U.S.-Africa Relations And The Road Ahead
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2012-11-12/us-africa-relations-and-road-ahead
Guest Host:
Marc Fisher
When President Barack Obama took office in 2009, African nations were hopeful that relations with their continent would flourish. But since then, the Obama administration has been roundly criticized for taking a reactive, rather than a proactive, approach toward Africa. Now, with a second term on the horizon, the president finds a continent where trading happens mainly with China and where Muslim extremism continues to spread. We explore the future of U.S.-Africa relations, and find out why many experts are urging a reset with Africa.
Guests
Tibor Nagy
Vice Provost for International Affairs at Texas Tech University; Former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia and Guinea
Jennifer Cooke
Director, Africa Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Paul Timm
Senior Fellow and Director of the Africa Growth Initiative, Brookings Institution
Comments
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Good program. Thank you WAMU.
I was reading STRATEGIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT by Norman Lee when this program came on. It points to issues that countries need to address themselves to bring their populations out of the bottom billion.
The article reviewed “...the ‘formidable constraints in developing countries to enterprise formation and expansion’. Four types of constraint are highlighted, in terms of what needs to be done by countries to show good faith for developmental assistance:
• An unfavorable policy, legal and regulatory environment for enterprise – due in many developing countries to a heritage of heavy state intervention, outdated laws, excessive regulation and discrimination against micro-enterprise.
• Lack of appropriate financial services – particularly for poor families and micro-entrepreneurs through stronger and more extensive micro-finance institutions with stronger links to the commercial banks and mainstream capital markets.
• Shortage of management skill and business development services – the private sector is in need of better access to effective training in management systems, production and distribution technologies, marketing technology and market research.
• Insufficient market knowledge, poor communication and institutional linkages among small enterprises – there is a need for better transport and communication facilities, access to trade publications etc., and to strengthen institutional linkages and partnerships between large and medium-sized enterprises and small enterprises.