Africa is a paradox that continues to baffle development scholars. With its largest stock of natural resources in the world, immense unused arable land and water, and a young population, it should have a record of significant economic growth and development, at least comparable to that of other continents. Yet, it remains the least developed region. Moreover, it keeps losing ground to other regions and now faces increasing marginalization. It is evident that Africa s past development strategy has not only been unsuccessful, but also requires new thinking. As the collective effort of leading African social science research and academic institutions that seek to advance the current debate, this volume includes scholarly studies on diverse and complementary development challenges facing Africa. It proposes a research-based African perspective on development issues, ranging from sectoral and macroeconomic policy to governance, gender, and globalization. A variety of approaches, both quantitative and qualitative, are used to investigate the link between economic growth and development, with the intended result of formulating a new development paradigm for the region. The volume s scope offers an accurate indication of the understanding of development by African knowledge institutions in the twenty-first century; it also provides a set of cohesive solutions. No doubt, this volume will be of considerable value to public policy managers and analysts as well as to practitioners and scholars.

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