By Brandon Fey, Staff Writer
On Thursday, Oct. 5, Gettysburg College held its 18th Annual Derrick K. Gondwe Memorial Lecture in the Mara Auditorium of Master’s Hall. The event was hosted by the Africana Studies Program, the Department of Economics and the Events Planning and Coordinating Committee (EPACC).
The lecture was intended to share potential policy options for tackling the multiple headwinds facing the African continent as outlined in the Foresight Africa 2023 report by the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative. This lecture featured guest speaker Dr. Aloysius Uche Ordu of the University of Nigeria.
Ordu gave a comprehensive presentation that delved into many aspects of the African economy in light of the data garnered from the report. To begin, he shared some background information about the Brooking Institution’s Africa Growth Initiative, which operates as a bi-partisan think tank run by Africans and works as a mouthpiece for Africa to the American federal government. It is not a lobbying organization as it instead focuses on providing information from rigorous economic research into the continent.
The Brookings Institution focuses on five strategic pillars when considering the African economy: development financing, external debt, domestic resource mobilization, financial management and technology & innovation.
Ordu cited many recent developments as critical factors for the future of African nations. He shared that Africa faces long-term vulnerabilities and fragilities, in light of recent military takeovers in several countries including Nigeria. With this in mind, he also sought to highlight the strong prevalence of democracy in Africa, with examples of peaceful elections he has observed in countries like Kenya and Nigeria, and noted the potential for the large youthful populations to further democratic ideals.
Dr. Aloysius Ordu. (Photo Susan Holz/Gettysburg College Economics Department)
When discussing the increased potential of the continent, Ordu said, “Africa has proved to be far more resilient than it is given credit for.”
He mentioned Africa’s ability to withstand many crises, including Ebola, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and COVID-19, regardless of pessimistic predictions.
Despite global headwinds, Africa’s economic growth is expected to reach 3.6%, with countries like Senegal and Ethiopia registering high growth rates.
When addressing the recent war in Ukraine, Ordu argued that Africa’s food insecurity is not purely the result of the invasion and loss of Russian and Ukrainian agricultural imports. Instead, this is due to unsustainable borrowing and high-interest rates.
Finance ministers and central bank governors in Africa have shared their strategies for economic recovery in the face of many challenges. For example, Nigeria could raise $10 billion in domestic financing by eliminating petroleum subsidies, as the new government aims to do. Ordu went on to discuss the importance of reviewing and canceling delayed development projects to benefit beneficiaries.
“There is room for domestic policy actions to address the challenges we face,” he stated.
In addition, many African countries are beginning to lead the world in women’s political participation, yet gender inequality does continue. Ordu is pleased that, despite several obstacles, Africa is proving itself capable of bearing the potential for modern social changes in this regard.
The last major point of discussion was the urgent need for action on climate change, particularly in Africa, where the impacts are already being felt despite contributing the least to the problem. An example of these effects was the horrifically unprecedented flooding that took place in Libya this past September.
Ordu spoke about Africa’s critical role in climate change and urbanization, as it has 176 cities projected to reach over 300,000 people by 2050, with a continental population growing from 1.4 to 2.5 billion by that time.
After answering a few questions, Ordu thanked the College for hosting him and encouraged the audience to stay up to date with the institute’s research by listening to its Foresight Africa podcast.
Audience in attendance. (Photo Susan Holz/Gettysburg College Economics Department)
October 8, 2023
I’m very surprised that corruption in government was not even mentioned, either negatively, or positively, as if it didn’t even exist or affect economic development.