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International assistance needed to improve governance and security in Africa

15 October 2007

The geography of African countries is a major factor in why poverty is rising in that part of the world, while it has been falling in the rest of the developing world, according to the Director of the Centre for African Economies at Oxford University.

In his article, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week, Professor Paul Collier has synthesized a range of recent research to conclude that landlocked, resource-scarce countries in particular are stuck in a poverty trap and that despite international aid, these societies are likely to remain low income for a long time. He suggests a package of measures looking at governance, security and international trade agreements to improve its economic performance.

Part of the problem for the African economies is that the countries have small populations and yet are ethnically diverse, according to Professor Collier, but he believes that current efforts in those countries for tackling policy reform and internal security are starting to work and should continue. He suggests that by bringing more democracy to the region, reducing the size of the state and decentralising spending, economic performance would improve.

He believes that regional and international action is needed to assist African societies in introducing a system of strong checks and balances on how governments can use their power. Reform in banking secrecy for example, would make the embezzlement of resource rents more difficult. There is a better chance of achieving reform in the resource-rich states, he argues, and he suggests that the international community should help with governance policies rather than supplying aid alone.

As Asia becomes increasingly dominant in economic performance, Professor Collier believes current international trade policies need to be revised and it may be time to provide Africa with temporary preferential market access over Asia to give it a chance to catch up.

He argues that the international community should intervene more often when internal violent conflicts break out, playing a peacekeeping role along the lines of the Sierra Leone model provided by Britain. Finally, he suggests that a key to solving some of the problems of the landlocked, resource-scarce states is the introduction of more regional power, as African states have to date been unwilling to cede sufficient sovereignty to make them effective.

Professor Collier concluded: ‘Humanitarian aid, which indeed is intended directly to raise consumption, is designed only to meet short-term emergencies. Long-term aid, while targeted toward low-income countries, is currently intended to raise income. The international community has not yet faced the prospect that even with our best efforts these societies are likely to remain low income for a long time.’
 
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Notes to editors

  • The article ‘Poverty reduction in Africa’ by Paul Collier will be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on during the week 15-19 October.
  • Paul Collier is Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Oxford University, and is also Director of the University’s Centre for the Study of African Economies. His research interests are the causes and consequences of civil war; the effects of aid; and the problems of democracy in low income and natural-resource-rich societies.
  • Professor Collier was recently the senior adviser to Blair’s Commission on Africa.

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