June 2011

To what extent are regional trade arrangements in Africa fulfilling the conditions for successful RTAs?

  Almost all African countries have embraced RTAs since attaining independence in 1950s and 1960s as means of enhancing policy credibility and accelerating trade to overcome the economic disadvantages of fragmentation of many small-nation economies on the continent. Today, there is no country in Africa that is not a member of at least one regional economic group. As reflected in the 13 RTAs operating in Africa,...

Author(s): Babatunde Omilola

June 2011

What happened to post-imperial development in Africa during the last fifty years? Re-thinking the post-colonial turn in creative art, social ‘writings’ and films

  This paper argues that post-colonial theory in its classical usage is limited. However, when its premises are employed as a point of understanding, they can be very useful for comprehending the situation of contemporary developments in Africa. From this light, it contends that, after the fiftieth anniversary of Africa’s independence, the continent’s development could not really take off the ground...

Author(s): Alfred Ndi

June 2011

Religion as a tool in strengthening the democratic process in Ghana

  Recent elections in Ghana bear witness to the extraordinary power of religion to affect social and political change. This paper illustrates a few varieties of this power through case studies which examine the role of religious leaders in promoting peaceful elections, the way inter-faith dialogue enhances civic duties and fosters peace by bolstering values of justice, forgiveness and cooperation, and the...

Author(s): Michael Perry Kweku Okyerefo, Daniel Yaw Fiaveh and Kofi Takyi Asante