Contemporary Regional Development in Africa

Contemporary Regional Development in Africa interrogates well-known concerns in the areas of regionalism and economic integration in contemporary Africa, while offering an added uniqueness by highlighting the capacity imperatives of the issues, and proposing critical policy guideposts. The volume juxtaposes a set of 'dynamic' entanglements - new and micro-regionalism, informal cross-border trade, intra-African and African FDI plus cross-border investments, infrastructure development, science and technology, regional value-chains, conflict management and regional security - with fluid interpretations of regional development. The chapters provide snapshots of the several emerging and complex regionalisms and highlight a set of relevant and often overlapping analyses - drawing on authors' nuanced and granular understanding of the African landscape. The varied, yet interlinked, nature of issues covered in this study make the book valuable and attractive to academics, researchers, policymakers and development practitioners.

Kobena T. Hanson is an academic and development practitioner with over 20 year's hands-on experience. He currently is Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Outlooks, a research consulting and policy advisory firm in Accra, Ghana; and a member of the management team at Causal Links, Washington, D.C., USA. From 2010-2014, he was Head, Knowledge & Learning, African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)/lead author of the Africa Capacity Indicators (ACI) Report. Prior to this, he was Assistant Professor of Geography and Planning at West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA. His focus includes development policy, capacity building, knowledge management and livelihood issues. He has researched on these topics in several African countries and authored several books, journal articles, book chapters, and reports. He holds a PhD from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Chapter 1 Contemporary Regional Development in Africa, Kobena T.Hanson, Vanessa T.Tang; Chapter 2 Regionalism, Globalization and Economic Integration in Africa, Korbla P.Puplampu; Chapter 3 "New" Regionalisms in Africa, PeterArthur; Chapter 4 Micro-regionalisms in Africa, JonUnruh; Chapter 5 The Impact of Informal Cross-border Trade on Regionalism and Poverty Reduction in West Africa, BarassouDiawara, Kwabena AgyeiBoakye; Chapter 6 Enhancing Regionalism for Intra-African and African Inward Foreign Direct Investment, Abbi M.Kedir; Chapter 7 Infrastructure and Capacity Development as a Catalyst for Regionalism and Economic Integration in Africa, Kobena T.Hanson, FrancisOwusu, Korbla P.Puplampu; Chapter 8 Innovation, Science and Technology, Joseph R.Oppong; Chapter 9 Regional Value Chains and Productivity Enhancement in Africa, William G.Moseley; Chapter 10 The Boko Haram Insurgency and the Changing Patterns of Regional Security Arrangements in Africa, OlawaleIsmail; afterword Afterword"African Agency" to Maximize the Continent's Policy Choices after a Decade of the BRICS, Timothy M.Shaw;