Economics

LED Gift Mukwenje Chililabombwe 2012

LED Lydia Muvindi Sambo Katete 2012

Acheter moins, consommer de manière responsable. Tel devrait être le mot d’ordre cette année dans un contexte économique précaire. Les observateurs appréhendent un déclin du niveau de vie et livrent leurs conseils pour aider les consommateurs Á  passer l’année sans trop de heurts.
La société de consommation victime de ses excès est-elle vouée a disparaître pour laisser la place a des consommateurs devenus « responsables » ? Une chose est sure : depuis l’éclatement de la crise économique en 2008, certains Mauriciens se montrent plus prudent en faisant leurs achats. Ils sont de plus en plus nombreux Á  comparer les prix, Á  negocier. D’autres consommateurs, évitent les produits superflus, planifient davantage leur budget.
« Les gens se montrent plus raisonnables. Ils réfléchissent Á  deux fois avant d’acheter quelque chose. On l’a d’ailleurs constate lors des festivités de fin année », souligne Denis de Spéville, président de l’association des Emprunteurs Abuses.

Although I did not watch President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on the 9th of February 2012, I did myself a favour by downloading the speech. Little did I know that wearing my gender lenses, the speech would make some good (or bad!) reading on my flight to Cape Town.

My first thought is that the President should have brought out women’s issues more strongly and articulate how basic service delivery issues affect women and men differently. The President would have then gone further to clearly demonstrate how government will put in place specific interventions that address gender inequalities.

Business Unusual is a practical work book of 8 chapters, 13 fact sheets and a CD-Rom with 30 case studies which address women and the economy and which will help media practitioners and trainers to see the economy through gendered lens.

The Commission of Gender Equality (CGE) welcomes President Jacob Zuma’s State of Nation Commitments and addressing the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality through higher growth and job creation. As noted by the president, 2012marks the 16 anniversary of the constitution, which is meant to guide our government’s policies and actions. We wish to question to what extent women has realised the social, economic and political rights outlined in the constitution, and attained equality of opportunity and non-discrimination. Noting that women are the worst affected by unemployment, poverty and inequality, it is critical to bring a gender lens to question whether the persistent challenges experienced by are in fact guiding and reflected in the policy commitments and intended actions outlined.

Technology defines our era. In the past few decades, numerous innovations-including ever-shrinking computers, mobile phones, and alternative energies-have been introduced in homes and workplaces, changing the way we live, how we work, and what we’re able to do. Bridging the Gender Divide: How technology can advance women economically examines why technology is essential to women’s economic advancement and clarifies how it puts the process in motion by showcasing technologies that have helped women in developing countries to increase their productivity, create new entrepreneurial ventures, or otherwise access new income-generating pursuits.

Engaging with and assisting marginalised communities remains a major challenge for governments of developing countries, as many national development strategies tend in practice to further marginalise chronically poor communities. Development aid strategies, including poverty-reduction initiatives, have focused primarily on economic development. As a result they have contributed to the erosion of the asset base of these communities, and in particular their access to natural resources. While questioning the impact of aid arrangements on the poorest and most vulnerable communities in society, this article recognises that current aid arrangements, such as national poverty-reduction strategies, have created an environment in which chronic poverty can be addressed by national governments and other stakeholders. The authors emphasise the need for greater sensitivity in the processes of planning and managing national development strategies that seek to reduce poverty, as well as a commitment to institutional arrangements that include marginalised groups in the country’s political economy.

The world economy grew by 3.6 per cent in 2010 up from -2.1 per cent in 2009, but its growth is expected to moderate to 3.1 per cent in 2011. Africa’s rebound strengthened from the GDP growth rate of 2.4 per cent in 2009 to 4.7 per cent in 2010 and a forecast of 5 per cent for 2011. The recovery in Africa was underpinned by a number of factors, including the rebound of export demand and commodity prices; increased inflows of foreign direct investment in extractive industries and aid; return of tourism; investment in infrastructure associated with the countercyclical policies adopted by many African countries; increased activities in the service and especially telecommunication sectors; increased consumer demand; and good harvests in some subregions. Despite progress in some countries, African economies are still characterized by heavy reliance on the primary commodity sector, high vulnerability to external shocks, jobless growth and slow progress towards social development goals. It is essential for African countries to promote economic diversification and structural transformation as a means to accelerate and sustain broad-based and shared high employment-generating growth.