Africafé: Financial Constraints in the Pursuit of Economic Development in Africa

September 5, 2024

Africa's economic growth is significantly hampered by financial constraints, which pose significant challenges. These constraints severely limit investments in critical areas such as infrastructure, education, and healthcare. Addressing these issues is crucial for achieving sustainable development and enhancing living standards across the continent.

In this episode, we host Miss Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, the President & CEO of African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) to explore innovative transformation models adaptable within Africa to foster economic growth. We identify primary sources of financial constraints, including limited access to financing and high borrowing costs, hindering economic development in African countries. We also analyze the pivotal role of domestic financial institutions and markets in either alleviating or exacerbating these constraints, and discuss strategies to enhance access to finance, support entrepreneurship, and promote sustainable development.

Speakers
Ahmed Ouhnini
Economist, Policy Center for the New South
Ahmed Ouhnini is an Economist at the Policy Center for the New South. His research area covers agricultural economics, human and social development. Previously, he has worked as a researcher at the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and has also a record of working in consulting services in Morocco. Ahmed holds an engineering Diploma in Agriculture and Rural Development from the National School of Agriculture of Meknes and a Master’s Degree in Law, Economics and Management from the Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne Institute of Development. ...
Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi
President & CEO of the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET)
...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Paola Maniga
    Yassine Moustanjidi
    February 15, 2021
    The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed new vulnerabilities in social, infrastructure, and governance systems. In the first months of the pandemic, there was a genuine concern about the capacity of the Global South to contain the spread of the virus. African cities were particularly vulnerable, with some experts1, including the head of WHO2, predicting a catastrophe for the continent. Despite the structural and chronic challenges that African cities face, including informality, poverty, a ...
  • Authors
    February 12, 2021
    This paper provides a preliminary assessment of COVID-19’s impact on Africa, focusing on the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, based on information available as of October 2020. We first identify the two key long-term issues of the SSA countries before the crisis: resource dependency and slow productivity growth. COVID-19 has hit SSA countries hard, causing human and economic destruction and wiping out economic progress from the last decade. Instead of growing at 2.9% in 2020, as ...
  • February 5, 2021
    Regional integration in Africa is seen as a priority by many of the continent’s policymakers and economic stakeholders. With all Africa now signed up to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the challenge now is to implement a continental market for goods and services and establish the foundations of a continental customs union. Many on the continent see the AfCFTA as an investment, economic-diversification, and job-creation blueprint that will shape the future of A ...
  • February 3, 2021
    Le Policy Center for the New South organise un webinaire mercredi 3 février 2021 à 15h (GMT+1) consacré à la présentation de son Rapport Annuel sur l’Economie de l’Afrique 2020. A cette occasion, plusieurs auteurs du rapport présenteront le fruit de leurs recherches et analyses. L’Econo...
  • February 1, 2021
    L’entrée en vigueur de l’accord instituant la Zone de libre-échange continentale africaine (ZLECAF) s’inscrit dans la continuité des aspirations anciennes pour intégrer les marchés africains et faire de cette intégration un vecteur de prospérité et de développement. Il s’agit, en effet, d’une étape dont la traversée est inévitable en vue d’aboutir aux aspirations annoncées par l’Agenda 2063. C’est une étape qui concrétise, dans sa première phase, un engagement en faveur de la libre ...
  • January 26, 2021
    أطلقت دول القارة الأفريقية في اليوم الأول من عام 2021 منطقة تجارة حرة قارية، بعد تأجيل دام عدة أشهر بسبب أزمة تفشي فيروس كورونا. وتسعى الدول الأفريقية من خلال هذه المنطقة لإقامة تكتل اقتصادي من ناحية عدد الدول والسكان ليكون أكبر منطقة للتجارة الحرة منذ تأسيس منظمة التجارة العالمية. وفقً...
  • Authors
    Attioui Abdelali
    Billaudot Bernard
    Chafiq Adnane
    December 30, 2020
    Le présent rapport a pour objet d’analyser les implications sur la croissance et le développement du Maroc de son insertion dans l’économie mondiale. Cette analyse est menée en comparant la dynamique économique observée après 1998 à celle qui l’a été avant. En effet, la période 1998-2018 est celle au cours de laquelle se sont manifestés les effets du choix acté et assumé politiquement de l’ouverture (ou du libre-échange, si on préfère). Pour avant, nous nous en tenons à la période 1 ...
  • Authors
    December 30, 2020
    According to this month’s OECD economic outlook, global GDP --- which took a huge hit from the pandemic and is still 3% below its level of a year ago – will not recover its pre-pandemic level until the end of 2021. In a downside scenario, the return could take almost a year longer. The OECD predictions, which imply high and protracted unemployment, are in line with the view of many other official and private organizations. The arrival of effective vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech wa ...
  • Authors
    Sous la direction de
    Muhammad Ba
    Amanda Bisong
    Rafik Bouklia Hassane
    Salma Daoudi
    Pierre Jacquemot
    Leo Kemboi
    Jacob Kotcho
    Mouhamadou Ly
    Solomon Muqayi
    Meriem Oudmane
    Mohamed Ould El Abed
    Kwame Owino
    Asmita Parshotam
    Fatih Pittet
    December 29, 2020
    Dès les premiers cas du Coronavirus relevés en Afrique, les prédictions les plus sombres ont été faites sur la catastrophe sanitaire à venir sur le continent, en raison d’un certain nombre de caractéristiques supposées favoriser la propagation de l’épidémie. Ces prévisions ont été démenties par la rapidité des ripostes des Etats et par divers autres facteurs. La progression de la Covid-19 en Afrique n’est pas le fait d’une dynamique unique mais plutôt de multiples profils de risques ...