The Pathways to Achieve the African Agenda 2063 Goals: Resilient Institutions
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Abstract
This paper asserts that the political, economic, and social institutions (PESIs) are the necessary institutional pathways required to achieve effective governance in order for African countries to be on the frontiers of sustainable economic growth and development in the 21st century if they hope to achieve the Agenda 2063 Goals. During the Golden Jubilee celebration of the formation of the Organization of African Unity (now African Union) in May 2013, African governments signed the Fiftieth Anniversary Solemn Declaration (FASD), which laid out the blueprint and master plan designed to transform Africa into the global super powerhouse of the future. The key research question is: If PESIs are the required pathways to success for African countries, how resilient and/or weak are the PESIs? This is an important research question because African countries need resilient PESIs in order to achieve the African Agenda 2063. To answer this vital research question, given the goals outlined in the FASD, this paper uses the six governance indicators developed by World Bank (2024) to construct three indexes: resilient political institutions (RPI) index, resilient economic institutions (REI) index, and resilient social institutions (RSI) index to access the resilience and the progress made to strengthen the PESIs in the aftermath of the FASD. To comprehend the intensity of RPI, REI, and RSI, we divide the 0 to 2.50 scores into three different categories: 0 to 0.83, 0.84 to 1.66, and 1.67 to 2.50 to indicate minimum, moderate, and maximum resilient PESIs, respectively. In contrast, we use the 0 to –2.50 scores to evaluate the degree of no resilient PESIs in African countries by dividing the scores into three categories: 0 to –0.83, –0.84 to –1.66, and –1.67 to –2.50 to indicate weak, weaker, and weakest resilient PESIs, respectively. In addition, we use the difference-in-means statistical method to evaluate the progress made by comparing the pre- and post-FASD periods. The data and estimated results show that 48 out of 54 African countries are located in weak and weaker pathways with respect to their PESIs in the aftermath of the FASD. The overwhelming weak PESIs pose the biggest challenge to achieving the African Agenda 2063; therefore, African countries should focus on building resilient PESIs between now and 2063.
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References
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