'Capital is a cowardly bird'

Franklin Cudjoe, head of the Ghananian think-tank Imani, asks African leaders to better understand globalization:

Africans face innumerable government-created bottlenecks in any enterprise they attempt. As the government has become the majority employer in these countries, the range of employment opportunities has been reduced and the government’s limitless public borrowing has crowded out the private sector’s access to capital… of the twenty countries in the world where it is most difficult to do business, seventeen are African.

Capital is a cowardly bird. It flies to safer places where it expects to earn better returns. 40 percent of Africa’s private investment takes place outside of the continent, while only 3 percent of Asia’s investment takes place overseas.

If there is to be any hope for long term prosperity in Africa, Africans must be given the predictability that comes with the rule of law, the protection of private property and free markets, and decentralized management of resources.

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