Info Englisch

A New Three Year (2015 - 2017) Research Project on Environment and Development Management Germany-Nigeria was launched in Bremen by Professor Reuben A. Alabi

Professor Reuben A. Alabi, an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria and a former Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at IWIM, is the director of a new research project for the coming years 2015-2017 on the theme "Environment and Development Management Germany-Nigeria: Improving and Adapting Waste Management Value Chains". The Nigerian Professor has brought this internationally financed research project to the Excellence University of Bremen. Experiences with German value chains in waste management will be analysed and used for evidence-based reforms in Nigeria. A cooperation with German and Nigerian enterprises in the field of waste management is envisaged and also a cooperation between German and Nigerian universities and research institutes being active in the field. The Nigerian professor will also organize workshops in Bremen and in Nigeria to report on the research results and on the policy recommendations. Economics Professor Karl Wohlmuth is working as a consultant and senior adviser in this project. The Research Group on African Development Perspectives supports the researches. It is envisaged to publish volume 20 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook on the theme of "Energy and Sustainable Development in Africa" using also material from the research project.

Fact Finding Mission (FFM) by Economists from Bremen to Tunis: Cooperation with ENIT University in Tunis and with leading STI Institutions in Tunisia Envisaged

A Fact Finding Mission (FFM) to Tunisia took place in November 2014 at the invitation of Professor Ezzine, President of the Tunisian Society for the Advancement of Science, Technology and Innovation. Participants were three members of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen (Professor Hans-Heinrich Bass, Bremen; Professor Achim Gutowski, Hamburg; and Professor Karl Wohlmuth, Bremen) and from the Cultural Sciences Professor Dr. Cordula Weisskoeppel, University of Bremen. Also a young scientist from the University of Applied Sciences Bremen (from a research working group of Professor Bass) participated as a member of the team; he was responsible for drafting the detailed Minutes.

The Fact Finding Mission (FFM) gave the opportunity to study Tunisia’s National Innovation System, to discuss with representatives of Tunisian government institutions and of Higher Education and STI institutions, and to meet ENIT university staff being responsible for new study and research programmes. There was also time to discuss about the future cooperation with Professor Ezzine and his team, especially on the new study programme Engineering and Technology Policy (ETP). It was agreed to support the programme when it starts in September 2015 in Tunis, by Summer Courses, Scientific Conferences, and by specifically developed lecture modules on innovation policies. This first phase of the cooperation between Bremen and Tunis was financed by the DAAD. Professor Bass, University of Applied Sciences Bremen, was the main applicant. Further already scheduled programme components for 2015 are a Seminar in Bremen on Bremen’s Regional Innovation System and a Science, Technology, Industry and Innovation (STII) Policy Research Conference in Tunis.

The Delegations from Bremen and Tunis during their Meetings

Professor Jelel Ezzine, President of the Tunisian Association for the Advancement of Science, Technology and Innovation (TAASTI), Ecole Nationale d'Ingenieurs de Tunis (ENIT), University of Tunis El-Manar (UTM), has invited the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen to cooperate on the development of a Master Degree Programme in Engineering and Technology Policy (ETP) and on the establishment of an African Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy Institute as well as on the creation of a Pan-African Innovation Ecosystem (PAIES). Tunisia’s success of its economic transformation process is dependent on progress in making STI a major force of growth and development.

Of great interest and importance for the two delegations was the meeting with ADEA (Association for the Development of Education in Africa) staff in the African Development Bank Headquarters Building in Tunis. Representatives from ADEA, the University of Bremen, the University of Applied Sciences Bremen and from ENIT University discussed about ICT education and innovation policies in Africa, about the African Development Perspectives Yearbook Project, and about a cooperation between these institutions towards establishing the ETP programme at ENIT from September 2015 onwards (see the report by ADEA about the meeting: http://adeanet.org/portalv2/en/news/universities-bremen-and-tunis-el-manar-pay-visit-adea#.VKhq8clhLJk ). Various reports on the FFM to Tunis were published in Bremen in newspapers (see PDF) and also in online journals like The European (Web Access: http://www.theeuropean.de/hans-heinrich-bass/9297-tunesien-nach-den-praesidentschaftswahlen-hoffnung ). The two Universities in Bremen reported about the event in press releases (see for the Hochschule Bremen:  http://www.hs-bremen.de/internet/de/einrichtungen/presse/mitteilungen/2014/detail/index_49269.html and for the University of Bremen: http://www.uni-bremen.de/universitaet/presseservice/pressemitteilungen/einzelanzeige/news/detail/News/unterstuetzung-bremer-oekonomen-in-tunis-willkommen.html?cHash=755d38f765e079e8488fd03561fdf373 ). See also the Photo Gallery for the FFM to Tunis (Photo Gallery). The Minutes of the FFM to Tunis are now available and can be sent upon request to interested experts intending to cooperate with universities in Tunisia.

Technological Capabilities, Digital Production, and African Industrialisation: A New United Nations Industrial Development Study

Professor Karl Wohlmuth has just finalized a Background Study for a new UNIDO Project on Africa's Industrial Futures in the Digital Age. The Background Study is on the accumulation of technological capabilities (see for details the link to the Publications by Professor Karl Wohlmuth: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/publikationen/pub-wohlmuth.htm ). The Economics Professor from Bremen analyses the possibilities to accumulate technological capabilities through digital media in African countries and especially so within African enterprises. The socio-economic context of the particular country and the particular firm plays a great role. The study first of all presents evidence about the technological heterogeneity in Africa, by looking at the most influential technological and ICT capability indicators. The accumulation of technological competences is imperative in order to include Africa into global digital manufacturing value chains. It can be supported also in Africa by specific policy measures, and by targeting structural and innovation policies accordingly. However, it is necessary to consider in the policy process the impact of the global techno-economic changes on the industrial structures, bottlenecks and opportunities in Africa. Decisive are the initial conditions in African formal and informal sector enterprises with regard of ICT competence and technological capabilities.

In order to accumulate technological capabilities within African enterprises and African industry systems, it is necessary to adapt the national and regional innovation systems accordingly. It is argued in the Background Study that it is possible to adapt the pillars of the national and regional innovation systems in African countries in such a way that economic incentives for the accumulation of technological capabilities can become stronger. In various case studies the Economics Professor shows that this is also possible in less developed African countries. An Agenda for Strengthening Technological Capabilities is presented in the Background Study.

Digital entrepreneurship, digital skills, and digital manufacturing play an increasing role in Africa, and networking within and between African countries and with the global ICT community facilitates the productive use of these new tools for manufacturing. New industrial development paths, along "remanufacturing", "green manufacturing" and informal sector manufacturing, benefit from processes of digitalisation and these offer new opportunities for African producers, also in terms of employment. New training and further education modules play a role in Africa and are already initiated by enterprises and training institutions. New developments in the innovation process, such as "open innovation", and new production modules, like 3D printing, give the manufacturing process in Africa already a new dimension.

A shorter version of this Background Study will be published in a United Nations book on Africa's Industrial Futures. In this book international experts present their findings on the perspectives of industrial production in Africa in the digital age. Chapters deal also with digitalisation trends and impacts on Africa, manufacturing trends and opportunities in Africa, global structural changes as affecting industrial production in Africa, energy scarcity and climate change as factors impacting on Africa's manufacturing production, and developments with regard of new competitive sectors in Africa. The Expert Group is finalising the report quite soon and will also present policy recommendations to national governments in Africa, UN bodies, donor agencies, and enterprises. Professor Wohlmuth is involved in the expert group as a Consultant and as a Lead Author. Professor Wohlmuth has in earlier work for UNIDO presented studies on the technological strengthening of agro-industrial sectors in Africa (see the Link: http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=1001692 ).

Abgehängtes Schwellenland?

"Südafrika braucht dringend starke Reformen"

Interview mit Professor Dr. Karl Wohlmuth zu den wirtschaftlichen Perspektiven Südafrikas; vgl. Web Access:

http://www.econoafrica.com/wirtschaft-politik/suedafrika-braucht-dringend-starke-reformen/

Professor Jelel Ezzine, President of the Tunisian Association for the Advancement of Science, Technology and Innovation (TAASTI), Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Tunis (ENIT), University of Tunis El-Manar (UTM), has invited the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen to cooperate on the development of a Master Degree Programme in Engineering and Technology Policy (ETP) and on the establishment of an African Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy Institute as well as on the creation of a Pan-African Innovation Ecosystem (PAIES). Tunisia's success of its economic transformation process is dependent on progress in making STI a major force of growth and development.

A Fact Finding Mission to Tunisia will take place in November 2014. Participants are three members of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen (Professor Hans-Heinrich Bass, Bremen; Professor Achim Gutowski, Hamburg; and Professor Karl Wohlmuth, Bremen) and from the Cultural Sciences Professor Dr. Cordula Weisskoeppel, University of Bremen. Also two young scientists from the University of Applied Sciences Bremen (from a research working group of Professor Bass) will participate as members of the team. The Fact Finding Mission will give the opportunity to study Tunisia's National Innovation System, to discuss with representatives of Tunisian government institutions and of Higher Education and STI institutions. There will also be time to discuss about the future cooperation with Professor Ezzine and his team. This first phase of the cooperation is financed by the DAAD. Professor Bass, University of Applied Sciences Bremen,  was the main applicant.  Further already scheduled programme components for 2015 are a STII Summer School in Bremen and a STII Research Conference in Tunis.

Professor Karl Wohlmuth from the University of Bremen presents a new research report on the "Africa Rising Story" being so influential at the moment (see the New Research Report). The author is interested to have comments which can be used for a new draft as the research report will be published in various versions.

The "Africa Rising Story" is the theme of the paper. A lot of myths are prevalent on African growth and development, and the international consulting companies play a role in this. Some of these myths are discussed in this paper on the basis of readings of major international consultancy reports, like McKinsey, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Roland Berger, The Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, Bain & Company, ATKearney, KPMG, Deloitte, and many others. These international consultancy companies have a decisive influence on foreign investors in Africa, on multinationals doing business in Africa, but also on governments, on private local businesses in Africa, and, last but not least, also on donors who are engaged in Africa.

Some of these myths are discussed in this paper and confronted with facts and realities (Africa as a continent of top growers; Africa as a continent of booming economic sectors and of expanding consumer classes; Africa as a continent with an increasing number of globally competitive enterprises; Africa as a continent capturing the "demographic dividend" and the advantages of the "digital economy"; and Africa as a continent with an emerging middle class which is taking up developmental roles). Also the methodological frame of these international consultancy reports is considered. There is reference to the background and the motivation of these companies to write on Africa, to their methodologies and analytical approaches, to their functional importance for investors and governments, and to the spread of the messages all over Africa and throughout the development community.

The intention of the paper is it to provide a frame for a more critical assessment of such reports as they are circulated all over the world press and are written so as to influence not only investors but also key political decision-makers.

A further extension of this version of the research report is done by including more insights on the methodologies used by international consultancy companies in their reports on Africa. This extension of the report will then become published in the IWIM Blue Series Discussion Papers (see IWIM Blue Series Discussion Papers).

Professor Karl Wohlmuth von der Forschungsgruppe Afrikanische Entwicklungsperspektiven der Universität Bremen hat einen neuen Forschungsbericht zur "Africa Rising Story" vorgelegt, die in der derzeitigen Diskussion über Afrikas Wachstumsperspektiven eine große Rolle spielt (vgl. den Neuen Forschungsbericht). Der Autor ist an Kommentaren interessiert, die bei neuen Entwürfen auch berücksichtigt werden, denn der Forschungsbericht wird in mehreren Versionen erscheinen.

Afrika wird in den letzten Jahren immer wieder als boomender Kontinent mit riesigen Wachstums- und Investitionschancen portraitiert, und als ein Kontinent mit einigen sehr schnell wachsenden Ländern ("Afrikanische Löwen" und "Afrikanische Tiger"). Mythen spielen bei der Interpretation von Wachstum und Entwicklung in Afrika eine große Rolle und diese überlagern zunehmend Fakten und Realitäten. Wo nahm die "Africa Rising Story" mit "Afrikanischen Löwen" und "Afrikanischen Tigern" ihren Ausgangspunkt? Welche Hintergründe gibt es dafür? Eine besondere Rolle bei der Mythenbildung spielen dabei die internationalen Consultingunternehmen mit ihren Afrikaberichten, also Namen wie McKinsey, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Roland Berger, Bain & Company, The Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, ATKearney, KPMG, Deloitte, und viele andere mehr. Diese Unternehmen haben starken Einfluss auf die ausländischen Investoren, auf die Multinationalen Unternehmen, die in Afrika Geschäfte machen, aber auch auf die Regierungen, die lokale Privatwirtschaft in Afrika und schließlich auch auf die multilaterale und bilaterale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit.

Einige dieser Mythen werden in der Studie diskutiert und mit Fakten und Realitäten konfrontiert (Afrika sei ein Kontinent von besonders schnell wachsenden Ländern; Afrika sei ein Kontinent mit boomenden Wirtschaftssektoren und schnell expandierenden Konsumentenklassen; Afrika sei ein Kontinent mit einer wachsenden Zahl von global agierenden und international wettbewerbsfähigen Unternehmen; Afrika sei ein Kontinent, der zunehmend die Vorteile der "demographischen Dividende" und der "digitalen Revolution" ausschöpfen könne; und Afrika sei ein Kontinent mit einer zunehmend entwicklungsförderlich agierenden afrikanischen Mittelklasse). Auch die methodischen Grundlagen der Berichte dieser internationalen Consultingunternehmen werden geprüft. Es wird auf die Hintergründe und die Motivationen bei der Erstellung dieser Berichte, auf die methodischen und analytischen Ansätze, auf die funktionale Bedeutung der Berichte für Investoren und Regierungen, und auf die Art der Verbreitung der Messages in Afrika und im globalen Kontext eingegangen.

Mit dieser Studie soll ein Rahmen für die kritische Auseinandersetzung mit den Afrikaberichten der internationalen Consultingunternehmen präsentiert werden. Dies ist wichtig, weil die Inhalte dieser Afrikaberichte sehr schnell von der Weltpresse aufgenommen und so die potentiellen Investoren und wichtige politische Entscheidungsträger gezielt beeinflusst werden.

Eine weitere Version dieser Studie wird demnächst vorgelegt; es wird darin stärker auf die methodischen Grundlagen in den Afrikaberichten der internationalen Consultingunternehmen eingegangen werden. Dieser erweiterte Beitrag wird dann in den  IWIM Blue Series Discussion Papers veröffentlicht werden (vgl. IWIM Blue Series Discussion Papers).

Vor 25 Jahren erschien der erste Band des "African Development Perspectives Yearbook" mit dem Titel "Human Dimensions of Adjustment". Die Forschungsgruppe Afrikanische Entwicklungsperspektiven Bremen feiert ihr Jubiläum und arbeitet intensiv an den Projekten für die kommenden Jahre. Das "Jahrbuch Afrikanische Entwicklungsperspektiven" erscheint seit 1989 als englischsprachige Publikation ("African Development  Perspectives Yearbook"). In diesen 25 Jahren ist das Jahrbuch zu einer international anerkannten Quelle für Information und Analyse zu Afrikas Entwicklungsperspektiven geworden. Beiträge in den Jahrbüchern finden immer wieder die Aufmerksamkeit von Experten in internationalen Organisationen wie auch in nationalen Entwicklungsinstitutionen. Im Jubiläumsjahr 2014 sind sogar zwei Bände des Jahrbuchs erschienen. Beide Bände haben das Thema "Makroökonomische Politikgestaltung in Afrika". Im ersten Band geht auf die allgemeinen Grundlagen der makroökonomischen Politikgestaltung in Afrika und auf die makroökonomische Politikgestaltung in den Ländern des "Arabischen Frühlings" in Nordafrika ein. Im zweiten Band werden vergleichende Länderstudien für einige Sub-Sahara-Länder Afrikas und Regionalstudien präsentiert. Im Rahmen dieser beiden Bände wird ein neuer makroökonomischer Strategieansatz für Afrika entwickelt, der auf fünf Säulen beruht.

Die neue makroökonomische Strategie für Afrika, die von den Experten in ihren Beiträgen vorgeschlagen wird, fordert erstens eine stärkere Nutzung der Spielräume von Geld-, Wechselkurs- und Fiskalpolitik für die Beschäftigungsschaffung. Zweitens soll die makroökonomische Politik die Bedingungen für inklusives und nachhaltiges Wachstum verbessern. Drittens gilt es, die länderspezifischen Faktoren der Verwundbarkeit bei Störungen im Wirtschaftskreislauf zu erkennen und bei der Stärkung der Abwehrkräfte durch makroökonomische Politikreformen und Strukturreformen zu berücksichtigen. Viertens sind der Grad der ökonomischen Globalisierung und der Stand der ökonomischen Governance von Bedeutung für die Wahl der makroökonomischen Ziele und Instrumente. Fünftens sind die zentralen makroökonomischen Institutionen (insbesondere Finanzministerium, Zentralbank, Planungsministerium) stärker als bisher zu vernetzen. In den Länderstudien zeigt sich, dass auf der Grundlage dieser Strategieelemente soziales und nachhaltiges Wachstum in Afrika gefördert werden kann.

Der erste Band des Jahrbuchs, der 1989 erschienen ist, hatte das Thema "Menschliche Dimensionen der Anpassung" ("Human Dimensions of Adjustment"). Das Thema ist bis heute relevant, da es immer wieder darum geht, wie ökonomische Stabilisierungspolitiken sozial verträglich abgefedert werden können. Seit dem ersten Band sind Struktur und Philosophie der Jahrbuchausgaben behutsam weiterentwickelt worden. Die Grundideen, die das Projekt tragen, sind aber beibehalten worden. Dies betrifft die Themenwahl, die inhaltliche Struktur, die Präsentation der Inhalte, die Lesbarkeit, aber auch die wirtschaftspolitische Relevanz der Bände. Die Bände sollen Akteure in Politik, Wirtschaft und Entwicklungszusammenarbeit zu Politikreformen in Afrika anregen. Alle Beiträge gehen daher auf den Handlungsbedarf in der Politik der afrikanischen Länder ein. In diesen 25 Jahren wurden daher viele zentrale Themen afrikanischer Entwicklung fokussiert, die im Mittelpunkt der Reformdiskussionen standen.

Jeder Band hat daher ein Schwerpunktthema, das auf aktuelle Fragen der afrikanischen Wirtschaftsentwicklung bezogen ist. Die Probleme, Möglichkeiten und Chancen Afrikas werden von der lokalen Ebene bis zur globalen Ebene betrachtet, und werden zudem von der Projektebene bis hin zur makroökonomischen Politikebene konkretisiert. Neben den analytischen Beiträgen finden sich Beiträge zur Politikreform und Dokumente (Deklarationen und Resolutionen) von Bedeutung für die Entwicklung des afrikanischen Kontinents. Die Bände sind nach Units (Teilen) organisiert, die von Unit-Herausgebern betreut und eingeführt werden. Dazu kommt, dass afrikanische Autoren und Herausgeber eine immer größere Rolle in der Forschungsgruppe spielen, was die Relevanz der Bände stark erhöht. In einem umfangreichen Review-Teil werden für das Schwerpunktthema relevante Bücher, Zeitschriften, Diskussionsbeiträge und Policy Documents besprochen.

Die Universität Bremen weist in einer Pressemitteilung auf die Bedeutung dieser Publikation hin (Link: http://www.uni-bremen.de/universitaet/presseservice/pressemitteilungen/einzelanzeige/news/detail/News/25-jahre-jahrbuch-afrikanische-entwicklungsperspektiven.html?cHash=1cafff88f235c88a4063fbdf44a56b3e und PDF ). Vgl. auch den Bericht in Kooperation international/Eine Initiative vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Link: http://www.kooperation-international.de/detail/info/25-jahre-jahrbuch-afrikanische-entwicklungsperspektiven.html und PDF ). 

Impact of Agricultural Foreign Aid on Agricultural Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa– - An AGRODEP/IFPRI Study by Professor Reuben A. Alabi, Nigeria

Professor Reuben A. Alabi, IWIM's Alexander von Humboldt Research Scholar, has published an important study on the Impact of Agricultural Foreign Aid on Agricultural Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study was facilitated by the international think tank IFPRI (working on agriculture and food security in developing countries and being located in Washington D. C.) and was published by AGRODEP (African Growth & Development Policy modelling consortium). The study investigates the impact of foreign agricultural aid on agricultural GDP and on productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using secondary data regarding foreign agricultural aid, agricultural GDP and productivity indicators from 47 SSA countries, spanning the period 2002-2010 and employing a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) framework, the study reveals that foreign agricultural aid has a positive and significant impact on agricultural GDP and on agricultural productivity. There is also an impact of disasters and conflicts in Africa on aid receipts, a finding which implies that foreign agricultural aid responds to disasters and conflicts in the SSA region. The paper is downloadable (online access at http://www.agrodep.org/sites/default/files/AGRODEPWP0006.pdf ; see also the PDF of the study).

Professor Alabi is also preparing a paper on foreign aid to Africa's agriculture for IWIM's Blue Series Discussion Papers (Link to http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/publikationen/pub-blue.htm ). Various of his former studies produced at IWIM in Bremen are available in the Blue Series Discussion Papers. Professor Alabi was recently invited to attend the high-level event German – African Cooperation in Education and Research/Africa Days of the BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung/Federal Ministry of Education and Research) which took place in Berlin in March 2014 (see the Programme of the event as a PDF). Economics Professor Karl Wohlmuth and Agricultural Economics Professor Reuben A. Alabi prepare a research and development project on Solid Waste Management in Nigeria for environmental protection and production uses, with lessons derived from Germany's policies in this regard. Nigeria can learn a lot from the solid waste recycling policies in Germany and from the innovative recycling firms' activities in Germany.

When in 1989 the first volume of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook appeared, nobody in the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen would have anticipated that the Yearbook is still on the market 25 years later, and that the Yearbook would gain international acceptance and recognition – as a source of information on African development perspectives, as a collection of analytical articles, of documentation, and of reviews and book notes. Over the years the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen became a network of researchers, cooperation partners, and development institutions, with increasing participation from Africa. Now, many international and regional organizations, donor agencies, governmental offices, universities, African studies centers, media, and many experts working on and in Africa look carefully at the new issues of the Yearbook. The African Development Perspectives Yearbook considers themes from the local space to the global space, and from the project level to the national policy level; also regional integration and global integration issues are discussed (see about the Research Group and the Yearbook volumes from 1989 to 2014: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/africa/africanyearbook.htm and the Wikipedia International entry about the importance of the Yearbook:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Development_Perspectives_Yearbook ).

African Development Perspectives Yearbook for 1989                                   African Development Perspectives Yearbook for 2014

The First Volume for the Year 1989: "Human Dimensions of Adjustment" as a theme of great Developmental Importance for Africa till now

The first volume for 1989 had the title "Human Dimensions Of Adjustment". At that time the major direction of discussions was how Africa could respond to the demands for effective economic stabilization. Mainstream economics had their recipes and proposed cures, but many critical observers of such strict economic stabilization policies and packages were skeptical. They emphasized a stabilization approach with social adjustment components associated to the economic stabilization package. The Research Group on African Development Perspectives joined the critical and skeptical voices. African critical and skeptical voices on the proposed mainstream stabilization packages were taken very serious by the members of the Research Group. In Volume One of the Yearbook the Khartoum Declaration Towards A Human-Focused Approach To Socio-Economic Recovery And Development In Africa was carefully analyzed and reprinted in full; it was considered as an expression of African voices. Experts from international organizations like UNICEF and ILO who were as well critical and skeptical towards mainstream adjustment packages for Africa as proposed from IMF and World Bank were invited to contribute to Volume One to present their alternative adjustment policies, but also other views on African Alternative Adjustment were presented.

The Structure of the Yearbook and the Philosophy Behind: Comprehensive Analyses towards the Identification of Successful Development Models

The structure of Volume One was more or less preserved over the years, sustained and improved. The Unit 1 (Part of the Yearbook) on the Khartoum Declaration was complemented by various supporting Units; major issues like the relevance of the UN Program for Africa, the upcoming ecological crisis in Africa and the perspectives of Africa's relations with the European Community, were discussed in Volume One. A further Unit was on Successful African Development Models; Botswana was already at that time considered as a successful development model but also Zimbabwe. Another Unit covered adjustment issues of Nigeria; already at that time there were demands on Nigeria to implement long-term development strategies and to manage the huge oil revenues properly. A Unit on African Non-Governmental Organizations and Local Development highlighted the critical role of NGOs and CSOs in Africa. There was also a Unit on Reviews and Book Notes and a Unit on Profiles, News and Information. Both Units brought the Research Group into contact with publishers, editors, universities and research institutions. So it was possible to find partners having similar ideas and beliefs – the network became strengthened.

This model (or philosophy) of the issues of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook was sustained over the 25 years. The Yearbook volumes have a major theme, are focused on issues debated hotly in Africa; more and more African experts, researchers and institutions are involved and do report on their research themes, their development projects and development programs. The Yearbook is organized in a manner that allows it to bring forth the core messages across various Units which are introduced by Unit Editors. The Yearbook contains documents of importance for the Africa region; declarations and statements by regional and international organizations, by NGOs and CSOs on Africa are reproduced. The Yearbook volumes contain a Unit on Reviews and Book Notes filled with specific studies by inviting those to send their material who have written on the particular Yearbook focus. A Network of Experts and Researchers and of Institutions and Organizations was built.

The Current Work and the Future of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook: Consolidating the International Network on Africa

Over the years the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen became involved in international research efforts. Donor agencies and international organizations became interested in the work of the Research Group. Consultancy, evaluation and research assignments to members of the Research Group followed. International research projects were awarded to the Research Group and its members The members of the Research Group who produced over these 25 years (from 1989 to 2014) the various Yearbook volumes are now working as professors at universities and colleges, as international consultants and advisers, and as experts in international, regional and national development organizations.

To celebrate the event, the year 2014 has seen the publication of two volumes with the titles – Macroeconomic Policy Formation – General Issues and Macroeconomic Policy Formation – Country Cases. The interest in these two volumes is great as a new macroeconomic strategy for Africa was elaborated and tested for various country cases. Currently there is intensive work on the volume for 2015 with the title "Africa's Progress in Regional and Global Economic Integration" as the first drafts from the contributors are reviewed, corrected and revised. Many ideas for further issues are discussed among members of the Research Group. High on the Publication Agenda are issues of New Energy and Sustainable Development Policies in Africa after Fukushima and Science, Technology and Innovation Policies for Exploiting Leapfrogging Opportunities in Africa. The Scientific Coordinator of the Research Group is still Professor Emeritus Dr. Karl Wohlmuth, Professor of Comparative Economic Systems at Bremen University; the Managing Editor is Professor Dr. Tobias Knedlik, Professor of International Economics at Fulda University, and the Review Editor is Professor Dr. Achim Gutowski, Professor of Innovation and Change Management at the University Campus in Hamburg.