African Union Financial Strategies

Africa, my dream. (Photo credit: MadalenaPestana)

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), founded in 2001 to ensure economic cooperation among African countries, has the potential to succeed if existing financial strategies are put into effective use and observed by all member states. In its initial conception, NEPAD was founded to overcome the poor economic conditions that was visible in Africa and also achieve the overall 7% annual target growth rate expected for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015 (de Waal, ). There is skepticism among economists as to whether every country in Africa can meet the MDG expectations. However, few countries in the continent have been able to push their economies forward and meet MDG anticipation.

NEPAD has a better chance of experiencing successful growth by partnering with G8 nations and the OECD states. The African continent has plenty of unexploited resources that include petroleum reserves and immeasurable mineral wealth. The continent’s vast tropical coastlines can be used to boost the idle tourism industries of many African states. In some African states, maintaining security is crucial before undertaking any viable socioeconomic projects. Increased human integration, financial responsibility, and effective communication are opening various corridors and bringing many isolated parts of Africa into the global limelight. Overseas-based Multinational Corporations (MNCs) may be credited for the promotion of human development and the creation of jobs in stable African democracies.

According to O’Neill (2004), there are many linkages in economic integration and it includes geographical regions. In the last few centuries, African states have been experiencing inter-regional commerce, international trade and investment. Since Africans are now getting better educated and that many professionals have connections with the outside world, there is hope for the continent to experience increased growth and investment. Some limitations to the financial strength of NEPAD include retarded technology, protracted insecurity, poor governance, lack of enhanced communication, and corruption. However, the continent is experiencing improvements in internet technology, marketing products to international level, and partaking in the global market business.

References

De Waal, A. (2002). What’s new in the ‘New Partnership for Africa’s Development’? International affairs 78, 3 (2002) 463-75.

O'Neill, T. (2004). Globalization: Fads, fictions and facts. Business Economics, 39(1), 16–27