The Challenges of Globalization to Africa: Theoretical Reflections and Practical Assessments

Tewodros Kassie, Yemiamrew Jorgie

Globalization, Africa, Political Economy, Neoliberalism, Washington consensus, South-South Cooperation, Regional Integration.

The political economy of Africa has been marginalized for long since the commencement of relations with the outside world, despite the much rosy explanations that western institutions provide to justify their policy prescriptions. And it is plausible that it will remain indefinitely. Guided by a post-modernist pragmatic knowledge claim, this study follows a qualitative interpretative methodology to make an analytical explanatory inquiry on the nexus between the process of globalization, the opportunities and challenges of it on the political economy of African states, and the strategies that have been adopted hitherto. As it strives to make sense of the convergence and divergence of Western countries and their institutions policy prescription and the policy tenets that most African states are applauding much as an alternative to it against the political economy nature, dynamics, and patterns of African countries, ample data from primary and secondary sources are collected. This paper analyzed, using the ethos of qualitative method data collections and analysis, data from secondary sources such as policy documents, official reports, academic journals, periodicals, proceedings, books, newspapers, and magazines.  The overall effect of globalization on the political economy of most African states have been negative. This does not deny the disproportionate share of the benefits from it for some countries due to their comparative advantage or the trickle-down effects. The aspect of development in theories either in capturing the evolving dynamics or in providing policy prescription to include Africa into the process of global political economy disadvantaged Africa. There has been much disregard, save for the legacies of former relationships, to incorporate extant political economy nature of African states in the theorization as much in policy prescriptions African states have been advised to adopt to maximize benefits from the process of globalization. The study also finds that neither African experience of using emerging alternative policies and strategies such as intra-Africa regional integration frameworks; development cooperation frameworks with Asia’s emerging economies; and alternative development cooperation frameworks with the USA and EU have provided sound returns for African states. Nor the urgency most Africa’s felt to strengthen their capacity to avoid the effects of and to extract available benefits from the process of globalization by playing the established Washington consensus against the emerging Beijing consensus and south-south cooperation frameworks have been strong enough to provide the expected benefits. Indeed, limited progress have been observed in African regional cooperation and integration schemes in some limited areas; though what have been achieved is far lagging behind what could have been accomplished. Lastly, developments since 2001 have provided Africa both opportunities and challenges. Besides the BWIs multilateral institutions initiatives aimed at establishing bilateral relations with Africa prevailed-USA’s AGOA and EU’s-EBA since 2001. Of the three dominant theories of political economy, Realism and Marxism do have much explanatory currency than liberalism, in this regard. The liberal explanation that globalization would benefit the political economy of Africa is nothing but unrealistic normative wishes of positive sum game politics and economic relations of mutual benefit. Moreover, the adoption of values, cultures and practices of liberal democracy can serve as the best panacea for all existing socio-political and cultural drawbacks hampering the birth of the preconditions for the political economy transformation that it claims would be achieved.

https://doi.org/10.31871/WJRR.11.3.7