Development in Africa

http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2013/05/development-africa

This article tells of how Aftrica is one of the fastest developing nations. Some of Africa’s countries have been strolling with growth in income per person of more than 5% per year since 2007. However, one of these countries, Zambia, seems to have been left in the dust even though the economic growth is present.

A true statement mentioned in the article is that GDP is not the perfect measurement of living standards. Things like jobs, governance, health, and inequality are other worthy factors. Once you look at these indicators, it becomes more apparent that the “well-being in much of sub-Saharan Africa is lower than it ought to be, given rising average incomes per person,” as stated in the article.

The article also said, “Levels of well-being in South Africa are out of whack with its GDP per head. Kenya and Ghana do a much better job of reaping the benefits of a growing economy.”

Along with Kenya and Ghana, many other countries are in Africa that have improved their well-being the most, but the key to their success is being able to “translate” their growth into benefiting economic well-being. Zambia was not the best at doing that. The article doesn’t really specify how the most well off countries go about doing that, but I am assuming it has mostly to do with the government, how it acts with its policies, as well as how the public complies and keeps the economy and its markets going.