The Impact of EU Free Trade Agreements on Economic Development and Regional Integration in Southern Africa/African Development Perspectives Yearbook

Research Group on African Development Perspectives Yearbook




International Call for Papers Volume 24/2024/2025:  “Fiscal Capacity and Resource Mobilization in Africa – New Strategies and New Instruments” (PDF: International Call Volume 24)

“Thirty Years (1989 - 2019) of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook – Impacts on Policy Reforms in Africa”: Access for Download: https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/449, and via PDF: Wohlmuth Festschrift Thirty Years.

WIKIPEDIA, The Free Encyclopedia, Entry about the African Development Perspectives Yearbook (see the link below):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Development_Perspectives_Yearbook

Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen

Editors of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook/Redaktion des African Development Perspectives Yearbook:


Scientific Coordinator/Volume Editor for the African Development Perspectives Yearbook: Prof. Dr. Karl Wohlmuth (in office since 1989, Volume 1)
Professor Emeritus Dr. Karl Wohlmuth, Director of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen

Address:
Professor Emeritus Dr. Karl Wohlmuth,
University of Bremen,
Faculty of Economics and Business Studies,
P.O. Box 330 44,0
D-28334 Bremen, Germany

Phone and Email Addresses:
Phone: +49 (0)421-218-66517

E-Mail:
wohlmuth@uni-bremen.de
iwimsek@uni-bremen.de

Managing Editor of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook: Professor Dr. Tobias Knedlik (in office since 2010, Volume 15, 2010/2011)

Professor Dr. Tobias Knedlik,
Dean, Department of Business, Fulda University of Applied Sciences,
Professor for International Economics, and
Research Professor, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH)


Address:
Professor Dr. Tobias Knedlik,
Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Department of Business,
Leipziger Str. 123
D-36037 Fulda
Germany

Phone and Email addresses:
Phone: +49 (0)661 / 9640 - 2801
E-mail: Tobias.Knedlik@w.hs-fulda.de


Book Reviews/Book Notes Editor of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook: Prof. Dr. Samia Satti Osman Mohamed Nour (since 2020, Volume 22)

Prof. Dr. Samia Satti Osman Mohamed Nour,
Full Professor of Economics, Economics Department, Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, Visiting Professor of Economics and Research Fellow, CSAE, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Guest Researcher, The Nordic Africa Institute (NAI), Uppsala, Sweden; Affiliated Researcher, UNU-MERIT - Boschstraat 24, 6211 AX Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Affiliated Research Fellow, African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL), Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; and Affiliated Research Fellow Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries (ERF), Cairo, Egypt.

Postal and Email Address:
Khartoum University, P. O. Box 321, Khartoum 11115, Sudan
E-mail: samia_satti@hotmail.com, samiasatti@yahoo.com; samiasatti78@gmail.com

It is good news that volume 23 (2022/2023) of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook is now finalized by the editors of the forthcoming yearbook. The title is “Business Opportunities, Start-ups and Digital Transformation in Africa”. The theme for volume 23 (2022/2023) is related to the ongoing global digital transformation, with impacts on productive sectors, entrepreneurs, households, and the society also in Africa. African countries are quite differently advancing in the process of digital transformation, as some African countries are even leading in this process by presenting digital solutions to current problems as we could see in the COVID-19 crisis, while others lag behind. The COVID-19 crisis has revealed that health systems, education systems, government structures, financial services firms, and manufacturing processes in industry are impacted by the digital transformation. Digital platforms give access to medical innovations, give information about lockdown modalities and hygiene advice, and provide for local availability of personal health protection utensils so that also those living in remote rural areas and in semi-urban areas can be reached. Those who are working in informal sector occupations get also access to digital media and to digital technologies. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies are widely spread in economic sectors of Africa. Digital entrepreneurship is playing an increasing role, and the number of start-ups is increasing in Africa. Some start-ups move along their lifecycle (establishing, consolidating, growing, and internationalizing); when they are growing, they become attractive partners of established firms. In some manufacturing sub-sectors of Africa we see a process of “repurposing” of industries towards producing basic goods for protecting people from COVID-19 and for supplying instruments to assist infected patients in hospitals and in care. It is obvious that the business opportunities in Africa are increasing in many directions with the spread of digital technologies; the country cases in this volume are of great interest in this context.

Volume 23 (2022/2023) will have four Units (so we call the various parts of the volumes). The forthcoming volume benefitted from guest editors and editors who selected from the great number of proposed contributions the most appropriate ones, decided upon after a rigorous review process. As the African Development Perspectives Yearbook is now an Open Access publication, it is policy to step up the review process to highest international standards. The African Development Perspectives Yearbook is now the most important English-language annual publication on Africa in Germany, and the publication is of increasing interest for African policymakers as the inclusive and sustainable development strategies for Africa play a great role in all the Units and in all the Volumes. Unit 1 is on General Issues of Digital Transformation, Digital Entrepreneurship and Development of Business Opportunities. Unit 1 contains five essays: an essay on the interaction between productive capacities and digital transformation in Africa, an essay on “Silicon Valley” type-digital zones in Africa, an essay on Diaspora Digital Entrepreneurs in and from Africa, an essay on the role of the finance sector for digital transformation, and an essay on the digitalization of pharmaceutical industries and of health sectors in Africa. There is a country focus on Cameroon and Nigeria in Unit 1. Unit 2 is on Digital Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation in West Africa, with four essays on case studies in Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. Focus is on digital start-ups and their environment and on business conglomerates which are growing by using 4IR technologies. It is the intention to analyse the new business opportunities and the opportunities for the growth of firms. It is of interest to study the competitive position of the start-ups and the small digital enterprises and as well the policy approaches of the governments to support such enterprises. Unit 3 is on South Africa, by focussing on the role of Digital Development Centres of Universities to support households and firms in their surroundings. Case studies in the four essays which are included in the Unit 3 relate to the digital support of small female food producers and to the role of digital twinning technologies for agriculture development, while the other two essays highlight issues for the upgrading of education and health sectors through digital technologies. Unit 4 is on Book Reviews and Book Notes, mainly related to new publications on Digital Transformation, Start-ups and Business Opportunities. These four Units give new insights into the spread of 4IR technologies over sectors, activities, countries, and regions through the creation of new enterprises and the digital mobilization of established firms in Africa, but the policy issues and the government actions towards digitalization have also a central role.

The Editorial Committee has decided about the title and the focus of volume 24 (2024). The volume will have the title “Fiscal Capacity and Resource Mobilization in Africa - New Strategies and New Instruments”. The COVID 19 crisis has impacted heavily on the macroeconomics of African countries - through lockdowns and isolations, but mainly through the interaction of detrimental supply and demand shocks. Important issues in relation to the theme of the planned volume are the following: The share of tax revenues to GDP in Africa is stagnating and the share of non-tax revenues to GDP is declining, volatile, and irregular; so there is need to arrange for a new strategy for taxation and for increasing non-tax revenues. As COVID 19 has increased the overall budget deficits of African countries and has created new debt problems in an environment of insufficient global debt servicing support measures, new national, regional and global strategies at resource mobilization are needed. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will also have repercussions on the fiscal capacity, positive and negative ones; all this will depend on the type and speed of implementation of policy actions for the AfCFTA. Some social sectors, like health and education, but also infrastructure sectors, such as water and sanitation, transport infrastructure and logistics, will need more investment and will depend on appropriate fiscal space.

Various sub-sectors for the digital transformation (ICT and digital network infrastructure, public support for the spread of 4IR technologies) will need more investment and funds for operations and maintenance. Also, social safety nets for the poor and for neglected social groups have to be reviewed and extended, what can be better done with new digitalization instruments. The transformation of key economic sectors will also benefit from strategies to increase the fiscal capacity and to mobilize resources at all government levels. New foreign debt strategies and new approaches to generate global funds for key policy fields in Africa play a role. The fiscal capacity at sub-national levels is of interest as well as the fiscal capacity at the level of regional economic communities in Africa. Not only new strategies for increasing the fiscal capacity are requested urgently, but also new budget instruments for policy design, policy evaluation, policy monitoring, and policy implementation are needed.

An International Call for Papers for volume 24 (2024) will be released soon. It is expected that again guest editors will assist the volume editors from the Editorial Committee in the further work on the newly planned yearbook edition. Also numerous reviewers will help the editors to support the project.

Access to Information about the African Development Perspectives Yearbook: An Open Access Publication Project

http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/index.php?content=345&lng=de

http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/afrikanische_entwicklungsperspektiven_research_group_/

http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/index.php?content=340&lng=de

http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/index.php?content=341&lng=de

Access to Information about the Festschrift for the African Development Perspectives Yearbook (The 30 Years Anniversary - 1989-2019): The Festschrift contains a lot of recommendations for the future work of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook collaborators and partners.

Second Edition of the Festschrift:

https://media.suub.uni-bremen.de/bitstream/elib/4652/1/Wohlmuth-Festschrift.pdf

Festschrift of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen at the occasion of:
Thirty Years (1989 - 2019) of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook – Impacts on Policy Reforms in Africa
A Collection of Essays, Statements, and Commentaries by Editors, Contributors, Sponsors, and Supporters
Compiled by Professor Karl Wohlmuth, University of Bremen, Chief Editor of the Yearbook since 1989
First Edition November 2020, Second Edition January 2021

Researching Regional Integration in Africa:

The Research Group on African Development Perspectives has published in various volumes of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook widely on the issues of EU policies towards Africa, the role of Regional Economic Communities, and on the role of Africa’s Common Market Policies which are led by the African Union (Link: African Development Perspectives Yearbook). The recent Volume 15 for 2010/2011 on Africa and the Global Financial Crisis – Impact on Economic Reform Processes contains articles on regional economic and monetary integration. In the forthcoming Volume 16 for 2012/2013 on Macroeconomic Policy Formation there will be discussions of macroeconomic policy coordination at the level of Regional Economic Communities in Africa.

For Volume 17 (planned for 2014) of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook there are first ideas to consider the theme of Africa’s Progress in Regional and Global Economic Integration. A Call for Papers for Volume 17 will be presented in due time. Focus will be on the new perspectives of regional economic and monetary integration of Africa and on issues of global economic and monetary integration of Africa (taking up some discussions of the early Volume 8, A and B (2000/2001): Africa's Reintegration into the World Economy (Link: African Development Perspectives Yearbook). Background to this publication project is the new consensus emerging at African regional institutions (UNECA, AfDB and AUC) on a basic African regional integration framework which should guide all types of cooperation with other world regions (EU, USA, Japan, China, India, Latin America, etc.). Action in this direction is advanced by forming joint action groups on researching Regional Integration in Africa (see the four major reports published so far):

UNECA’s Assessing Regional Integration in Africa I: ECA Policy Research Report (http://www.uneca.org/aria1/)

UNECA’s Assessing Regional Integration in Africa II: Rationalizing Regional Economic Communities (http://www.uneca.org/aria2/)

UNECA’s Assessing Regional Integration in Africa III: Towards Monetary and Financial Integration in Africa http://www.uneca.org/aria/aria3/index.htm)

UNECA’s Assessing Regional Integration in Africa IV: Enhancing Intra-African Trade (http://www.uneca.org/aria/aria4/index.htm)

See on the four reports Assessing Regional Integration in Africa I – IV also the overview information: http://www.uneca.org/aria/

See also News and Resources on the Joint Africa-EU Strategy Europafrica.net: http://europafrica.net/2010/06/02/new-joint-eca-afdb-auc-report-on-regional-integration-calls-for-strong-action-to-lower-costs-of-doing-business-and-facilitate-intra-african-trade/

(All the Reports are available under: http://www.uneca.org/publications/serie/Assessing-Regional-Integration-in-Africa)

UNECA’s Assessing Regional Integration in Africa V: Towards an African 

Continental Free Trade Area, UNECA, Addis Ababa 2012

Web Access: http://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/publications/aria5_print_uneca_fin_20_july_1.pdf 

UNECA’s Assessing Regional Integration in Africa VI: Harmonizing Policies to 

Transform the Trading Environment, UNECA, Addis Ababa 2013

Web Access: http://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/publications/aria_vi_english_full.pdf

Earlier volumes from 1989 to 2014 (Numbers 1 to 16) and also Volumes 17 and 18 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook (both are forthcoming or in progress) contain various essays on regional integration in Africa (Link to the  Research Group on African Development Perspectives: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/african_developm_.htm and to the Yearbook Series: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/africa/africanyearbook.htm ). 

The PhD study by Dr. Mareike Meyn has appeared as a book (see bibliographic reference below):

Meyn, Mareike, The Impact of EU Free Trade Agreements on Economic Development and Regional Integration in Southern Africa,The Example of EU-SACU Trade Relations, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2006. 453 pp., num. fig. and tables, Development Economics and Policy Bd. 55, Herausgegeben von Heidhues Franz / von Braun Joachim, ISBN 3-631-55354-4 / US-ISBN 0-8204-9921-8  pb.

Online bestellen: www.peterlang.com SFR 108.00

Dr. Mareike Meyn has contributed extensively in her years at the Institute for World Economics and International Management (IWIM) in Bremen and at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London to the debate on EU-Africa trade relations and on the issues of negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with African Regional Economic Communities.

The studies at IWIM Bremen can be accessed via: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/the_impact_of_eu_free_trade_agreements_on_economic_development_and_regional_integration_in_southern_africa_african_development_perspectives_yearbook/

The studies at ODI London can be accessed via: http://www.odi.org.uk/

A major report on ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) can  be accessed via:

http://www.normangirvan.info/acp-eu-epas-final-report-by-mareike-meyn-christoper-stevens23-novemver-2007/

or:

http://www.normangirvan.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/final-epa-status-report-221107-2.pdf

The Report covers for Africa the following regions: Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Central Africa, and West Africa

ODI/Commonwealth Secretariat,

ACP–EU  Economic Partnership Agreements, Final Report, Commissioned by the  Commonwealth Secretariat, November 2007,

by Mareike Meyn and Christopher Stevens

Overseas Development Institute,

111 Westminster Bridge Road, 

London SE1 7JD, United Kingdom

Tel.: +44 (0)20 7922 0300 Fax: +44 (0)20 7922 0399

www.odi.org.uk

For Southern African countries the following publication at NEPRU (THE NAMIBIAN ECONOMIC POLICY RESEARCH UNIT, Windhoek, Namibia) on EPAs is relevant:

http://www.acp-eu-trade.org/library/files/Meyn-M_EN_072004_EPAs-regional-integration-Southern-Africa.pdf

Also in various more recent volumes of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook there are contributions by Dr. M. Meyn and by other authors on policy issues of EU-Africa relations and on the negotiations of ACP-EU EPAs (Link: African Development Perspectives Yearbook).

 Bibliography Dr. Mareike Meyn:

 (1) Titel: The impact of EU free trade agreements on economic development and regional integration in southern Africa. Empirical investigations of EU-SACU trade relations. 
(2) Bearbeiterin: Dipl.-Volkswirtin Mareike Meyn 
(3) Inhalt und Methodik des Forschungsvorhabens: Mit Unterzeichung des Cotonou Abkommens im Jahre 2000 wurde die Handelsbeziehungen der Staaten des südlichen Afrikas mit der Europäischen Union (EU) grundlegend geändert. Bis zum Jahre 2008 soll statt einseitiger Präferenzabkommen ein reziprokes Abkommen mit regionalen Gruppierungen eingegangen werden. Für die Staaten des südlichen Afrikas bedeutet dies fundamentale Änderungen, die sich beispielsweise in Zolleinnahmeverlusten, verstärkter Konkurrenz und politischen und ökonomischen Interessensverschiebungen innerhalb regionaler Integrationsabkommen ausdrücken. Am Beispiel der Länder der "Southern African Customs Union" (Südafrika, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia und Swaziland) wird untersucht, inwieweit Firmen und Institutionen im südlichen Afrika über die Implikationen der Neuordnung der Beziehungen zu ihrem Haupthandelspartner informiert sind und welche Chancen und Risiken sich für sie ergeben. Die empirische Basis der Arbeit stellt ein viermonatiger Forschungsaufenthalt von Frau Meyn in Südafrika, Botswana, Namibia und Swaziland dar, in dem zahlreiche Interviews mit Firmen, Ministerien, Industrie- und Handelskammern sowie Forschungseinrichtungen geführt wurden. Die Ergebnisse der Forschungsarbeit werden in der Dissertationsschrift von Frau Meyn veröffentlicht. 
(4) Förderung: Universität Bremen, DAAD. 
(5) Eingliederung in einen Forschungsverband: Institut für Weltwirtschaft und Internationales Management, Kooperation mit der Research Group on African Development Perspectives, der Namibian Economic and Policy Research Unit (NEPRU), Namibia, dem Trade Law Centre in Southern Africa (tralac), Südafrika, dem Botswana Intitute for Development and Policy Analysis (BIDPA), Botswana und dem National Institute for Economic Policy (NIEP), Südafrika. 
(6) Veröffentlichungen (zum Download siehe Publikationen Meyn): 
Meyn, M. (2004): The Export Performance of the South African Automotive Industry. New Stimuli by the EU-South Africa Free Trade Agreement? Tralac Working Paper 8/2004.
Meyn, M. (2004): Are Economic Partnership Agreements likely to Promote or Constrain Regional Integration in Southern Africa? Options, Limits and Challenges Botswana, Mauritius and Mozambique are Facing. NEPRU Working Paper No. 96, Juli 2004. 
Meyn, M. (2004): Launching of SADC EPA Negotiations - Challenges for Southern Africa. NEPRU Policy Brief issue 08, Juli. 
Meyn, M. (2004): The EU - South Africa FTA and its effect on EPA negotiations: An examination of some options, opportunities and challenges facing the BLNS countries. Konferenzpaper für die European Community Studies Association in Southern Africa: "The relationship between Africa and the European Union", University of Western Cape, 22-23 Januar.
Meyn, M. (2003): The SACU-USA Free Trade Agreement: What is in it for Namibia? NEPRU Policy Brief Issue 06, Dezember. 
Meyn, M. (2003): The TDCA and the proposed SACU-USA FTA: Are Free Trade Agreements with Industrialised countries beneficial for SACU? NEPRU Working Paper No. 89, Windhoek, Dezember. 
Meyn, M. (2003): Das Freihandelsabkommen zwischen Südafrika und der EU und seine Implikationen für die Länder der Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Berichte aus dem Weltwirtschaftlichen Colloquium, Nr. 82. 
Meyn, Mareike (2002): Die Neuausrichtung der EU-AKP und der EU-Südafrika Beziehungen und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Länder der SADC. In: Berichte des Forschungsinstituts der Internationalen Wissenschaftlichen Vereinigung Weltwirtschaft und Weltpolitik (IWVWW), Dezember, S. 71-76

Invited are contributions for Volume 23 (2022) of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook with the title “Business Opportunities, Start-ups and Digital Transformation in Africa” (International Call for Papers Volume 23, 2022). The contributions should be evidence-based and policy-oriented. High academic standards are requested and will be reviewed by referees. Non-technical papers with deep analysis, which are readable by practitioners in development cooperation and by media people, have a high priority in the selection process. The analytical concept of the proposed contribution and the methodological framework of analysis should be outlined in the Abstract which is submitted to the Editors.

The theme for volume 23 (2022) on “Business Opportunities, Start-ups and Digital Transformation in Africa” is related to the ongoing global digital transformation, with impacts on productive sectors and the society also in Africa. African countries are differently advancing in the process of digital transformation, and some countries are even leading in this process by presenting digital solutions to current problems as we can see now in the COVID-19 crisis. The COVID-19 crisis reveals that health systems, education systems, government structures, financial services, and manufacturing processes are impacted by the digital transformation. Digital platforms give access to medical innovations, give information about hygiene advice, and provide for local availability of health protection utensils so that those living in remote rural areas and in semi-urban areas can also be reached. Those who are working in informal sector occupations get also access to digital media. In manufacturing sectors, we see a process of repurposing of industries towards basic goods for protecting people from COVID-19. We also encourage contributions along these lines.

The volume 23 (2022) of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook will cover three main issues:

First, the new business opportunities created by the digital transformation will be reviewed. Consumers, producers, traders, and entrepreneurs benefit from the new business opportunities. New products, new services, new forms of cooperation, and new supply chains emerge.

Second, the digital transformation increases the number of start-ups and venture capital funds in Africa. All types of start-ups are growing rapidly in Africa, and digital entrepreneurship is advancing not only in technology hubs but in all areas where Internet access is given. The many emerging start-ups (in all productive sectors and in all branches of digital transformation) and finance institutions (from venture capital funds to impact, innovation and technology funds) are important for employment creation, structural transformation, poverty reduction, and the connection to local, regional and global markets.

Third, there are longer-term implications of the digital transformation for the productive sectors, mainly for manufacturing sectors and for agribusiness. But there are also strong impacts on services and administration sub-sectors.

It is an intention to publish in volume 23 country-specific, company-specific and sector-specific digital transformation cases, company success stories, but also analytic essays on the perspectives of the “fourth industrial revolution” for Africa and on the impacts of “globalization 4.0” on Africa. It is also of great interest to see how informal sectors can become part of the core economy in Africa through the digital transformation. COVID-19 is affecting the pace of the digital transformation in Africa, and this process needs to be documented.

The Book Reviews/Book Notes Editor (Professor Samia Nour, University of Khartoum) invites authors, research institutes and publishers to send books, discussion papers, documents, and journals for review. The material should be related to the theme of volume 23 (2022).

To get an overview of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook project please look at the links: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/africa/africanyearbook.htm, and: https://www.karl-wohlmuth.de/african_development_perspectives_yearbook/.

When the Yearbook Series started in 1989 with a volume on “Human Dimensions of Adjustment” no one of the founders thought that this project would exist for thirty years and more. But now we can say that the demand for this Yearbook was continuously on the increase. The volumes became over time important additions to the literature on African Development Perspectives. We are proud to say that the African Development Perspectives Yearbook is now the leading English-language annual in Germany on Africa. The volumes are still organized around Units, comprising three to five essays, and each Unit is introduced by editors through a presentation of issues and strategies that follow from the messages of the essays. Each volume has a specific theme which is of utmost importance in the discussion about development policies for Africa. The editors still preserve this way of grouping the material, when presenting the analytical essays, the field studies, the documents, the reviews, the briefs and the notes.

We observe that some of the volumes which appeared in the 1990s and in the 2000s are again at the centre of policy discussions about Africa, just to mention “Good Governance and Economic Development” or “Industrialization based on Agricultural Development” or “Africa - Escaping the Primary Commodities Dilemma” or “Active Labour and Employment Policies in Africa”. It is interesting to see how relevant some of the proposals mentioned there still are in the policy discussion, and so they are cited again and again. These volumes are still sold and read, and the impact on the policymakers in Africa and at the global level encourages us to continue with the work for the Yearbook Project. The strong interest about the Yearbook themes follows the discussion about development strategies for Africa at global and regional levels. So, the launch of the Yearbook volume for 2015/16 on “Africa's Progress in Regional and Global Economic Integration – Towards Transformative Regional Integration” by UNECA in Kigali, Rwanda had a great effect; the messages and the lessons were taken up Africa-wide with great interest and recognition.

The new volumes for 2018 and 2019 are unique as they highlight a Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)-led development strategy for Africa (see the Cover of each volume below). The strategies developed are taking up African positions and proposals, but these are critically analysed and confronted with the “state of the art” analyses about global achievements with regard of STI and Inclusive Growth policies. Country cases play in all the volumes a great role. In these two volumes we have taken up country cases for Nigeria, Sudan, Cameroon, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Egypt. Some country cases are considered in a full Unit, like for Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt and Tunisia, others in the form of one or two essays (such as for Mauritania and Cameroon). The specific theme for a volume is also enriched by a full Unit on Book Reviews and Book Notes. All the relevant literature on global, regional, national and local issues is considered by reviewers who are working in the area of STI and Inclusive Growth policies.

Contributors, Editors, and Supporters of the Project will work on an Anniversary Festschrift on “Thirty Years (1989-2019) of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook” to highlight the achievements and main outcomes, the messages and lessons for policymakers, and to make proposals and plans to prepare for the future perspectives of the Yearbook project. The University of Bremen has supported the project now over more than three decades. A press report was prepared and issued by the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies and the University of Bremen (see it as a PDF FB 7 - Info Jahrbuch/Yearbook, and as a Link https://www.uni-bremen.de/wiwi/news/detailansicht/ein-projekt-der-afrikaforschung-an-der-universitaet-bremen). The volume for 2020/21 with the title “Sustainable Development Goal 9 (Infrastructure, Industrialization, Innovation) and African Development – Challenges and Opportunities” is now finalized by research teams. There are already concrete plans for the 2022 volume with the theme “Business Opportunities, Growth of Innovative Start-ups, and Digital Transformation in Africa”. An International Call for Papers for the 2022 volume will be made available in the next few months.

Information about the Yearbook Project is made available under:
https://www.karl-wohlmuth.de/african_development_perspectives_yearbook/
http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/index.php?content=345&lng=de
http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/forschung/forsch-adpy.htm

The LIT Verlag is the partner of the Yearbook project:
https://www.lit-verlag.de/publikationen/reihen/african-development-perspectives-yearbook/?p=1

Under a WIKIPEDIA entry you see a short description:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Development_Perspectives_Yearbook

Bibliographic Information:
African Development Perspectives Yearbook 2019
Science, Technology And Innovation Policies For Inclusive Growth In Africa - Human Skills Development And Country Cases,
Edited by Achim Gutowski, Nazar Mohamed Hassan, Tobias Knedlik, Chantal Marie Ngo Tong, Karl Wohlmuth,
LIT Verlag Wien, Zürich 2020
ISBN 978-3-643-91173-5 (pb)
ISBN 978-3-643-96173-0 (PDF)
i-xxxvi und 527 Seiten und i-x

Bibliographic Information:
African Development Perspectives Yearbook 2018
Science, Technology And Innovation Policies For Inclusive Growth In Africa – General Issues And Country Cases,
Edited by Reuben A. Alabi, Achim Gutowski, Nazar Mohamed Hassan, Tobias Knedlik, Samia Satti Mohamed Nour, Karl Wohlmuth,
LIT Verlag Wien, Zürich 2018
ISBN 978-3-643-91042-4 (pb)
ISBN 978-3-643-96042-9 (PDF)
i-xxx und 555 Seiten und i-v

Related to the publishing activity for the Yearbook is the research activity of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen (see about the Research Group the PDF ADPY Research Group, and the links to follow-up the research activity related to the themes of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook:
http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/afrikanische_entwicklungsperspektiven_research_group_/, and:
http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/index.php?content=340&lng=de, and:
http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/index.php?content=341&lng=de, and:
https://www.karl-wohlmuth.de/afrikanische_entwicklungsperspektiven/).
Guest researchers, currently from Nigeria, are participating in the researches of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen (see: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/environment_and_development_management_nigeria_germany/). They also serve as editors and co-editors of Units/Volumes.

Von Fragen der Industrialisierung, der Agrarentwicklung und der Armutsbekämpfung bis hin zu Wissenschaft, Technologie und Innovation als Voraussetzungen für inklusives Wachstum in Afrika reichen die Themen, die im Jahrbuch abgehandelt werden. Drei Jahrzehnte afrikanischer Entwicklungen und Politikreformen sind im Fokus dieses Publikationsprojektes der Bremer Universität gewesen, und das Projekt wird weitergeführt. Die Forschungsgruppe Afrikanische Entwicklungsperspektiven Bremen unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Karl Wohlmuth und das Institut für Weltwirtschaft und Internationales Management (IWIM) am Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaft der Universität Bremen haben dieses Bremer Entwicklungsprojekt für Afrika begründet. Vor wenigen Wochen ist nun der Band für 2019 des „African Development Perspectives Yearbook“ erschienen (siehe das Cover unten). Der Titel des englischsprachigen Bandes lautet „Science, Technology And Innovation Policies For Inclusive Growth In Africa – Human Skills Development And Country Cases” („Wissenschafts-, Technologie- und Innovationspolitiken für inklusives Wachstum in Afrika – Entwicklung der menschlichen Fähigkeiten und Länderstudien“).

Die Forschungsgruppe unter der Leitung von Professor Dr. Karl Wohlmuth startete mit ihrer Arbeit bereits 1988 und gab seinerzeit den Band 1 des Afrika-Jahrbuchs mit dem Titel „Human Dimensions of Adjustment“ („Menschliche Dimensionen der Anpassung“) im Jahr 1989 heraus (siehe das Cover unten). Dieser Band fand sehr großes Interesse, weil eine neue und kritische Sicht auf die Vorschläge von internationalen Finanzorganisationen für Wirtschaftsreformen in Afrika präsentiert wurde. In den 30 Jahren von 1989 bis 2019 wurden immer wieder zentrale Fragen der afrikanischen Entwicklung unter dem Gesichtspunkt der notwendigen Politikreformen aufgegriffen und tiefschürfend abgehandelt. Wichtige Themen waren etwa: Industrialisierung auf der Basis landwirtschaftlicher Entwicklung; Energie für Afrikas Entwicklung; Aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitiken für Afrika; Regionale Chancen und Perspektiven der Beschäftigung; Governance und ökonomische Entwicklung; Economic Empowerment von kleinen Produzenten in Afrika; Afrikas Reintegration in die Weltwirtschaft; Privatsektorenentwicklung und Entrepreneurship Development in Afrika; Öffentliche und private Wirtschaftssektoren in Afrika im Gleichgewicht; Auswege aus dem Dilemma der Primärgüterexporte; Rohstoffabhängigkeit und Exportdiversifizierung in Afrika; Neue Wachstums- und Armutsbekämpfungsstrategien für Afrika; Internationale, regionale, institutionelle und lokale Strategien der Armutsbekämpfung in Afrika; die Auswirkungen der globalen Finanzkrise auf die Wirtschaftsreformen in Afrika; die Formierung und Implementierung makroökonomischer Politiken in Afrika; Regionale Integration und makroökonomische Politik in Afrika; Afrikas Fortschritte bei der regionalen und globalen Wirtschaftsintegration, und nun in zwei Bänden für 2018 und 2019 die Thematik der Wissenschafts-, Technologie- und Innovationspolitik als Hebel für eine inklusive Wachstumspolitik in Afrika. Alles Themen, die jeweils im Mittelpunkt der Entwicklungspolitik für Afrika standen bzw. noch immer stehen.

Über dieses Jubiläum wurde eine Presseerklärung verfasst (vgl. die PDF Info 30 Jahre Jahrbuch). Vgl. dazu auch die Mitteilungen auf der Homepage des Fachbereichs Wirtschaftswissenschaft der Universität Bremen: https://www.uni-bremen.de/wiwi/news/detailansicht/ein-projekt-der-afrikaforschung-an-der-universitaet-bremen. Es ist auch geplant, eine Online-Festschrift „30 Jahre African Development Perspectives Yearbook – Reformimpulse für Afrika“ zu veröffentlichen. Wichtige Unterstützer, Herausgeber, Autoren wollen sich zu dem Projekt äußern.

Bibliographische Information über die neue Publikation:

African Development Perspectives Yearbook 2019

Science, Technology And Innovation Policies For Inclusive Growth In Africa - Human Skills Development And Country Cases,

Edited by Achim Gutowski, Nazar Mohamed Hassan, Tobias Knedlik, Chantal Marie Ngo Tong, Karl Wohlmuth,
LIT Verlag Wien, Zürich 2020
ISBN 978-3-643-91173-5 (pb)
ISBN 978-3-643-96173-0 (PDF)
i-xxxvi und 527 Seiten und i-x

Infos über die Publikationsreihe: 1989-2019

http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/index.php?content=345&lng=de
http://www.lit-verlag.de/reihe/adpy

Der nächste Band des Jahrbuchs für 2020/21 ist in Vorbereitung und wird dem Thema “Sustainable Development Goal 9 (Infrastructure, Industrialization, Innovation) and African Development – Challenges and Opportunities” gewidmet sein. Vgl. den International Call for Papers zur Übersicht der Inhalte (PDF International Call for Papers Volume 22). Für das Jahr 2022 ist das Thema „Business Opportunities, Growth of Start-Ups, and Digital Transformation in Africa” in Planung.

Durch Forschungsprojekte wird die Herausgabe dieser Bände unterstützt. Ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt der Forschungsgruppe Afrikanische Entwicklungsperspektiven Bremen thematisiert die Frage, ob die Tendenzen der De-Industrialisierung in Afrika durch die globalen technologischen Entwicklungen und durch die globale digitale Transformation eher verstärkt oder aber abgeschwächt werden. Das neue Thema ist von hoher Politikrelevanz, weil vielfach nicht nur der Industriesektor in Afrika vor großen Problemen steht, sondern auch der Landwirtschaftssektor unter strukturellen Problemen leidet. Ziel der Forschungsarbeit ist es daher, die Grundlagen einer neuen Industrie- und Landwirtschaftspolitik für Afrika zu erarbeiten, die auf kohärenten Wissenschafts-, Technologie- und Innovationspolitiken beruhen. Vgl. dazu die neue Veröffentlichung über technologische Kompetenzen, Strukturwandel und digitale Transformation in Afrika (Veröffentlichung als Discussion Paper in der Blauen Reihe des IWIM mit dem Titel: „Technological Development, Structural Change and Digital Transformation in Africa“, Nummer 128, 2019); Access: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/blaue_reihe/).