Report: Africa

I. THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION

Basic Indicator Statistics

CATEGORY TOTAL FIGURES Population (millions): 758.4 GNP per Capita (US$ - 1997) $677 Primary School Enrollment (% - 1996) 80% Adult Illiteracy Rate (% - 1995) 44% Life Expectancy (Years - 1997) 54 years CPI Inflation (% - 1997) 13.7% GDP Growth (% - 1997) 3.4% (Source: African Development Bank Group)

Implications
- Growth Rate is insufficient to sustain the African population or even reduce Africa’s poverty rates.
  - Example: In 1996, population grew 3 percent while GDP grew 5 percent, leaving around a 2 percent GDP per capita.
  - Currently the region would need to grow by 5 percent a year just to keep the number of poor from rising (World Bank).
  - At least 45% of Africans live in poverty, and African countries need growth rates of 7% or more to cut that figure in half in 15 years.
    
    Only three countries in sub-Saharan Africa are growing that fast:
    
    Congo-Brazzaville and Angola are oil producers; Rwanda’s growth is aid-driven.
- Human Capital investment is insufficient.
  - Example: Primary school enrollment rates have fallen since 1980 and less than a quarter of poor rural girls attend school (World Bank).

The HIV/AIDS Epidemic

Basic Facts
- 24.5 million of the 34.3 million people worldwide carrying HIV/AIDS are African.
- 7 of 10 people newly infected with HIV/AIDS in 1998 live in sub-Saharan Africa.
- In 1999, about 3.8 million Africans became infected with HIV, and a total of 10.7 million children were estimated to be orphaned by it (World Bank).
  - Of those infected with HIV/AIDS in 1998 under the age of 15, 9 of 10 lived in sub-Saharan Africa (UNAIDS).
  - At least 95% of all AIDS orphans have been African, yet only one-tenth of the world's population lives in Africa south of the Sahara (UNAIDS).
- In general, West Africa is less affected by HIV than Southern or East Africa (UNAIDS).
Life Expectancy
- Implication: HIV/AIDS disables the workforce by wiping out the most productive age group (Ages 15 - 45), and increases the costs of doing business.
  - In South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, one-in-four adults are infected with HIV/AIDS (World Bank).
  - It is estimated that a worker with AIDS costs a business in southern Africa around US$ 200 a year in lost productivity, treatment, benefits and replacement training (UNAIDS).
  - In Zambia, one large company reported in 1995 that its costs from AIDS illness and death exceeded its total profits for the year (UNAIDS).
For More Detailed Information: UNAIDS Website.

Indebtedness

Basic Statistics
- Sub-Saharan Africa’s official debt was approximately $170 billion at the end of 1999 (World Bank).
  - This is between three to four times the value of the region’s exports of goods and services, and almost twice as much as is considered to be sustainable.
- Thirty-three of the forty-one countries that are currently classified as Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) by the World Bank are from Africa.
  
  For in-depth debt statistics of the HIPCs, see: http://www.worldbank.org/hipc/about/debt-table/debt-table.html
Implication
- Funds spent to pay off debts are funds not used to pay for health care, education, and other social projects.
  - Example: Uganda has recently received debt relief from a World Bank project and has proposed to use resources kept from debt relief to help finance its universal primary education program.
  - To read more, see Trotsenburg and MacArthur

Ethnic Conflicts

Fourteen of Africa's 53 countries were afflicted by armed conflicts in 1996 alone. These accounted for more than half of all war-related deaths worldwide, resulting in more than 8 million refugees, returnees and displaced persons. - Kofi Annan, 1998

Basic Fact
- There are currently close to 20 armed conflicts in Africa (up from 14 in 1996) while 11 other countries are under severe political crises (United Nations).
Implications
- Conflict and instability impose very large human and economic costs on Africa and undermine domestic and international efforts to promote human development.
- Conflict damages the quest for national identity and for effective democracy.

II. THE POLITICAL-LEGAL SITUATION

Basic Statistics

Of the fifty-four African countries, only thirteen are democratic.
Democratic nations include: Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde Islands, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, and Zambia.
For detailed information on the political histories and recent election results of selected Southern African countries, visit: http://www.sardc.net/sd/factfiles/

Elections

Of the 45 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, 37 conducted presidential and/or parliamentary elections between 1989 and 1997.

14 of those 37 used proportional representation, while 5 used a semi-proportional system.
In 17 countries, results have been based on plurality votes, and in 8 by majority vote.

However, in some African countries, the main drive may be to capture or cling to the state apparatus itself.
- "In such situations, democratic multi-party elections may degenerate into corruption-prone processes in which the vast majority of the electorate – illiterate, poor, and above all, traditionally unaccustomed to challenging the powers that be – is politically disenfranchised and reduced to no more than ‘voting materials’, ballots to be bought and ignored until the next electoral campaign." (United Nations Concept Paper)

Parliaments

In many countries, the Constitution empowers the Parliament to bring down the entire Cabinet by a vote of no-confidence – either on the general programme of the government, on a specific policy or piece of legislation, or on some action or activity of the government that members deem contrary to the general welfare of the people.
- Few African countries have constitutional provisions whereby a sitting President may be impeached if members of Parliament determine that he/she has violated the Constitution.
- Many Parliaments in Africa lack the political motivation and incentives to challenge the incumbent government or its policies, programmes and budget submissions.
- Voting rules ("winner- takes- all") often result in a lopsided ruling majority that carefully guards information concerning its internal workings and other matters from minority scrutiny.
  - Positive Example: In Mozambique, the imperatives of consolidating peace have given rise to a trust-building process of informal grassroots consultations, known as concertacao, in which citizens are encouraged to present their views and ideas that can be developed into laws through the formal channels of Parliament. (United Nations Concept Paper).

Judiciary

Supreme Courts – In some African countries, they are entrusted with the task of making sure that government decrees and actions do not violate the law.
Courts of Accounts (or, more frequently Chambers or Sections of Accounts within Supreme Courts) – Pass judgment on government budgetary execution and the activities of public accountants, so as to assess whether the national budget has been implemented in accordance with parliamentary authorization and in full compliance with legally mandated public accounting rules and procedures.
Positive Example of Judiciary as Check to Executive:
- In Mauritius, an administrative action may be the subject of judicial review and the Ombudsman has wide constitutional powers to inquire into administrative malpractices.
Problems
- Verdicts from the Courts of Accounts are rarely issued on time, and receive very little public exposure.
- Magistrates (Judges) in nearly all African countries are civil servants whose appointments and other career prospects depend on the Executive.
- Other factors that contribute to loss of confidence in the judicial system: 1) lack of predictability, 2) physical distance between tribunals and the vast majority of citizens, and 3) the huge financial costs of litigation.

Mass Media

Government monopoly of newspapers, magazines and other print media has tended to be widespread on the African continent.
Even where private mass communications organs exist, their independence may be at issue – Often, as elsewhere throughout the world, they are subject in varying degrees to manipulation by powerful political and financial mentors.
Heading in a Positive Direction – In Malawi, one of the nine "strategic directions" of its National Democracy Consolidation Programme concerns the media and includes the establishment of independent rural local-language newspapers and radio stations, along with the formulation of a Freedom of Information Act.