential implications for Africa’s integration into regional and global economy and competitiveness relative to other fast developing economies (such as those in Asia). This handbook gives an in-depth analysis of fundamental domestic factors that have relevance on the sectors’ expansion and growth and their contributions to employment, economic growth, and sustainable development in Africa with differential effects across the continent.