Workshop:

This contribution was presented by Pr Mebtoul at experts meeting during the France-Africa summit held in Paris on December 06-07 2013. It is important to emphasize the fact that despite its huge potential, Africa still marginalized at both world gross domestic product and wolrd trade. But there are variations per countries, in fact there is not one Africa but many Africas. Some countries especially Nigeria, Gabon, Tchad and Democratic Republic of Congo, Algeria, Lybia are specialized in oil, gaz and raw materials which are subject to high level demand and high prices in the world market allowing these countries to get relative financial ease even though this financial ease is artificial because of being leaned on world prices, therefore on world economic growth especially developped and emergent countries one. On the other side countries like Benin, Malawi, Maurice Island, Swaziland, Ethiopia, Togo and Mali are disadvantaged due to products experiencing exhange modalities deterioration, misery, drought and very often internal and external conflicts. Also army budget in Africa is more important than budget allocated to development goals.

During the 1980-2000 period, economic environment of poor countries, especially Togo has been characterized by a high foreign debt crisis. This crisis is one of the main factors delaying poor countries economic development. Negative effects of high level debt on macroeconomic policies monitoring for development and growth have been in part admitted. So, during successive G7 summits of most industrialized countries, mechanisms have been implemented to enable substantial debt relief. But all measures aiming to reduce borrowing needs were not sufficient to bring debt at a tolerable level. In 1996, Bretton Woods institutions have launched joint initiative toward high indebted poor countries to propose sustainable solution to poor countries debt issues. Togo was one of them. This country, based on reforms implemented and the support of Bretton Woods institutions was able to reach achievment goal set by the initiative toward High indebted poor countries(IHIPC). After benefiting from debt remission, one should examine the real causes of Togo foreign debt in order to consider a better debt policy for the future.

Using european and north american examples, the KHNET Firm of consultants has identified five families of services that could contribute to sustainable economic and endogenous development of territories: urban communities services, regulation, control and law compliance, public command, information and governance. By working together in these five domains, territorial collectivities could, at the end generate a better development of their territories.

Author: Tomorrow the city, dossier N°2 June 2008

Despite growing interest in the connections between taxation, development and governance,surprisingly little attention has been paid to the relationship between taxation and people’s livelihoods, particularly in places affected by war and violent conflict. Yet, it is in these landscapes that people encounter particularly fierce challenges to livelihood recovery, often finding themselves operating in a political economy environment that is at once complex and shifting, as well as brutal and exploitative. And it is also in these contexts that questions around public goods provision and state-society relations carry most weight – places affected badly by conflict tend to have urgent service-related needs, and violent conflicts can erode trust in governance actors.

Through a selective review of key literature, we argue in this paper that if we are truly interested in the relationships between taxation and livelihoods, then an exclusive focus on formal taxation is inadequate. Subsequently, we suggest widening our analytical lens to include what might be referred to as ‘informal tax’ – that is, payments and costs (for example, in relation to labour time) which are incurred outside formal statutory arrangements, the benefits of which may be accrued by a variety of state, non-state and community actors or institutions. In reality, the lines between formal and informal taxation are likely to be blurred.

Nevertheless, a broad analytical focus on taxation, which captures both its formal and informal dimensions, may be defined as: all payments – whether cash or in kind, including labour time – that are made as a result of the exercise of political power, social sanction or armed force (as opposed to market exchange). Further research is needed to explore these issues, and this working paper can be considered the first step of an ongoing joint research project by the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) and Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) to address this need.

Authors: Oliver Lough, Richard Mallet and Paul Harvey, June 2003

Authors: Oliver Lough, Richard Mallet and Paul Harvey, June 2003

Financing system functioning can have a decisive impact on economic growth and stability, because of enabling to sustain activity for the short term and affect resources for investment in the long term. Public intervention in the banking and financial area did evaluate with the financing change. Dismantlement of this type of control has led to prudential supervision which goal is to lead financial institutions behavior toward more prudence. The current banking rules “Bale II” is focusing on supervision, market discipline and prudential ratios. Financial crisis called “subprime” that the world has experienced these last years has lead economists to wander if prudential regulation is not out of date and especially why it could not prevent or avoid the current crisis. This communication’s goal is to enrich the discussion on the need to change the banking supervision system and especially its role to ensure financial system stability. Our topic is articulated around the following questions: “A prudential regulation for what? Are Bale II agreements as stated by the Committee necessary and sufficient to guarantee financial stability? Do they remaining pertinent? What about Algeria? This article is giving a critical importance to these issues in the Algerian financial system context.

Authors: Hayet ABBAD Mohamed ACHOUCHE

The paper was written at the ECOWAS request to serve as a framework for discussions that were taking with the new Commissionners during their retreat in Ouagadougou at the end of february 2007.

ECOWAS and the CSAO(Sahel Club For West Africa) are willing to provide reliable and updated information on the west Africa region to enable partners of development to better understand the ECOWAS role and have a better picture of challenges in the region. This is what the document is all about. The partnership will lead a website creation and an annual report publication on West Africa Region). The annual report will resume to set the region panorama at the economic, political and strategic level, assessing progress, obstacles and presenting challenges and perspectives.

When introducing a conference on « Altermondialist perspectives, auto-structuration in China, arab folks revolts, Sahel crisis », saturday february 2, 2013 at the Cheikh Anta Diop University, the Pr Samir AMIN did explain the deep reasons explaining quick chinese economic success and the disaster which is trapping Mali and Egypt. One of the reasons acknowledged by the Third-World Forum is the existence of national sovereign project in China and its absence in the other two countries.

Seydou KA ,Quotidien le Soleil du 5 février 2013,Source IPAR N°068 ,revue de presse

When they are efficient, financial markets and bodies do play an important role for economic development, by improving goods and services exchange, resources mobilization(national and international), factors of production distribution and risk diversification. Economic literature does confirm existing direct relationship between financial markets development and economic growth. African financial sector has indeed registered few progress during these last years but financial markets activities still very limited with a weak capitalization and lack of cash resources. Financial instruments issued in Africa do have, mostly short term maturities. Therefore gap between borrowing rates and deposit rates still very high, as non-performing loans ratio, which explains the structural weakness of financial markets in the continent. Furthermore, there is very few financial instruments in the market, which makes it difficult to ensure protection against risks related to financial markets in Africa. Being aware of the necessity to gather financial resources, african economic regional communities (AERC) did implement sub-regional markets for capital to extend limited and also fragmented national markets. The AERC did recognize also the necessity to integrate and consolidate financial markets which are the engine of development in the continent. In addition, financial integration do strengthen competition, foster efficiency and productivity and ease information circulation. The AERC do implement financial integration strategies through integrated programs of frameworks and legislative and regulatory policies , encouraging transboundary investments and listing of securities. Generally, regional financial integration should reinforce the links between financial systems and markets of capital in more developed countries.

UNECA: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa: Report on regional integration in Africa III

Cooperatives in Africa did find their origin in imported models created mainly to serve foreign interests but they are today the major form of popular economic and social organization for poverty reduction. Acoording to most of studies on African cooperatives until the 90s, lower performances of these structures are due, in part to their dependency toward government, which prevent them from functioning as true enterprises. Economy liberalization in the beginning of the 90s should give, indeed the chance to cooperatives members to become true owners of their enterprises and then improve their performances. However, the impact of liberalization measures on African cooperatives is almost unknown. It is seldom to find detailed data that provide information on the cooperative movement in Africa functioning since the beginning on the 90s. This study is aiming to present the situation in the cooperative sector starting this period by providing information on cooperatives implementation and development and also their input in terms of employment, social protection, participation and representation and in the short term, poverty reduction. With field notes from sixteen countries, this survey has proven that liberalization measures did not eliminate cooperatives which still play a critical role in the economy.

Authors:Patrick Develtere, Ignace Pollet et Fredrick Wanyama

With the economy globalization, accelerated globalization of production systems do largely participate to question traditional development strategies, due to their inability to open the path toward a durable and regular growth. Exchanges globalization under the influence of financial international speculation is inciting us to a new examination of economic issues in general and those of development in particular. In fact merchandise globalization is expressing a new conception of culture and human being in which ownership is more and more predominant. From material support social organization framework of human labor, the market is more and more perceived as the goal, the ultimate objective. The question that rises then is if we want to make it a social and cultural value? The answer is no, because history do teach us that economic and political greatness worth only when referred to human and cultural values that support them, economics do have a sense only when referred to social ethics spiritual and philosophical foundations. Dealing with this new reality, government action and nature are questioned; enterprise conception and organization, labor, space and society are challenged. Also politics as civic expression of public group is undermined. Facing these new questions, old answers are no more adequate; more adequate answers are needed. It is from this perspective that territorialization concepts, of local, proximity, participation, partnership and governance become appropriate new models of reference for a more egalitarian development that reach the whole population.

Author:EL KHAZZAR Aziz, Enseignant Chercheur, Université Abdelmalek Essaadi, Faculté des Sciences Juridiques, Economiques et Sociales (FSJES), Tanger-Maroc 2004

Benin did made remarkable progress since 1991 at the macro-economic level. Even though a few development indicators have been improved since the beginning on the 90s, progress toward Millenium Development Goals still slow.Economic growth at 2% in the 80s has reached significant progress of 5% annually in the 90s. it is appropriate however to notice that benin economy is experiencing since 2003 a deceleration stage with a growth mean of 3%, which is lower than the demographic growth rate(3,25% per year). Poverty still a major concern because of 37,4% of Benin natives are living under the poverty level versus 28,5% in 2002(the year when the first document for Poverty Reduction Strategy was prepared). Most of MDG will be reached with difficulties at the 2015 horizon of current patterns keep on going, especially those on education, health, potable water access and poverty reduction domains. When adopting in 2000, the Millenium Declaration, Benin Republic is committed to respect internationally recognized development goals, especially the MDG. It is in the context that the Government did assess needs for the MDG achievement by 2015 and prepare a related development strategy. The United Nations System in Benin, using the opportunity of its diverse funding and programs, did bring a technical and financial assistance to the government and other national actors during this exercice. The current United Nations Master Plan for Development Assistance is a critical tool enabling the United Nations country team to keep on accompanying the government in realizing and operationalizing goals set in Development Strategic Orientations in the Growth Strategy for poverty reduction and its priority action programme. The Master Plan for the 2009-2013 period was prepared in a participative framework enabling all national actors to be contributors.

Authors: Benin Republic Government and United Nations system agencies

Rural development is not simply agricultural development because it enclose a space, a rural one where agriculture is at the middle of the socio-economic system but in which do exist different activities, with objectives and diversified functions that should be integrated and coordinated in a coherent, sustainable and inclusive perspective. The importance of rural development and agriculture is also proven by the closed interdependance that these themes have with sustainable development and poverty worldwide and in the South in particular, and the safeguard and promotion of food sovereignty for developing countries and their people. For countries in West Africa, rural development policy means first to reduce food dependancy and claim their rights to food sovereignty; also improve regional and local agricultural products markets functioning; and finally to develop rural economy with respect to social, economic local productive identities. However a shared rural development vision that emphasizes on a policy enabling to realize it, will allow to find synergies for a real use of rural territories in their diversities and specificities.

The rise of good governance and sustainable development concepts among political decision makers, development actors, scholars, practitioners and populations at the grassroots level concerns, is today an obvious fact. If for one group these thematics do contain theoretical and sometimes political interest, for the majority of people in developing countries and particularly those in subsaharan african countries, the issue contains critical interest related to increasing poverty and living conditions deterioration.In order to keep good governance and sustainable developement concepts pertinent and practical, it is needed to develop a soociological, historical and psychological and political analysis of the conditions to adapt them in african countries environment.If the task appears to be a relevant issue for reflection, it still to large to be addressed totally in a so limited space.

author: Siaka COULIBALY

Network of Civil Society organizations for Development(Burkina Faso)