Understanding the Impact of Modernization Ideas on Africa’s Development

Abstract:

Despite the 2008 global financial crisis and recessions in Western developed countries, the developing countries in global south witnessed structural transformation and growth of their economies doubling from US$ 850 billion to US$ 9 trillion in 2012. Therefore, this study seeks to examine modernization ideas adopted by Africa to induce relative trade growth and investment flow as well as to identify the development strategies used by the global south to guard against global economic downturn. To accelerate growth, countries in global south strategically replaced traditional modernization ideas of North-South trade relations with new ideas of intra-south trade partnership and reciprocity. This new thinking increased the degree of payoffs for African countries in the highly competitive global market and reduced its overreliance on developed Western countries. Africa’s exports to countries of global south expanded with growth rate of 24 percent, while trade between developed countries (North-North) declined from 53 percent in 1990s to 34 percent in 2012. With this new thinking guiding Africa trade relations, the rise of the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in global south offers opportunities to African countries for specialization, industrialization, diversification and investment flows. Based on these variables the study shows that south-south trade cooperation promotes trade-led development in weaker economies of Africa by providing access. China’s non-reciprocal duty free access and India’s tariff –free access provides access to exports from Africa. Therefore, thestudy concludes that trade between global south promotes symbiotic trade partnership and serves as sources of growth for African countries in this era of international market competitiveness
Keywords: Global South, Africa, Development, Trade, Ideas.

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