College of Business Quarterly Newsletter
                                                                                                                          July 2007- Volume 11.1

College of Business Homepage :: The Executive :: Professor Brings Urgent Message to African Leaders at UN Conference
                                                                    
 





















                            





 

Professor Brings Urgent Message to African Leaders at UN Conference

Economic aid alone will not bring sustained economic improvement to the African continent.
 


Kyabena Gyimah-Brempong teaches Economics students at USF.

That’s the message that University of South Florida economics professor Kwabena Gyimah-Brempong shared with leaders from Africa’s nations gathering June 13-15 in Dakar, Senegal for the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning conference.
 

His message came on the heels of a June 8 pledge by world leaders, at the G8 Summit in Germany, to help lift Africa out of poverty and fight disease there.
 
Gyimah-Brempong, chair of the economics department at USF’s College of Business, will gave the keynote address at the conference, organized by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Attendees included finance ministers from Africa’s 53 countries, as well as representatives from Africa’s 14 Regional Economics Communities.
 
“The aid is important, but Africa cannot rely solely on aid to solve its problems,” said Gyimah-Brempong, a respected researcher who has closely studied NEPAD’s progress.
 
His remarks centered on the challenges and possibilities that accompany the implementation of NEPAD’s goals.
 
“Leaders of Africa’s nations must depend on the resources of Africa as well as the resourcefulness of Africans in order to see sustained economic improvement across the continent,” he said.
 
Gyimah-Brempong reviewed NEPAD’s successful initiatives and discussed ineffective aspects of the organization’s efforts to increase Africa’s visibility through trade, improving living standards, addressing gender inequality and promoting governance as an enabling environment for economic growth.  While these initiatives are bringing about some positive progress, there is still much that can be done, he said.
 

“NEPAD’s philosophy is to help African nations develop their own economic strategy, so that they own it, drive it and will be accountable for it,” said Gyimah-Brempong.  “While there have been some successes in the areas of governance and democracy, the area is still fragile,” he said. 
 

“The legal, financial, social and physical infrastructures are all areas that are weak,” he said, adding that a shortage of human capital is another factor hindering Africa’s economic growth.  He discussed these weaknesses in detail at the conference and gave the African leaders recommendations for improvement.
 
Gyimah-Brempong has been a consultant for a number of international advisory groups, including the African Capacity Building Foundation’s Parliament Technical Advisory Council’s Stockholm International Peace Research Institute project on “Defense Budgeting Processes in Africa.” His research focuses on economic growth, corruption, income inequality and human capital in Africa.