{
  "id": "RL32489",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32489",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 104416,
      "date": "2004-07-22",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T20:11:48.339685",
      "title": "Africa: Development Issues and Policy Options",
      "summary": "Sub-Saharan Africa has been a focus for U.S. development assistance for decades. Many believe\nthat U.S. interests in the region are increasing, partly because of its oil resources and the international\nterrorist threat. However, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Africa faces grave challenges\nthat potentially threaten long-term stability, including the world's most serious HIV/AIDS pandemic,\nwidespread rural poverty, and high levels of urban unemployment. In constant dollar terms, incomes\nin Africa are only about $100 higher than in 1960. Recently, gross domestic product (GDP) has\nbeen growing, but at rates well below the 7% or better needed to make significant headway against\npoverty. \n  The reasons for slow growth and poverty in Africa are the source of much analysis and debate. \nSome emphasize factors largely beyond Africa's control, such as a difficult geographical endowment\nthat has limited growth in manufacturing, agriculture, and trade. Dependence on primary product\nexports has made the region vulnerable to cyclical price trends and global economic downturns.\nMeanwhile, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the \"brain drain\" to developed countries have taken away\nlarge numbers of adults in their most productive years. The colonial powers made minimal\ninvestments in African infrastructure, and left the region divided into some 48 separate countries \n-- several of them landlocked -- complicating prospects for economic integration and growth. Trade\nbarriers imposed by developed countries to Africa's exports of cotton and other primary products\nhave also come in for criticism. \n  Many analysts blame Africa's economic problems primarily on the limited capabilities of\nAfrican governments, inappropriate economic policies pursued into the 1990s, and corruption. They\nmaintain that further free market reforms are essential if the continent is to grow more rapidly. Some\nstress Africa's heavy burden of foreign debt, which required the payment of $12 billion in debt\nservice in 2002. Africa's difficulties have limited foreign investment in the region, hampering the\ndevelopment of an export manufacturing sector that could provide jobs and growth.\n  Development experts and advocates are recommending a number of measures to accelerate\ngrowth in Africa, including increased foreign assistance; debt forgiveness; the easing of trade\nbarriers; expanded HIV/AIDS programs; and support for capacity building, both in terms of human\ncapital and infrastructure. Investment promotion programs and expanded applications of research\nand technology also have support. Each of these approaches has its critics and some could face\npolitical problems in the donor countries. In both Europe and the United States, for example, there\nis strong opposition to any proposal perceived as having the potential to export jobs, as some fear\nwould happen if trade barriers were eased. Moreover, some experts doubt that existing assistance\nagencies in the developed countries have the knowledge and capacity needed to help Africa grow. \nThus, Africa's ability to escape its current economic dilemmas remains very much in question. For\nbackground on the U.S. foreign aid program in Africa and information on current legislation, see\nCRS Issue Brief IB95052,  Africa: U.S. Foreign Assistance Issues.  This report will be\nupdated as\nevents warrant.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "African Affairs",
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Health Policy"
  ]
}