So too the economic performance of African countries in years to come will depend in no small amount on the success with which they can integrate with the global economy. Over the last two years the UNU and the AERC have put a lot of effort into looking closely at the issue of globalisation. We have tried to identify how African governments can strengthen their participation in the global economy and do so in ways that bring widespread and sustainable benefits to their peoples. The rationale for this work stems from two issues. First , the forces of globalization are perhaps the most important factors that affect the current environment for economic development.
Globalisation provides great opportunities for developing countries to grow rapidly.
It also provides major challenges, even threats sometimes. These lessons stem both from Southeast Asia s era of rapid growth as well as from the current economic crisis. We have also distributed this document to everyone here today. Ernest Aryeetey from the University of Ghana will be making a presentation on the key findings just after lunch. The topic for the final session today the state in Africa - is likely to be one of the most interesting and controversial.