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Economic growth and poverty reduction now take the centre stage in most global policy discourse. This is coming at a time that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are fast gaining global relevance. Africa has witnessed the highest but non-inclusive level of growth in the last decade because the continent still grapples with high unemployment rate especially among the youths. This paper therefore examines some drivers of and constraints to growth and poverty reduction in Africa. The paper focused on Africa by using secondary data sourced from different such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Transparency International (TI), Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports and Annual Abstract of Statistics. Analytical methods employed were mainly descriptive statistics and comparative statistics. Findings showed that economic growth recorded in the continent is a 'jobless' one advancing inequality and poverty. More so, 75 percent of countries with low human development are in Africa with the continent's consistent economic growth imparting insignificantly on the livelihoods of the people. In fact, 27 out of 54 African countries were reported to have GDP of less than $USD 2000 per capita. GDP growth in sub-Saharan Africa was estimated at 4.9 percent in 2013 and this increased to 5.3 percent in 2014 and further estimated to rise to 5.5 percent in 2015. The fight against inequality, poverty and unemployment is tantamount to aiming a moving target. Youth unemployment remains a component of Africa's growth owing to persistent low productivity and underemployment in the informal sector. The resultant implication of this is manifested through persistent inequality, poverty, armed conflict and unchecked migration of young people to industrialised nations in search of the non-existing livelihood opportunities. This paper therefore recommends increased and monitored investments in critical infrastructural facilities. There is a need for multilevel and multinational partnership in the fight against corruption and social conflict to attract foreign direct investment. Investment in social security programmes will also assist the poor and vulnerable people in the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is a continent with huge resource endowments and prospects for growth. However, the continent battles with myriads of problems such as poverty, food insecurity and dwindling commodity prices among others. This is because Africa's export is dominated by primary products that are majorly climate-dependent and vulnerable to price volatility. This paper therefore examined the economic situations of Africa considering the dwindling commodity prices in the face of the threat posed by climate change. Climate change remains one of the greatest environmental problems with economic, social, health, security and environmental implications. The paper employed a combination of both secondary and historical information obtained from different sources (UNDP, UNECA, NBS, Trade reviews etc). Analytical method used include descriptive statistics such as tables, averages and percentages. Despite the declining Africa's contribution to global market, commodity prices have been plummeting with very devastating impact on the livelihood of households and general wellbeing of the inhabitants of many of these countries. Countries relying on mineral resources such as oil, copper, gold and platinum to mention just a few have been the worst hit. Therefore, African countries' local currencies and trade balance have weakened against the dollar leading to high inflation in the continent. The terms of trade is declining as Africa continues to import commodities it should be producing because of the weak productive base, decaying infrastructure and the worsening climate conditions. This implies that households' welfare in these countries is likely to be compromised because of more job losses emanating from declining profits accruing to the solid mineral sector in the affected countries. The paper recommends increased investment in infrastructure facilities and human capital development for skills enhancement in Africa. Also, climate change adaptation policies should be formulated and implemented by African governments at all tiers and encouragement of value addition in exportable commodities to enhance favourable trade balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between defence burden and real gross domestic products in Nigeria, using annual time series data. This study uses Johansen's Cointegration approach to investigate the relationship between government's military expenditure (defence burden) and real gross domestic products, among other variables. In light of the lingering controversy on military expenditure and growth nexus, this paper contributes to the existing literature using time-series data from Nigeria, a country with high military spending over the years to re-investigate the impact of military expenditures on economic growth and the direction of causality between military spending and economic growth. Specifically, this study discusses the long run relationship between military expenditure and economic growth using Johansen cointegration approach. The key variables used in the study include: military burden (military expenditure), real GDP, real education expenditure, real health expenditure. The nature of the relationship that exists between military expenditure and economic growth as well as the cointegrating vector, taking into cognizance all other variables is focus of this paper. The results of the study show that increased defence burden is harmful to the Nigerian economy, and there exists a negative long-run relationship between defence burden and increase in the growth of real gross domestic products, the impact of defence burden remains negative both in the short-run and long-run respectively. It is not sufficient to have cuts in military expenditure, but such reallocation from defence should be directed towards productive investment in other sectors of the economy in order to generate economic prosperity and enhance the welfare of the citizens. Implications of having a negative effect of defence burden on growth rate of real Gross Domestic Products result in crowding-out of private sector investment, retards economic progress or growth rate of real gross domestic products, and therefore, is an ineffective tool to stimulate the growth of the economy in Nigeria. Military expenditure cannot be an effective tool of fiscal policy (government revenue and expenditure to regulate the economy), from the results of the study both short-run and long-run impact are negative, hence, the role of military sector should be limited to the maintenance of internal law and order as well as the defence of the country against any form of external aggression. This study will be of immense significance towards shaping policies that relate to military spending in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of economic transformation in the form of increased manufacturing share in aggregate output in accelerating growth and reducing growth volatility in Africa. Using cross-section time series data from 50 African countries, the paper examines the key determinants of growth in the share of manufacturing output in aggregate output and its relationship with real GDP growth and growth volatility. Results of system GMM estimation indicate that real GDP growth and domestic investment are among the key drivers of growth in the share of manufacturing output in total output and that growth in the latter has, in turn, the potential to raise GDP growth and reduce growth volatility. It is therefore argued that African countries should pursue effective strategies, including industrial policies and institutional reforms, to promote manufacturing and other innovative activities as a means to accelerate economic growth and diversification, and enhance employment creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]