ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT OF FRANCOPHONE AFRICA - A COMPARISON WITH THE REPUBLIC-OF-KOREA

The purpose of this article is to highlight the widening economic gap between francophone African countries and the Republic of Korea, and t o suggest a structural change in order to reduce it. In merely three d ecades, South Korea has moved from economic obscurity to an economic p ower house and has laid the basis for joining the inner circle of the world economy. This basis comprises an educated population, a quality civil service, a skilled and high productivity labour force, quality a nd competitively priced utilities and telecommunications, efficient tr ansportation networks, a dynamic and competitive public enterprise sec tor, an efficient national banking sector, an export-led growth strate gy and a sound macroeconomic framework. Good governance and the rule o f law are gradually taking hold. These achievements are attributable t o a single factor: the resolve of the Korean leaders to move their cou ntry to the world centre stage. The basic lesson from the Korean exper ience for Africa is that economic poverty can be reversed quite rapidl y provided that the political leadership displays and maintains the wi ll and the vision to do so.