Human Development in Africa

Augustin Kwasi Fosu ()
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Augustin Kwasi Fosu: World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Augustin Fosu ()

No HDRP-2010-08, Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) from Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Abstract: Human development (HD), a process designed to enhance human lives directly, is contrasted with economic development, which entails the expansion of material things intended to fulfill human needs. Human development empowers people to participate in the improvement of their own well-being. The paper looks at the record of HD in Africa over the period 1970-2005, using half-decadal data derived from United Nations sources and national statistical bureaus. It is found that over the period analyzed, the human development index improved in all African countries except in Zambia, where it declined, due to unfavorable terms of trade and to persistent health and governance problems, among challenges. Nonetheless, despite this progress, African countries continue to lag behind other regions of the world in HD. There has been little advance on the economic development front, where growth plummeted in most African countries, impoverishing nearly 50 per cent of the population. Towards the end of the 1990s, however, African economies began to recover due mainly to reforms in governance and distributive systems, and in mechanisms to protect people against downside risks, including disease pandemics, political instabilities, droughts and adverse terms of trade. The paper argues for a continuation of reforms in order to further improve economic and human development outcomes on the continent.

Keywords: Human development; poverty; political and economic governance; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 I0 I30 O10 Y1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 60 pages
Date: 2010-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev and nep-hap
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published as background research for the 2010 Human Development Report.

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