Workshop:

Microfinance evolution in Togo can be understood through three stages. the period before 1995, the one between 1995 and 2011 and the last one starting in 2011. Microfinance in Togo is a sector with currently 204 decentralized financial systems is benefiting from a strong legal framework and is expriencing an unprecedented expansion. Beside strenghth recognized to the sector, there are weakeness and threats diagnosed. However opportunities do exist and solutions too.

Given the fact that WAEMU(West Africa Economic and Monetary Union) economies liberalization and place dedicated to private sector to launch a strong and durable dynamic, enterprises should have enough resources at the right time and required conditions in order to realize profitable economic projects and create therefore wealth.

The major stake for Togo is to find adequate financing sources to realize productive investments and then accelerate growth and reduce poverty. Three major channels are offered to togolese economy for its funding: banking system, decentralized financing systems and regional financial market.

the theme « what kind of insurances and social security for a strong, durable and inclusive economy » is about the role played by insurances sector and social security in the economy. To build a strong, sustainable and inclusive economy, it is needed to create a synergy of actions between actors inside the sector.

This sector is mainly a tool used by Government to renew productions ressources by making them secure. Insurance system also plays an income redistribution role and do offer opportunity with kept reserves to obtain funding for the economy. To play these roles, there is a need that all institutions in the sector to have required criterias for a reliable tool.

Faced to economic context and crisis, the creation of local, social and complementary currency is become a mainstream practice. In this view citizens, associations, collectivities or enterprises are questioning the type of means to revitalise their territory economy, among solutions new exhanging solutions such as local complementary currencies. During a brown bag lunch with many experts attending the issue is being better addressed to understand how these local and complementary currencies are fiting into traditional economy.

Author: Agnès Rouvière

Currency is a way for exchanging. Currency nature is determining the nature of exchanges. A local currency can serve to revitalise enterprises, local associations, to relocate economy, act for the environment and create social link as proven by dozen of examples in Japan, United States, Germany, Switzerland and also France with especially the very interesting case of Toulouse(Le SOL Violette). In the basque country, it will also require to encourage public utilization of euskara, especially in shops. In France, a complementary currency system is widespread, even though it is limited in its use. Even though it doesn’t have a local character, it is the restaurant tickets one: they are printed in an enterprise, exchanged with euros and spend in a network of participants shops.

When assessing employment and migration in Senegal, one can note that the country is confronted to the challenge of adjusting demographic growth to the economic one. Because of being considered as the main way to obtain incomes, employment promotion should be put in a central track in national policies for development. Achieving this objective require to generate a body enabling to obtain and inform correctly and in real time, the demand of jobs and how it fits to the market jobs offering. To do so the national observatory for jobs and professional qualifications announced many times should be created.

This document is an outcome of the social studies international institute research project on « Making migrations a development factor: survey on Northern and Western Africa ».

Author: Pape Demba Fall

Urbanization in the developing world was considered for a time too fast and difficult to handle, a phenomenon to fight by public authorities at national, regional and local level. This perception is over. Today numerous political leaders do recognize that urbanization is not only inevitable: it is also a powerful driven engine for economic growth and poverty reduction. This new philosophy is based on the idea that population density-and urbanization leading to it- is essential to obtain agglomeration economies and productivity wins. A city performances are not measured through its size but functioning. The question is therefore to know to manage urbanization in a way to exploit its economic development potential?

Preface author: Katherine Sierra

Former Vice President, Sustainable Development, World Bank

www.worldbank.org/urban

urbanhelp@worldbank.o

Capital markets in Northern Africa do exist for a long time but their contribution to the region development was too little. While development and private sector prosperity are based mainly on the entrepreneurs capabilities to mobilize financing with their own assets, this survey is underlining northern Africa stock market limits in terms of envergure and weight…The study is also revealing the globally adequate character of legal and ruling tools. It also put the finger on foreign and national investors lack of confidence. Transparency and corruption perceptions do create a type of environment not so favorable to do business and bureaucracy obstacles to enterprises activities. However the market performance is encouraging despite negative incidence of world financial crisis and arab spring.

Author :BAFD 2013

Member of editorial team: Mme Catherine BEAUMONT-KEITA

The brochure is the achievement of an initiative focused on knowledge and training about human rights and forced displacement launched by IDMC(Public Law Institute of Bern University and managed by the World Bank Program on forced displacements. The brochure is aiming at providing conseling on ways to integrate human rights related approaches to development oriented interventions to fight against forced displacements. Lessons learned contained in this brochure are extracted from an analytical study on internal displacements in Africa, produced by the Public Law Institute of the Bern University. The brochure is prepared and assessed during a workshop organized by the African Union Commission.

author: IDMC (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre)

In Burkina Faso, the analysis of the effects of the growth and inequality on poverty, during the period 1994-98, suggests three conclusions. Firstly, in a favorable macro-economic context, not corroborated by micro-eco information, the priority surveys highlight a stability of monetary poverty, a households vulnerability proportionally more widespread, and significant structural changes: progression of the vulnerability ratio; significant geographical disparities and new structure of rural poverty; urbanization of monetary poverty– increase in the relative deprivations faster than the share of the population of the cities – and non-monetary – increase in the inequality of child mortality and malnutrition. Secondly, based on approaches in terms of elasticity of poverty – pro-poor growth index and poverty equivalent growth rate –, «growth incidence curve », and relative variations of the shares of the expenditure of the poor, and connected to an ex post welfare apprehension, the study shows that, for the whole of the economy, the changes inherent in the inequality of the resources per capita, associated to the process of growth, contributed to reduce or to stabilize poverty. Under these conditions, it would seem that a pro-poor growth process prevailed during the period.

Author: Jean Pierre Lachaud, Professor, Director of Center for Economic Development

(Member of the IFREDE-GRES) Montesquieu -Bordeaux IV University, France

It is necessary to examine in what proportion benefits extracted from growth can be profitable for the poors, especially in subsaharan Africa countries confronted to a deep economic and moral crisis in the first time in their history.

In this respect, poverty degree depend on two factors: on the one hand, the average income level; on the other, the level of extension of income inequal distribution. Normally, average income raise do reduce poverty, while inequality raise do increase it. In fact, although some hypotheses have been exposed, relation between poverty variations and economic growth have not been really explored.

This survey is following that perspective. It is looking at undertsanding the relationship between economic growth, poverty and incomes inequality in a few capitales or subsaharan Africa countries, using new developped method and a comparative approach(Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali and Mauritania-who are under adjustment for most of them for more than a decade).

This article is producing an overview of urbanization in Africa and its perspectives. One third of the continent population live in town. The urban population growth rythmn has reach almost five per cent in Africa right after the independance era. This growth is slowing down progressively due to natural movement. Migrations did not slow down and movements still high, at present departure of significant numbers is compensated by the arrival of others. It is necessary to manage the consequences of the strong growth which peak is already behind us; but we have to endorse the consequences in the coming fifty years due to demographic phenomenons inertia. The urban phenonmenon is a major concern, even in less populated urban centers, because of the demographic growth rythmn not fiting the cities economic production capabilities development. Huge jobs hub, cities do produce however more and more exluded people from work. Unemployment rates are pariticularly high and unemployment is hiting especially young people even, graduated.

Author: Philippe Antoine

Exponential progression of population in Subsaharan Africa due to high fertility rates and also the general mortality decrease has been perceived as a major factor that is slowing down its development. In a context of poverty high level, economic growth poorly distributed, environment deterioration and lack of food safety, this kind of evolution makes it difficult to reach populations well being. This situation is made harder by the world economic crisis which effects are felts in this area as a new obstacle to development, but also an opportunity to catch in order to build economies in new foundations.

Author: Martin BALEPA- AFRISTAT general director-july 2009

Africa is getting urbanized in a very fast pace. In this synthetic essay, Christine Kessides is analyzing main aspects of particular challenges that subsaharan Africa has to face because of its fast urbanization and also presenting numerous manners to address it. She is describing the context in which the accelerated urbanization is ongoing. She is also attempting to provide views to these following issues; How can these developing cities be constructive partners for the continent development, enabling to reduce persistent poverty of urban and rural populations? What are the require conditions to succeed? What are the stakes, or what are the opportunity costs that will impact Africa countries if these goals are not achieved and what are the choices and operational and strategic priorities that most Africa countries should address to get the best out of the transition process toward a mainly urbanized society?

Author: Christine Kessides

Decent housing accumulation is crucial by its effect on the standard of living more than the role it plays in economic development. Effects on the standard of living are very huge. Despite its immediate use, a decent housing do improve residents health and enable kids to do their homeworks. It also allow women to have more free time and enable them to compete in the labour market. More subtly, household and its environment do play a major role on identity and self-esteem. Housing role in economic development has not been appreciated enough.

However housing in Africa did not benefit from a high political priority. This is due to the fact that capital role to be played by housing for achieving prosperity and property investment for economic development have not been taken into serious consideration.

Authors: Paul Collier and Anthony J. Venables, Economic Sciences Department, Oxford University

African continent is experiencing the highest urban growth rate in the planet. Cities in Subsaharan Africa should be prepared to receive more than 300 millions of additional inhabitants in the coming twenty years. To give a more realistic prospect of it will look like,it will be the equivalent of creating urban environment enabling to receive the whole current population of the United States. But, neither the apparel required to produce local infrastructures and well equiped sites, nor resources and adequate financing systems to adress it are implemented currently. Thierry Paulais is explaining in this paper the unsuitable character of current financing mechanisms to deal with these challenges and also the raising of local collectivities in funding local investments. These endogenous financing mechanisms are related to three principles. It will be necessary to utilize local savings and all investment potential-households, enterprises, pensions funds, investment funds- by offering secure investment tools; also capturing part of created value through an urban development well managed due to land tenure mechanisms and recycle it in future urban development operations. And finally to increase collectivities own resources by optimizing tax revenues on land and housing.

Author: Thierry PAULAIS, Urbanist and economist à French Agency for Development

Making financial sectors accessible for all enable to improve populations living conditions, especially the poor ones. A small loan, a saving account or insurance can make a big difference for a low income family. It allow people to invest in better food, housing, health and children education. It enable to react better during difficult situations due to bad harvest, disease ou decease. They also help to plan the future. The present book, Building accessible financial sectors for all is the result of a long hard work process. It is offering a vision of what could be a financial sector that do not exlude poor people. Before being published, the book did acquire great notoriety in the microfinancing sector, where it was the so-called « Blue Book » based non the United Nations banner color. If some agreements have been reached, there are also many points where views and solutions are upon countries. Each country should elaborate its own national strategies to offer poor people access to banking systems. The Blue Book is aimaing at accompanying discussions that different countries are wishing to organize between actors at national level in order to implement those strategies.

Authors: José Antonio Ocampo, Kemal Dervis, Richard Weingarten, United Nations 2006

Strong financial sector constitution which is contributing to a sustainable and equitable growth through gathering, protecting and reallocating savings and encouraging productive investment, including in the exhangeable goods sectors, is one of the major challenges the globalization-development oriented is facing. This present information note is composed of an introduction, two substantive sections and a lot of questions for the experts. Chapter 1 is reviewing the role regional cooperation is playing in offering short term funding for strentghening supply chain and exhanges. Chapter 2 is dealing with medium and long term funding associated with development. It is describing regional bank for development roles and regional bond markets and also long term funding opportunity for development.

Authors: UNCTAD(United Nations Conference for Trade and Development): August 2012

This survey is emphasizing on all the means used by the AFB to provide African country with new tools for loans. It is a way for the bank to participate in developing capital markets in Africa. The first chapter is focusing on the notion of financinf local development through local currency. It is providing an understanding of the notion of local currency; the second chapter is showing how the AFB is acting to finance investments through local currency.

Author: ADZABA MENYE Jean Paul, CESAG Memoire, 2005

In this article, the author is supposing that the program regarding the international financial reform sould move at least toward two directions. First of all, the action should go beyond financial crises prevention and resolution to deal also issues associated to funding for poor and small countries, and also “control”(“propiedad”/ownership) of economic and development policies by these countries.Secondly, this action should take into account not only the worldwide institutions role but also the one played by regional bodies and then define explicitly spaces where it will be possible to preserve national autonomy. All these issues should be put in a representative and balanced negotiation process agenda which could help overcome some challenges that characterize the current debate in political economy.

Author: José Antonio Ocampo,executive secretary of economic Commission for Latin America and Caribean

There is today a huge literature about developing countries place in the new international financial architecture (there are recent summaries in Teunissen 2000, Gilbert, Irwin & Vines 2001). This literature is mainly dedicated to middle-income countries, due to particularly multiple crises that hit them during the recent period (Mexico, Asia, Ecuador, Pakistan, Ukraine, Argentina, Turquie, etc). Poorest countries whatever categorie there are classified(less advanced countries (LAC), countries with low income, poor and highly indebted countries) are quite absent in this debate. After debt cancellation in the “poor and highly indebted countries” initiative context, we are moving toward a system where aid dedicated to poorest countries will be provided through donations only. The credit to poorest countries disappearing (which exclude them almost from international financial system) is the achievement of a long process that started by offering loans below market conditions. This article is analyzing this evolution involvement and is trying to evaluate in which term this evolution is favoring poor countries.

Author: Marc RAFFINOT, Université Paris IX Dauphine June 2001

In order to understand actors and territories relationships in a long term perspective, Braudel is distinguishing three levels in which development process sub-systems articulation is explained by evolution time reconstruction. The first and second levels are related to cultural heritage construction while the third one is corresponding to state building as a capitalistic accumulation space. Also when adding the fourth level corresponding to current capitalistic globalization, we mean by neobraudelian approach of popular economy, a popular economy that take into account history, long term and Braudel three levels but also the fourth level added to the three first ones and popular economy political, economic and social institutions interactions with external and internal formal economy political, economic and social institutions.This new approach is a historical and systemic approach of popular economy in Subsaharan Africa. We designate this approach as a neobraudelian and systemic one. The historical aspect enable us not only to reconstruct temporal and event influx needed to understand actors and territories interactions dynamics but also capture processes (analytical aspect) by studying change in logics from one period to another, from one historical event to another.

Author: Thierry AMOUGOU, Phd candidate at UCL Institute for Development Studies

In the current globalization context, we are lead to wonder if contrasted effects are an opporunity to rebuild theoretically distinction –articulating growth and development, articulation that founded development in 50s to 70s. This distinction was built on considering that qualitative and structural aspects of development (improving living conditions, social and regional inequalities of all kind reduction, better articulation of productive area, sustainable transformation of productive structures, way of living and mentalities …) were not automatically GDP growth outcomes. If this specific development goal was overshadowed by the short termism of structural adjustment doctrine of 80s, it re-emerged in the mid-90s under the notion of “human development” promoted by UNDP. This notion is then contemporary to the current globalization stage. Prior study did focus on current modalities of productive globalization, via foreign direct investment influx in the industry and on the labor new international division following an increasing free-trade context.

Author: Stephanie Treillet, Economist, Senior Lecturer, IUFM Créteil

We are analyzing, in one hand, role played by macroeconomic indicators and banking variables in banking crisis experienced in WAEMU countries. On the other hand, we are proposing an advanced alert system based on a multinomial logit model. Our results are indicating that the model enriched with specific variables for banks is showing a better predicative power. Moreover, we are confronting our multinomial approach capability to the binary models. Taking into account of more than two regimes enable to reduce the number of false alerts and help banking supervisors to deciphering announced crisis.

Authors: Alain ANGORA & Amine TARAZI; Limoges University

foreign direct investments resilience to financial chocs in asian countries is making interesting surveying on role played by these types of flux in time of financial stability for mediterranean countries cases who experience not only important geographical and political difference but also difference regarding the level of stability reach by their financial systems. Separated between internal and external financial fragility, financial stability is evaluated by numerous crisis indicators taken from the literature. It happens that meditarranean countries were not protected from financial crises because being victims of the pression coming from exchange marketand they also suffer from their banking systems vulnerability.

Authors: Semia RACHID

Because of the everincreasing dead end of the different answer strategies conceived to implore the problem of the external debt and with consideration to the perverse effects of this type of financing, today there is a consensus which admits that the efficient solution to the problems of financing of a durable growth is to search through the direct foreign investments (DFI). A comparative survey of the evolution of the outstanding modes of financing (DFI and external debt) helps us reach the conclusion that the example of Tunisia presents some specificities compared to the set of the LDC. This comparison makes three main phases stand out from 1970. The first one, which spreads in the 70s and the early 80s, establishes a complementarity between the DFI and the getting in to debt. The second one stretches from 1983 to 1990 and is characterized by the substitution of the debt to the DFI. The third phase covers the period (1990 - 1997) and corresponds to an inversing of the relation of substitution.

ECOWAS countries are working toward having a unique currency at the 2020 horizon. Through this interview the economic sciences professor at Aix-Marseille university is reviewing currencies in West Africa and do emphasize on the need to have a unique currency in the ECOWAS zone. A procedure in which Nigeria has to be a key-player. But if the project is endorsed by the community, « the devil still working on details ».

Author: Grain de sel n°51-july-september 2010

In the perspective of creating future unique currency in ECOWAS countries, it is interesting to question the type of exchange rate regime that is relevant to be adopted. This paper is dealing with this issue by using an analysis based on developing countries experience and on a balanced, dynamic and stochastic model with the presence of nominal rigidities. The analysis is showing that fixed and intermediary exchange rate regimes should be given priviledges by ECOWAS countries. Fixed exchange regime rates is providing many advantages because of enabling economy’s stability without deteriorating growth performances. However, under this regime, the economy will be more exposed to exchange rates crises. Due to that, intermediary exchange rate regime seems to be more adequate.

Authors: Mouhamadou Bamba Diop & Alsim FALL, march 2011

The Microfinance Institutions(MFI)in developing countries importance is proven. They have accomplished a miracle by enabling thousand of excluded people from the classical banking system to access financial services. But controversy did rise regarding high costs associated with services. This survey has assessed, using a database granted by the « Consortium Alafia » association, microfinance practitioners in Benin, the viable interest rate in terms financial services availability. Results did show that micro-projects with internal profitability that do not exceed 36% cannot be funded by Microfinance Institutions in Benin. Usury regulation could be suicidal for FMI if it is only oriented toward pushing FMI to comply with the law that is setting usury rate at 27%. In this case no FMI will be able to ensure its operational autonomy and therefore its sustainability.

Author: Denis H. ACCLASSATO, Orleans University, Orleans Laboratory of Economy (LEO), FASEG, Abomey-Calavi University, march 2006

In this paper, we develop a method based on monetary aggregate and index number theories to estimate the relative size of the MFI to the banking sector. In optimizing a utility function of agent choosing between bank deposits and MFI deposits, we are able to derive the relative share, given the initial values. For illustrative purpose, the method is applied to WAEMU countries over the period 1993-2008. The findings suggest speedy growing of MFI relative size in Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo with a deep gap between reported data and estimated values of decentralized deposits while it is moderated in the remaining countries. This failure of financial liberalization policies aiming financial unification stresses the role of these new intermediaries in implementing process of effective monetary and financial policies in WAEMU.

Author:

This article is reviewing the impact of credit interest rate increase on banking credit distribution in a financial dualist environment. It is coping with the thesis developped by neostructurlists, especially Van Wijnbergen(1983)stating that in developing countries financial policy should take into account the relative importance of funding structures. The main result is underlining banks activism in global funding of an dualist financial economy system. It enables to explain the excess of cash that characterizing numerous banks in the west Africa zone franc since the beginning of the 90s.

Author: Nasser Ary Tanimoune

Ottawa University

Our goal is to establish the bases of an analysis framework of the foreign funding of countries experiencing credit rationing, mainly developing countries; this credit rationing being less restrictive than sovereign debt. In fact in these models, default do depend on borrower decision who is maximizing its temporal value. This conclusion could be tempered by recent literature on financial crises review. Especially default determinants which is not chosen, are related to country-borrower credit rating charateristics and also domestic financing system structuration and functioning, in particular the banking system. Finally, default could be the consequences of moral hazard due to lenders behavior.

Author: Cecile BASTIDON

It is the momentum to introduce a new Africa-EU social protection program. A consensus is progressively achieved regarding the social protection advantages. Moreover, the crisis exit context and potential risks associated with climate change are calling for a renewed and strengthened partnership. Social protection programmes do exist and can, if some preconditions are achieved, influence positively on the inclusive growth and poverty reduction and then reach a huge part of population and obtain a wider political support. Furthermore, if they are well conceived, they can complete informal community systems and solutions based on market forces. Regular, reliable and independent assessments are required to obtain reliable information and empirical proofs of programs achievements. These achievements are essential to rally political support and therefore their political viability and success. The results achieved to date do indicate that it is possible to create a social protection system in sub-Saharan Africa even in low income countries through commitment, support and discernment. Choosing specific programs or extending existing ones vary however from one country to another and depend on demographic, geographic and economic contexts of partnering countries and also commitment and political priorities.

European report on development 2010

Here few alternatives paths to be debated. What is gathered here is neither an exhaustive program nor a bundle to take or drop. They are propositions, directions. At least, necessary but not sufficient conditions. It is about contributing to an essential debate regarding the alternatives. Our perspective is focusing on fundamental human rights satisfaction. The question this paper is trying to answer could be summarized as following: how to get out of an economy of debt to finance a development that ecologically durable and socially fair?

According the Universal declaration of human rights (article 25), « Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to education, employment social protection”. The international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights , ratified by the majority of UN members is stipulating that”Members states have the right and duty to formulate adequate national development policies in order to improve constantly the well-being of the whole population and all individuals on the basis of an active, free and significative participation to development and equitable distribution of benefits gained from it”. When interpreting this covenant obligations, the UN committee on economic, social and cultural rights declare: “ A member state that is not providing to a huge number of individuals basic foods, primary care, decent clothing, housing or elementary education is not in compliance with the Covenant”. Obtaining the universal declaration of human rights, and the economic, social and cultural covenant(and other treaties and international conventions related to human rights) application requires launching a powerful social and citizen movement. It is obviously a revolutionary project. To start it, the debt reimbursement needs to be stopped. It is also necessary to find different financing sources for socially fair and ecologically sustainable development. It is also important to break with the cycle that is leading to debt, embezzlment and local resources huge pillage, dependency toward financial markets and conditioning credit allowed by Bretton Woods.

Author: Eric Toussaint, historian and politist, CADTM president(Committee for Third World Debt cancellation)

Private capital entries in the region did find their upward trajectory of last decade even though a few number of pioneering markets in Subsaharan Africa did benefit to date from the portofolio investment flux just as the emerging markets of other regions. Gap of productivity and currency exchange risks do influence investors choice regarding diverse countries obligations while others specific factors such as basic products prices, political factors do explain the differentiated character of capital entries recovery. Compared to their peers in others regions subsaharan pioneering markets do show good results and could attract more capital in the future. Efforts should be directed toward economic policy tools improving to face foreign volatility, elevate competitivity and reinforce regional integration.

Author:FMI 2011

After a decade of reforming african financial systems do diversify their activities, strengthen their loan activities and extend their audience by using new products and new technologies. Financial repression and oriented credit practice do have both reduce and government banks have been subject to extended privatisation, very often at the benefit of foreign banks which comeback in the market represent one of the increasing internationalisation and regionalisation opportunities. However financial development still encounter four core barriers : markets small scale, huge part of african trading activities still informal, governance difficulties, frequent and powerful chocs on systems. Although this is real difficulties, they also represent opportunities because part of the financial machinery is speciically conceived to repare, avoid and mitigate troubles caused by generalized informality, governance and chocs. Recently a gulf was spliting specialists of financial policy with interests and views closely oriented toward tradional financing of informal sector and those who are interested with micro-credit and informal financing forms.

Author: Patrick Honohan, 2008

About half a century ago, African leaders established the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to promote socio-economic structures aimed at improving the welfare of the citizens of member states and general integration of the continent. Many institutions were established on this vision, but owing to ideological differences and convoluted financial infrastructures, the goals have not materialized.

The success of the single European currency, Euro, which has become very central to many recent economic progress

in Europe by offering more efficient means of transacting businesses and using the human and institutional capabilities of the continent to foster more prosperity has shown the power of integrated monetary structure in a globalize world (Ekekwe, 2008). As the world moves towards knowledge-based economic structures and information

societies, which comprise networks of individuals, firms and nations that are linked electronically and in interdependent global relationships, the power of a single African currency has become very important. A single African currency, if realized, would radically redefine Africa’s social, political and economic landscape and position the continent on a solid footing to tackle the enormous challenges of the 21st century (Ekekwe, 2002).

Since the inception of OAU, the founding fathers of many African nations have believed on a more united African

continent. The idea of a single African currency became clearer when OAU member states in 2001 agreed to transform the intergovernmental organization into the African Union (AU) towards positioning the continent for the challenges of globalization (Masson, 2004) through better economic policies, growth and good governance.

AU, which has become the successor of the OAU, has retained the original vision of the founders of OAU- a greater regional integration in both political and economic affairs (Siddiqi, 2006). Shortly afterwards, in August 2003, the Association of African Central Bank Governors agreed to develop plans to establish a common central bank that would manage a single continental currency by 2021 (Masson, 2004). This plan is poised to offer an African market with no internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured. This push for a single currency stands for an Africa of unity, integration and strength. However, there is a huge possibility of potential failure of a single currency if implemented haphazardly with enormous consequences to not only frica’s global image but also for individual countries’ economies and, ultimately, the people.A single African currency has many promises in terms of boosting trade across the continent and benefits for all member states through synergy and symbiosis. It has the capacity to increase economic cooperation among member AU nations and stimulate faster development efforts across the continent (Debrun, 2002). Many African nations are still oriented in trade toward former colonizers in Europe than immediate neighbors and across African capitals; there is an understanding that currency unification could be a key catalyst to transforming the continent. The major challenge is how the continent could develop the plan to have this unified monetary union considering the opsided economic structures among the nations, which can affect response strategy during economic crises. This is fundamental as if major regional economic powers stay out of this unification for fear of being net losers, it could have adverse effects to realizing the continental goal.

The paper was written for the purpose of frameworking OCDE-NEPAD ministers meeting and roundtable of experts discussing investment in Africa. This meeting was held in November 11-12, 2009. It is providing a glimpse of Africa financial markets, identifying hurdles related to their development and also suggesting recommendations regarding means required to balance the need for more flexibility and providing too necessary safeguard measures. The authors are Karim Dahou, Habaido Ismael Oumar and Mike Pfister.

Requirements regarding corporate social responsability (CSR), nowadays embodied by the ISO 26000 standards, seem likely to fit Africa, as any other part of the world. But it that really the only way to consider the ethical developement of a company ? Could there be a mode of governance universal enough to express the diversity of cultural values, in Anglo-saxon, European, as well as African firms ?

Refering to a common standard for CSR issues doesn’t solve the problem of its application. In order to be implemented efficiently, CSR requirements should be adapted to the different national or local forms of corporate governance – otherwise they may remain abstract for stakeholders and co-workers, and alien to their expectations.

By taking into account both international or national regulations as well as costumary codes, a firm expresses its will to interpret CSR international requirements in order to adapt them to the local cultural environments, leadingh to the success of its initiatives.

The White Papers Corporate social responsability in French-speaking countries, through the analysis of the CSR current situation in French-speaking Africa, as well as the description of ethically responsible practices in African corporate organizations, administrations and management, highlights that there is already an « African CSR » which isn’t called so. This « African CSR » does exist, along with CSR international requirements, but isn’t always taken into account when implementing such requirements - which makes the actual application of ISO 26000 Standard uncertain in view of African economic realities. Resulting from a project led by the Institut Éthique et diversité – « Research and prospective » part of Les Jardins de la Cité – the White papers’ contribution can be summed up into seven practical proposals :

• 1. Putting African Diasporas in charge of transmitting Western ethically responsible practices throughout Africa, as well as African responsible practices to Western countries.

• 2. Developing with Africa-based African and Western managers some new processes easing the adaptation of Western CSR requirements to African cultural environments.

• 3. Defining, with the help of consultants, training specialists and quality experts implementing CSR projects in Africa, an intercultural approach to the ISO 26000 Standard.

• 4. Promoting on an international level, together with the African entrepreneurs involved in CSR initiatives, African forms of corporate organization, administration and management.

• 5. Basing the intercultural approach of the ISO 26000 Standard on the expertise of African and Western Researchers specialized in CSR and interculturality fields in Africa.

• 6. Increasing Africa-based International company managers’ awareness of the stakes of a necessary hybridation of African and Western CSR.

• 7. Informing African civil societies of the progress regarding CSR in Africa, through mobilizing African and Western media on intercultural and ethically responsible initiatives in the corporate world.