Page 472 - Volume 2_CHANGES_merged_with links

Some Key Findings

“Changes”

 Many African countries have a population which
◦ has a high degree of fractionalisation leading to a greater susceptibility of civil and
political instability

◦ involves a high degree of linguistic diversity
◦ whose level of educational achievement does not yet match the requirements needed
to make it possible to move away from an agriculture-based economy

◦ is extremely young

Realities
African nations have

low tax revenues

(when tax revenue is expressed as a % of national GDP 26 African nations have a lower % than the
OECD average)

obstacles to raising tax revenue
e.g. the size of the informal economy within their own country

profit shifting / tax evasion and avoidance on the part of large corporations /
multi-national businesses

tax competition between nations

Economic development is hampered by
a need for high spending on key infrastructure

large-scale debt obligations and the very real impact of debt-trap and debt-diplomacy
(at the time of writing, only 7 African nations were categorised as "no risk identified" - all others
were categorised as being either "In debt crisis", "Risk of private debt crisis" or Risk of public
sector debt crisis")
African nations have experienced long-term negative impacts on their domestic business

sectors resulting from the imposition of the structural adjustment and conditionality
policies of Bretton Wood Institutions

African nations are still over-dependent on income from commodities and this results
amongst other matters in unequal trade with more developed economies

The cumulative impact of having too little revenue, the need for high infrastructure
expenditure, the never-ending demand for debt repayments - all of which have their roots in