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Sir Paul Chukwuma Recommends “Economic Governance” Model for Africa

By Ozuluoha Rosecatherine Adaku

The leading APC gubernatorial aspirant for the Anambra 2025 election, Sir Paul Chukwuma has made a strong case for the adoption of what he calls the “Economic Governance” model as the panacea for Africa’s elusive quest for economic development.

In a Keynote address he delivered at the Hybrid International Conference organized by the Management Sciences Faculty of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, at the weekend, Sir Chukwuma who spoke on the theme: “Governance and Sustainable Development in Africa: Issues and Strategies,” argued that any definition of governance that was devoid of economic controls would not stand the test of reasonableness in Africa.

Strengthening his advocacy for the adoption of the economic governance model, he argued that only economic governance could bring about economic growth or sustainable development of the type Africa desires.

Pooh-poohing the African Union's blueprint and master plan for Africa tagged Agenda 2063, a pan African vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena, Sir Chukwuma quips: "this agenda remains in my opinion, an age-long aspiration… very difficult to achieve."

Throwing more light on what he means by economic governance, Sir Chukwuma says “economic governance from the African perspective must recognize the following three types of economics: nature’s economy, which simply means the economy of self-renewal, people’s economy, which is the economy of sustenance, and of course the regular market capital economy, which is the economy of office and capital accumulation. Sustainability means an ability to continue an activity in the long term, continuing growth or development without affecting the environment negatively. The question then is, can development truly be sustainable?” he asks.

Speaking further, he argued that “African leaders and academics should pay more attention to economic governance than any other type of governance, regardless of the appeal to the contrary. "Development and economic growth in Africa refers to processes that offer no support to ecological stability. Development and economic growth by extension bring about disruptions to ecological stability, in fact they undermine human ecosystem, leaving it vulnerable and unstable. Development in no small measure destroys both nature’s economy of self-renewal and people’s economy of sustenance," he further argued.

According to him, the World Bank 2022 poverty overview reported that about 13% of world population translating to a total of 720 million people globally live in severe multi-dimensional poverty with sub-Saharan Africa, (Nigeria inclusive) accounting for more than half of this world population of the poor.

“This level of poverty stems directly or indirectly from the enthronement of capital economy as a substitute for both nature and people’s economy. The resultant effect of this unsustainable and unfortunate enthronement is the total of migration of traditional economy paving way for the unsustainable, advanced, affluent economies. Economic governance must recognize this challenge and come up with home grown options. Sustaining the modern concept of development in Africa would amount to playing to the gallery on the part of African politicians, academics, community and religious leaders. The question then is, who will bell the cat?” he queried.

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