International Business Environment

Introduction
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), as the poorest region in the world, has been suffering from a series of problems such as health problems, education problems, financial problems and political problems. It is widely believed that many problems are caused by frequent natural catastrophes and wars. As Figure1 shown, in 2000, GDP as well as Gross National Income was far behind the world. SSA experienced a poor performance in the past 25 years with negative annual growth of GDP per capita (UNDP, 2001) which is due to the booming population growth. Furthermore, external debt is another constraint, which increased from 6 billion dollar in 1970 to 330 billion dollar in 1999 (ADB, 2000). Given the magnitude of the problem, it is unrealistic for governments in the region to be left alone to deal with this daunting task in light of the financial and institutional crises that is facing most of the countries in SSA. Therefore, to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, there is a need for holistic approaches to tackle the concerns of the poor in the region. This report will briefly introduce the present situation in SSA, and then discuss efforts already made and can be made by both local countries and other entities including other countries, WTO, World Bank and IMF. At the end, it will conclude the relative importance of these five entities in poverty reduction of SSA.
Figure 1
 
Sources: World Resources Institute 2006                                
Countries Themselves
 Government Corruption
Figure 2

By looking at the chart above, it is evident that SSA has been experiencing an increase in poverty. In order to reduce poverty, it is important to achieve high rates of sustained economic growth. According to World Bank, SSA countries must achieve growth rates of at least 6.5% annually if the countries want to reduce their poverty level. Poverty reduction is definitely a task that must be shouldered by the countries’ own government which concerns... [continues]

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