1.1
Economic trends
Although rich in natural resources,
Sub-Saharan Africa has become
among the poorest in the world in
terms of GNP per capita. The
bottom quartile had in 1997 GNP
per capita ranging from US$ 90 to
240 per year, among which the
bottom are Mozambique (90), DRC,
Ethiopia, Somalia and Burundi
(110). The top quartile had US$
650 to 4,230. The top 4 were
Gabon (4230), Mauritius (3800),
South Africa (3400) and Botswana
(3260).
GNP per Capita in US$
Top to bottom quartiles in 1997
650 to 4 230 (10)
340 to 650 (10)
240 to 340 (10)
90 to 240 (10)
Mauritania
Mali
Niger
Chad
Sudan Eritrea
Senegal
Guinea Bissau
Burkina Faso
Benin
Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Ghana
Togo
Liberia
Cameroon
Cote d'Ivoire
Equatorial Guinea
Somalia
Ethiopia
CAR
Uganda
Congo
Kenya
Gabon
Zaire
Rwanda
Burundi
T anzania
Angola
Zambia
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia Zimbabwe
Madagascar
Mauritius
Bots wana
Swaziland
Lesotho
South Africa
Whereas other parts of the world,
most recently Asia, have successfully shifted from primary industries toward
manufacturing and
knowledge-based industries,
export of raw commodities is
still the mainstay of most of
African economy. Raw
commodities constitute the
lowest stage of
transformation into products
sold on the market and,
hence have the lowest profit
margin. African economy is
highly vulnerable to the
vagaries of weather and
boom-or-bust business cycle
on the international
commodities market.
As shown in the time-series
trend curves, real GDP in USD$ at 1987
Annual GDP growth rate, US$ 1987 price
Region/country
75-84
85-89
90-MR
S S Africa
2,2
2,6
1,9
Excl. South_Africa
2,0
3,1
2,2
Excl.S.Africa &
2,6
2,8
2,0
Nigeria
World Bank, 1999: national accounts, table.21.
constant price1 (i.e., adjusted for inflation) in Sub-Saharan Africa had been
growing steadily at an average rate of 2.2% from 1975 to 1984, picking up
1
Data from World Bank, 1999, country series, national accounts, table 2.1
during the latter half of the 80’s to 2.6% and, excluding South Africa, 3.1% and,
thereafter dropping down to 1.9% in the 90’s. However, looking at the curves,
it can been seen that the low figure is due to stagnation in the first half of the
90’s, thereafter the economies pickup higher growth rate. South Africa’s
performance, as represented by the space between the top and the middle
curves, reflects the great
political upheaval in the 90’s.
The generally positive trend is
broken in 1991, the year
political prisoners including
Nelson Mandela are released,
followed by a negative trend
during the political turbulence
until 1994 when Mandela
became the President,
thereafter the curve shows
generally a vigorous upward
trend.
Looking at the national
figures and the sub-regions for 1997 growth rate, it is evident that economic
growth has been going in two opposite directions. Some countries in the West,
Sahelian and some East African countries had reversed the downward trend and
are now growing at rates over 3%. However, the countries in Central and
Southern Africa, namely Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Namibia, Angola and South
Africa, had negative growth rate in 1997. There is generally a cautious
optimism in the countries that have restored some political order.
World Bank: economic reform and political stability
Despite cautious optimism about the region's progress, World Bank says,
Africa's growth must be boosted if poverty is to be reduced for large numbers of
people. The macroeconomic reforms that facilitated positive growth for three
years now must be deepened to reshape the role of the state and enhance its
effectiveness. In fiscal 1998 the Bank worked closely with African clients to
support them in efforts to improve social services and infrastructure and build
attractive business environments that will encourage private investment and
private sector development. Special attention was given to human development,
especially to helping African people take advantage of global communications
systems for accessing information. Several countries qualified for assistance
under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative, allowing
them to focus scarce resources on development and poverty reduction rather
than debt repayment.
For the third year in a row, the average Sub-Saharan African country
experienced positive per capita economic growth in 1997. This, combined with
improved economic policies and increased political openness, has created
greater opportunity for development. As Africa's leaders address the different
development needs of their countries and strive for what some are calling an
African renaissance, the World Bank has been challenged to find new ways to
respond to these opportunities and to meet the changing needs of its African
clients.
The Bank's fiscal 1997 Annual Report was optimistic about the region's
economic recovery. This is reinforced by the fiscal 1998 results. While the
region's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 3.8 percent, this was heavily
influenced by South Africa's growth of 2 percent in 1997; the average African
country grew 4.6 percent, slightly lower than in 1996 (4.8 percent). Some thirtyseven countries registered positive per capita GDP growth in 1997, and twentyone of them grew at 5 percent and more. Exports expanded roughly twice as fast
as GDP in recent years and lower fiscal deficits and inflation also boosted
growth.
But optimism must remain guarded while economic performance falls short of
levels needed to reduce poverty substantially and deliver growth to all layers of
society. Serious challenges to recent progress must be recognized:

HIV/AIDS as an economic threat;

dependence on development assistance;

the rapid rise of domestic debt in some countries; and

the potentially dampening effect of the East Asian crisis.
The majority of African economies have responded positively to growing social
stability and sound policies, but the plight of Africans in some eight or so
countries still severely affected by social and political instability must not be
forgotten. Some, like Angola, show impressive growth figures, but they do not
translate into either stability or better living standards.
If growth is to be boosted, the macroeconomic reforms that have facilitated
positive growth rates in Africa for three years must be deepened to reshape the
role of the state and enhance its effectiveness.2
Knowledge gap in development perspective
This year's World Development Report, the twenty-first in this annual series,
examines the role of knowledge in advancing economic and social well-being.
Because knowledge is at the heart of economic growth and sustainable
development, understanding how people and societies acquire and use it—and
why they sometimes fail to do so—is essential to improving people's lives,
especially the lives of the poor.
The Report suggests three lessons that are particularly important to the welfare
of the billions of people in developing countries.
2
World Bank

First, developing countries must institute policies that enable them to narrow
the knowledge gaps separating poor countries from rich.

Second, developing country governments, multilateral institutions,
nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector must work together—
to strengthen the institutions needed to address the information problems
that cause markets and governments to fail.

Third, no matter how effective these endeavors are, problems with
knowledge will persist. But recognizing that knowledge is at the core of all
our development efforts will allow us to discover unexpected solutions to
seemingly intractable problems.3
Herein lies the importance of the role of education in realising the vision of
African Renaissance. Rather than considering people as liability, strategic
investment in education converts people into valuable resources for knowledgeintensive industries.
Toward industrialisation?
As this decade is coming to an end, there is a lot of optimism for the new year.
A major conference on industrial partnerships and investment in Africa, for
example, took place in Dakar in October. Donor nations, development finance
institutions, private investors and corporate executives from Europe, USA and
Japan met with African political leaders, prominent African businessmen and
representatives of Africa’s business associations to consider financing selected
industrial projects and the transfer of technology.
“The industrialisation of Africa” as the bold title on its November front page,
the African Business magazine describes the event thus: “If Africa is ever to
break the chains of poverty and move along road to prosperity, it must
industrialise. At the moment, Africa’s Manufacturing Value Added or MVA4,
which is regarded as the prime indicator of industrial output, is barely one
percent of the world’s. ... Organised by UNIDO, ADB, OAU and ECA, this
consultative meeting on ‘Industrial Partnerships and Investment in Africa’ will
set the stage for the continent’s industrial progress in the first quarter of the next
millennium. The aim is to re-ignite interest in Africa as a viable destination for
investment and technology transfer”. The UNIDO Director-General is quoted:
“If Africa can process just half of its agricultural produce into finished and
semi-finished exportable goods, it can do a great deal to increase its income and
improve the standard of living of its peoples while creating employment.”5 The
16 point programme aims at promoting the three Es of competitive economy,
productive employment and sound environment checks.
3
World Bank
Manufacturing Value Addition, the process in which raw materials acquire commercial value when
they are processed and rendered into products on the market. MVA is the benchmark for a country’s
industrial output an indicator of a country’s wealth. African Business, London, November 1999, no.
248, p. 7
5
African Business, London, November 1999, no. 248, p. 8
4
1.2
Cost and financing of education
Economic factors and their impact on human and material resources, such as
teacher salary, school supplies, teaching-learning materials, are by far the most
often cited explanations for the difficulties of attaining the goals of EFA. With
inflation and increasing enrolment (due to rapid population growth), the cost of
education has been rising, as the real value of government budget has been
decreasing. In some countries, teachers would not receive salary for months.
Unable to sustain the vast civil service staff, government in many countries had
to cut costs by reducing the payroll. By far, the education sector has been the
biggest employer, in some countries, next to the military. Public services have
resorted to charging various fees. Both financially and ideologically, the
assumption that the state is the provider of all public services has quietly gone
out of fashion.
Moreover, parents play a major part in paying for their children’s education,
increasingly so, as school fees and other fees have been imposed in some
countries and the cost of books and uniforms have risen, while the family
income has also depreciated by inflation. It is possible to estimate their costs –
the building of classrooms, their contribution to textbooks, learning materials
and school uniforms, to parent-teachers associations. But the overall
contribution of parents is largely not quantified and acknowledged. However,
some countries have encouraged parents and communities participate in policymaking to ensure both that the curriculum is relevant to local needs and that it is
once again prized. Parents need to own the educational process. This is not only
part of their democratic right but a practical consideration when educational
policies strive to reach children who are not in school, or who are being undereducated while at school.
The realities of the costs of financing education have been squarely faced in the
last decade. Many advocate the need to forge alliances with a multiple partners,
both external and internal. The perception of the role of the government has
changed radically. No longer is education expected to remain the sole
responsibility of government; and no longer are the ministries of education
expected to be the provider of all resource input. Virtually all country reports
are quite clear on this message: the whole society and all involved – parents and
children, research institutions, professional bodies, the different ministries and
local authorities, employers, trade unions and non-governmental organisations –
should help formulate national policy and participate in its implementation and
management. The era of regarding civil society purely as a tax base is giving
way to one in which everyone is a participant and problem-solver with their
own unique contribution to make. At the same time governments increasingly
are faced with the need to restructure its own programmes to ensure that there is
continuity within the ministries and that links and networks are established
between ministries and partners at all levels.