Participation In Africa Research Articles

How Africa can benefit from knowledge

Africa's poverty partly stems from the lack of strong scientific, technological and knowledge bases. The abundance of natural resources on the continent has been of limited value to the African people because they do not have the tools with which to turn their resources into consumable wealth. To rectify this situation, African policy makers would have to undertake various measures. First, they need to define the type of knowledge their countries require. Second, they ought to establish conditions for nurturing strategic leaders who will, in turn, seek the right forms of knowledge to tackle Africa's problems. Third, policy makers need to build the political and legal frameworks that encourage the absorption and application of scientific innovations. Fourth, African leaders ought to revamp the universities, establish regional research centres, and take capacity building more seriously. It is these measures that will facilitate Africa's meaningful participation in global knowledge flows. Above all, knowledge creation should aim at attaining human welfare, participatory democracy, peace building and socio-economic justice.

Could Extended Preferences Reward Sub-Saharan Africa's Participation in the Doha Round Negotiations?

Could Extended Preferences Reward Sub-Saharan Africa's Participation in the Doha Round Negotiations?

Could Extended Preferences Reward Sub‐Saharan Africa's Participation in the Doha Round Negotiations?

Despite sharp improvements in the preferential schemes Sub-Saharan African countries benefit from, African exporters still face tariff barriers on the Quad markets (Japan, USA, European Union and Canada), and rarely enjoy preferential access to other developing countries. This study estimates the gains that Sub-Saharan Africa could draw from a genuine unrestricted market access (UMA) to the QUAD markets, as well as an improved access to the emerging economies. Based on a General Equilibrium modelling, it analyses the effects of these proposals, and whether they could be valid options in the Doha Development agenda. It concludes that the welfare gains associated with UMA could amount to US$ 1.2 billion in sub-Saharan Africa, favouring primarily unskilled workers. A decrease by half in the protection applied by emerging countries on the African products would have similar effects. These proposals induce limited costs for the QUAD economies, as well as indirect benefits for developing countries, due to trade shifts on the Quad and African markets. Besides, they could largely offset the potentially harmful effects of the multilateral tariff liberalization on the African economies, and would not be much affected by a partial reciprocation of the preferences by the African countries.

Lifelong learning for facilitating democratic participation in Africa

Lifelong learning has come to be internationally recognized as a framework in the development of sustainable education. However, in spite of rhetoric and its endorsement in some nations’ policy documents, lifelong learning is not operationalized and Africa continues to be plagued by social maladies such as HIV/AIDS, capacity poverty, low quality education, global marginalization and ineffective governance. The article argues that post‐colonial Africa transited from concern with service delivery, went through structural adjustment policies to focusing on African renaissance. It indicates that some countries have embraced lifelong learning as policy framework but have not made sufficient efforts to translate that in their teaching and learning. It contents that lifelong learning in Africa can only be effective if African communities are encouraged to make concerted efforts to embrace principles such as deliberative democracy, multiculturalism, decentralization of decision‐making and helping to redirect the agenda of civil society as a way to use lifelong learning to enhance public participation in Africa.

Labour Administration, Economic Development and Democratic Participation in Africa

KEYWORDS Employment; workers; reform; involvement; stakeholders ABSTRACT The development question is still a major issue in contemporary Africa. The fact that there has not been any qualitative change in the lives of the vast majority of the people has made many interested observers to wonder if the various countries have adopted the right development strategy. It is against this background that this paper examined the role of the labour administration system in facilitating the development process. It was observed that in spite of the centrality of the employment relationship and the actors therein to the generation of national wealth necessary for ensuring development, labour administrators are not accorded a pride of place in the scheme of things. The paper then argued that there is no way Africa can make progress if those with the right expertise and who are key to the development process are excluded. It is then concluded that if Africa is to make progress, the development process must be people-centred and this is only possible if a broad spectrum of the African society, including the system of labour administration, is involved in formulating the content and direction of development and this in itself is in the spirit of democratic participation.

NEPAD AND THE CAPITAL FLOWS INITIATIVE: CAN AFRICA WALK THE WALK?

In the 1960s and early 1970s the future of Africa looked bright and promising. Economic growth and development on the continent was considerably higher than in other developing regions. However, during the middle 1970s political instability increased and economic development started to deteriorate, both contributing to the marginalization of the continent. The continued marginalization constitutes a serious threat to the participation of Africa in the global economy. Nepad calls for a reversal of this process through a new partnership between Africa and the international community (Nepad, 2001: 1 and 2).

Preservation Challenges for Africa’s Information Systems: the case of electronic records

Reviews the trend of records management literature in Africa, and concludes that paper-based records are given prominence over electronic ones, although electronic storage, retrieval and dissemination of information is becoming the norm in most information systems in Africa and worldwide. Identifies some factors responsible for the absence of debates on the issue. Preservation challenges likely to affect them in the near future are also considered. Concludes with a call for effective participation of Africa’s information professionals if they have to cope with this evolutionary shift and avoid future preservation risks associated with these records.

Information Technology and Democratic Participation in Africa

This paper assesses the nature of political communication and democratic participation in Africa to determine whether these technologies are changing the face of politics on the continent. It analyzes who has access to the forums; topics that are discussed; what influence these digital forums have on political decision making; and the extent to which they replicate or differ from the affective and emotive manifestations of political interaction in the real world. It concludes that a lot more people are getting a lot more information, but that this does not translate into a significant expansion in the numbers and categories of those who engage in, and hence influence, the direction of politics on the continent.

Information Technology and Democratic Participation in Africa

Information Technology and Democratic Participation in Africa

Options for Improving Africa’s Participation in the WTO

Options for Improving Africa’s Participation in the WTO

Towards an African Renaissance: Some thoughts on the renaissance conference September 28th & 29th 1998 and its future implications

Introduction On September 28th and 29th of 1998, an historic conference was held in Johannesburg to critically discuss and debate Thabo Mbeki's heralded Renaissance initiative. The conference is historic not because concept of an Renaissance is new, but because it seeks to spiral South Africa, and hopefully rest of Africa, into new millennium through a re-consolidated effort to liberate, affirm and transform and its peoples. This renewal, it is believed, will ensure Africa's participation and competitiveness in global arena, validating Africa's progress and development in economic, cultural, technological, spiritual, communications and socio-political spheres. This renewal will also legitimise and celebrate Africa's almost forgotten, if not ignored, historical contributions to global development in areas such as civilisation, state formation, communalism, aviation, hunting and tool making, religious worship, math, science, engineering, agriculture, technology, astronomy and communications. Internationally renowned academics, political leaders, cultural activists, church and community leaders, corporate directors and others came together because it was an opportunity to celebrate and to revamp Africa's commitment to full liberation of all its citizens. But more importantly, people came together to debate and discuss implications of a continent-wide Renaissance spearheaded by Thabo Mbeki's memorable parliamentary I am an African speech to Constitutional Assembly on May 8th, 1996. As stated, notion of an Renaissance is certainly not a new one. The word Renaissance originated in Europe meaning a renewal or rebirth. The context was similar--with Europe having been ravaged by war, disease, corruption, socio-political and religious alienation between 14th--17th Century. Europe had to renew itself and embark on a campaign to reclaim and revamp its once powerful status. The liberal arts played a critical role in this process of rebirth as well as role of culture and education. When it comes to Africa's liberation historical movements such as Negritude, Pan Africanism, and Black Consciousness Movement readily come to mind and their profound contributions to a current day Renaissance have to be acknowledged. But more than a quarter of a century ago, 1960 was declared as the Year of Africa due to vibrancy brought about by political independence and ushering of social development decade (Bengu, 1998: 2). Numerous conferences were held aimed at determining Africa's objectives and priorities which were intended to launch continent into social reconstruction and economic affluence (Bengu, 1998:2). This was not thoroughly successful however, and numerous examples can be cited of Africa's failure to realise this call for transformation. Today, in 1998, many countries continue to be ravaged by poverty, disease, failing economies, government corruption, (military) dictatorships and incessant war. One of foremost items for discussion at this Renaissance conference was potential liberatory role of institutions of higher learning in helping learners and educators from all sectors to realise aims of such a call on a variety of levels. As such relationship between education and culture was also significantly highlighted at Renaissance conference, as well as obstacles that systematically prevent success of transformation. Hence, it was noted that culture could not be separated from education and vise versa. Other equally critical areas, which were identified for breakaway sessions, included science and technology, economic transformation, moral Renewal, telecommunications and media, and transport and energy. However, specific focus of this paper is culture, education and issues of race as they impinge on concept of an Renaissance. …

THE KING'S AFRIKANERS? ENLISTMENT AND ETHNIC IDENTITY IN THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA'S DEFENCE FORCE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, 1939–45

In contrast to the situation in Commonwealth countries such as Canada and Australia, South Africa's participation in the Second World War has not been accorded a particularly significant place in the country's historiography. In part at least, this is the result of historiographical traditions which, although divergent in many ways, have a common denominator in that their various compelling imperatives have despatched the Second World War to the periphery of their respective scholarly discourses.Afrikaner historians have concentrated on wars on their ‘own’ soil – the South African War of 1899–1902 in particular – and beyond that through detailed analyses of white politics have been at pains to demonstrate the inexorable march of Afrikanerdom to power. The Second World War only featured insofar as it related to internal Afrikaner political developments. Neither was the war per se of much concern to English-speaking academic historians, either of the so-called liberal or radical persuasion. For more than two decades, the interests of English-speaking professional historians have been dominated by issues of race and class, social structure, consciousness and the social effects of capitalism. While the South African War did receive some attention in terms of capitalist imperialist expansion, the Second World War was left mostly to historians of the ‘drum-and-trumpet’ variety. In general, the First and Second World Wars did not appear a likely context in which to investigate wider societal issues in South Africa.

The Democratization Process and Popular Participation in Africa: Emerging Realities and the Challenges Ahead

ABSTRACTMany observers have judged the recent wave of democratization in Africa as an unstoppable process and have overemphasized the role of external factors in inducing this change. This article argues that the quality of change has been fragile and defective in many respects, and draws attention to the susceptibility of the process of democratic transition to reversals. It goes on to underscore the importance of internal forces in bringing about change and in ensuring the sustainability of democracy in Africa. The tasks that lie ahead for civil society in Africa and the role of the international community and political conditionality of aid in this context are then debated.

TheOssewabrandwagas a mass movement, 1939–1941

In the first years of its existence the Ossewabrandwag (OB) was an Afrikaner nationalist mass movement comprising nearly all social strata of the Afrikaner population. Its heterogeneous mass basis was made possible only by the lack of a clear‐cut political programme or a definite ideology. Instead, the OB drew mainly on Afrikaans popular culture which drew its stimulus from the Symbolic Ox wagon Trek of 1938. The OB, emphasising its republican and nationalist outlook without committing itself to any definite goals, contained in its ranks very divergent interest groups. By emphasising volkseenheid (national unity) and by rejecting South Africa's participation in World War II as Great Britain's ally, it was able to integrate a multitude of different nationalist organisations for the very reason that it lacked a clear ideological profile. Only when its new leadership started to define its ideology and developed its own policy from the middle of 1941 onwards did the OB's membership decline. Abandoning its ear...

Living with wildlife: wildlife resource management with local participation in Africa: A. Kiss, World Bank Technical Paper, 130, 1990, 217 pp, price US$13.95

The decline in Africa's wildlife heritage and the persistent poverty of its rural people are linked by a common denominator: rapid human population growth and the resulting misuse and degradation of the land. Expanding settlements, crops, and livestock in marginal areas are reducing agricultural productivity and displacing wildlife. This conflict between people and animals is one which the animals must lose, and a rich natural resource may be lost before its true value is realized. Fortunately, conservationists and development planners are exploring a common solution: developing alternative land uses based on wildlife resources generating food and income for rural communities. This paper examines the experience, the potential, and the constraints of wildlife management programs which involve and benefit local people. It also explores the potential for wildlife management to stimulate independence and institutional capabilities in rural communities, and greater complexity and diversity in their economies.

Women and political participation in Africa: Broadening the scope of research

The article argues for a more flexible and inclusive approach to research on women and the state in Africa and, in particular, women's political participation. Inter alia it suggests moving away from restricted Western definitions of politics, from overly aggregated notions both of “the state” and of “women,” and from too centralized a focus on government; and moving to include a greater appreciation of informal organizations, unusual modes of participation, uneven tradeoffs and even manipulated politics. Its concern is to ensure that we do not overlook or close off those narrow spaces of participation which may, by default, have been allowed to women, or which women may have fashioned for themselves.

The Participation of Africa in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

The Participation of Africa in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

Class and Sex in the Politics of Women Farmers

Previous articleNext article No AccessArticlesClass and Sex in the Politics of Women FarmersKathleen A. StaudtKathleen A. Staudt Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Politics Volume 41, Number 2May, 1979 Sponsored by the Southern Political Science Association Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2129775 Views: 6Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1979 Southern Political Science AssociationPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Charles Ambler “A School in the Interior” African Studies: Engagement and Interdisciplinary, African Studies Review 54, no.11 (Oct 2013): 1–17.https://doi.org/10.1353/arw.2011.0015David Hirschmann Women and political participation in Africa: Broadening the scope of research, World Development 19, no.1212 (Dec 1991): 1679–1694.https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(91)90012-7

THE CHANGING FACE OF FOREIGN BUSINESS IN AFRICA—PARTICIPATION AND INTEGRATION

THE CHANGING FACE OF FOREIGN BUSINESS IN AFRICA—PARTICIPATION AND INTEGRATION Get access E. C. Judd, CBE, MVO E. C. Judd, CBE, MVO Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 76, Issue 302, January 1977, Pages 97–104, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096833 Published: 01 January 1977

The American Response to Africa's Participation in the International System

Africa's participation in the international system, by whatever measures it is gauged, skyrocketed during the 1960s from a level close to zero to its present extensity, intensity, and complexity. The difficulty of analyzing the American response to Africa's participation arises from at least two intellectual — but not merely intellectual — problems: First, there have been many different — and differentiated — American responses rather than a single one. Second, much of what is often described as American responses actually may have been triggered by American initiatives to which Africans responded, setting off a kind of chain reaction of reciprocal interactions, which have neither a clearly discernible beginning nor a definable end in time.