Charlotte Rook is a 21 year old student of African Studies at Birmingham University who is passionate about international aid and has done a number of stints of volunteering abroad. Her latest placement for Regeneris Ltd was in drought-ridden Kenya (as in the picture further down) where she fed, educated and delivered medical care to children.
Africa is currently the world’s poorest continent. For years international aid has been propping up African economies but the majority of these countries have yet to see any significant development or growth. International aid and loans, have so far, been unable to prove themselves capable of bringing about the economic growth required to lift the 314 million Africans (estimated) living on under $1 a day, out of poverty.
So if international aid, loans and debt relief are all unable to set the conditions for African countries to develop economically, then what other options are there? I believe that the most effective form of economic growth comes in the shape of Free Trade - something which the majority of developing countries are currently denied for one reason or another.
I have set out here the reasons why developing countries are kept out of the international market and how Africa, and the rest of the world, could benefit from a change in trade policies. And to better understand why developing countries are too often unable to be part of the global market, we need to have a basic understanding of Europe and America's attitude towards trade.
After the Second World War, Britain, America and other industrialised countries started discussions on trade reform. The purpose of such reform was to bring about recovery, growth and development to post war countries. The discussions ended with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the outcome of liberalisation did indeed drive recovery and growth. The liberalisation of trade barriers focused on opening up markets for industrialised goods. Agriculture and textiles were excluded and heavily protected. This was due to the post-war mentality of protectionism.