World Economics

Have developing countries converged on advanced countries? This was a topic of much discussion in the 1980s and 1990s, and it recently resurfaced (see e.g. here or here). As the debate rages on, one element has gone unquestioned: the use of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of growth. Our new GPID Working Paper closes this gap.

Africa’s share of global trade has not changed significantly in twenty years - from around 2.4% or thereabouts between the early 2000s and now. From habits forced by colonialism, African nations have historically relied too heavily on export income from primary commodities, including oil, minerals and raw materials which partly explain the continent’s disappointingly low level of intra-continental trade.

The amount of data generated and stored in the digital age is accelerating rapidly, but this is not reflected in official economic statistics.

Africa’s fast-growing markets should be producing far more commercial opportunities for its businesses and yielding far more jobs for its people, but they are not. If there is genuine economic growth occurring in Africa’s major cities then current data and the view from the street are not reflecting it. Jobless growth haunts the cities of Africa.