Latest news with #DavidCowan
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis: There are no shortcuts in Africa's battle for productivity
The first law of poverty is based on economics. Neither the moralization of capitalism, nor the redefinition of progress, nor the tribulations of imperialism are the concerns of Africans. What matters is a rapid and sustained rise in worker productivity, the only true guarantee of improving living standards. As Nobel laureate Paul Krugman put it: 'Productivity isn't everything, but, in the long run, it is almost everything. A country's ability to improve its standard of living over time depends almost entirely on its ability to raise its output per worker.' Between 2015 and 2023, Côte d'Ivoire's value added per industrial worker rose 60%, manufacturing output doubled to $9.5 billion, and the poverty rate — defined as living on less than $2.15/day — fell from 33% to 10%. Meanwhile, in Cameroon, industrial productivity stagnated. The manufacturing gap between the two countries widened to $3.5 billion, and Côte d'Ivoire's GDP lead over Cameroon grew from $7 billion in 2010 to $30 billion in 2023. Unsurprisingly, the poverty rate in Cameroon remains 23%, 2.7 percentage points lower than a decade ago. Few realities are harder to accept than the fact Africa's economic poverty is rooted in low productivity. Nothing else is met with such denial and confusion. When a World Bank official reported 100 million Nigerians lived in extreme poverty in 2013, the presidency dismissed it. Instead, the authorities pointed to the 122 million mobile phone lines. How could a country with that many phones have so many indigents? At the time, living on less than $1.25 (200 naira) defined extreme poverty. Currency depreciation later pushed that to 1,430 naira, and by 2022, the threshold rose to $2.15 (3,300 naira). Abuja finally admitted 133 million Nigerians (63%) lived in poverty — if not 'extreme,' at least 'multidimensional.' Small mercies. Denial and misdirection stem from one fact: Boosting productivity is hard. It demands relentless focus on countless details. Or, as Citigroup's Emerging Markets economist David Cowan puts it: 'Economic growth has a political dimension. Some countries and leaders take it seriously, others don't.' One need only look at the resurgence of 'Captainomics' in the Sahel — the belief that bluster, short-term fixes, and coercion by strongmen can reshape economic reality. Desperate for funds, West Africa's military juntas who came to power between 2021 to 2023 first pressed local banks to buy government bonds. They then nationalized mining assets — even sequestering Australian mining executives for a $160 million ransom, politely labeled a 'tax dispute settlement.' All the while, they waved the flags of revolution, anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, and African pride. Never mind that they will pay dearly in arbitration courts, investors will flee, and their economies will suffer. The alternative — renegotiating contracts, rebuilding donor ties, and enacting economic reforms — is simply too difficult. Too mundane. No figure better embodies the contradictions of romantic African economic thought than Thomas Sankara. The shadow of Burkina Faso's Captain-President remains, four decades after he was betrayed and assassinated in 1987 following his 'revolutionary' policies of land nationalization and union-busting that antagonized the elites and parts of the grassroots movements of his nation. It still paralyzes thought between a nostalgic and a dogmatic From Sahelian juntas to South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters, the obsession with shortcuts persists — all to avoid the hard, tedious work of improving productivity and fostering long-term growth. Some call it a 'revolutionary path.' Others see it for what it is: wishful thinking in search for a shortcut where none exists. Adapted from a book by Joël Té-Léssia Assoko, a veteran reporter and editor covering African markets.
CBS News
11-03-2025
- CBS News
Downtown Detroit Partnership seeks votes for Campus Martius Park in 10 Best Public Square poll
Campus Martius Park in Downtown Detroit has been nominated in USA Today's 10 Best Reader's Choice Award for the Best Public Square in the Country. The Downtown Detroit Partnership is encouraging Metro Detroiters to participate in the reader poll, citing the fact that Campus Martius won the number 1 spot for the past two years. Campus Martius Park hosts more than 4.5 million visitors annually with a schedule of events that includes the Detroit Tree Lighting, Movie Nights in the D, parties at The Beach and The Rink and its outdoor skating rink. Last year, the Downtown Detroit Partership opened Chalet 313, a two-story lounge and bar that provides views of the skating rink and Detroit's skyline. The site also was the main public venue for the 2024 NFL Draft. "Campus Martius Park is the heartbeat of the city, providing an incredible gathering place for residents and visitors year-round, and we encourage everyone to vote to help us keep this title in Detroit," David Cowan, chief public spaces officer for the Downtown Detroit Partnership, said in the announcement. The park was created in 2003 at the site considered to be Detroit's point of origin, where the vision for the city was originally laid out in 1805. Nominees for 10Best are submitted by a panel of experts. 10Best editors come up with the final nominations and readers can vote online once per category, per day. For more information about Campus Martius Park, go to The video above previously aired on Dec. 14, 2024.
