Book presentation
Details
Guest speaker: Joyce Banda, President of Malawi
Programme
10:00 Opening Remarks HE President Joyce Banda
10:15 Remarks from the Author, Greg Mills
10:30 Key note address HE President Joyce Banda
11:30 Coffee
12:00 End of event
Between 2000 and 2010, six of the ten fastest-growing economies worldwide were African. In this favourable environment, how do we make sure jobs and poverty reduction follow? Now is the time for African countries to consider how economic growth and political liberalisation should reinforce each other. In Africa’s Third Liberation: The New Search for Prosperity and Jobs, Greg Mills and Jeffrey Herbst show how Africa has experienced two liberations: the first from colonial and racist regimes and the second from the autocrats who often followed foreign rule. At the end of the 1970s, just three African countries regularly held multiparty elections; more than 40 do today. Africa’s political evolution points to a third liberation, one from political economies characterised by graft, crony capitalism, rent-seeking, elitism and social inequality. This liberation will open up the economic space in which business can compete, a necessary condition for expanding employment. The debate is about how Africa can realise its economic potential and avoid the disappointments of the first 50 years of independence. The international economy beckons, but Africa needs to take positive steps to follow in the poverty reduction steps of others. Africa’s Third Liberation: The New Search for Prosperity and Jobs asks how Africa’s political leaders and interest groups can promote economic growth in their countries. Using examples from Central and South America, South-East and South Asia, and the Middle East, Greg Mills and Jeffrey Herbst examine what means are best to match political liberalisation with growth. They suggest a way forward for higher-growth and job absorption strategies in Africa in the context of liberalised political systems. notes that economic growth, environmental conditions and income equality are positive functions of the degree of economic freedom – important for sub-Saharan Africa, where employment is low and inequality high.
If you would like to register, please confirm your participation to mned.brussels@kas.de.