JICA-RI and Kobe University co-hosted a symposium for a launch of the book "Ethnic Diversity and Economic Instability in Africa"

In the first part of the symposium, four editors including Professor Hino outlined the book, followed by the comments from the three specialists in the field of African economic development.

Professor Emeritus Gustav Ranis of Yale University, who oversaw the introductory chapter, listed factors contributing to economic instability in Africa: low population density, the unequal distribution of natural resources, trade fluctuation and frequent regime change. He addressed, “It is important to allocate export revenues from natural resources for infrastructure in order to benefit both formal and informal sectors, to boost economic activities, and finally to overcome lack of trust among groups.”

Professor Emeritus John Lonsdale of Cambridge University emphasized, “Ethnic diversity itself is not a problem but is strength as human resources.” Tracing the history of ethnic groups and states from colonial days up to the present, he pointed out that ethnic conflicts intensified as poverty increased. He also referred to new problems, such as population flow from farming villages to cities and confrontations over land ownership.

Professor Hino lastly delivered the message of this book, “It shows what ethnicity means and how it influences economic characteristics. In order to understand the complexity of the subject, historians, economists, anthropologists and legal theorists all must engage in dialogue through an interdisciplinary cooperation.”

In a question-and-answer session, representatives of African countries and other participants raised various issues and opinions:

- The title can be misleading. The book doesn’t provide a clear correlation between ethnic diversity and economic instability.
- Diversity should be considered positive. In the United States, ethnic diversity is linked to the economic growth. Why not Africa?
- Political governance, not ethnic diversity, is more problematic in Africa.

-Land ownership reform is essential in order to eradicate poverty in Africa; an idea of a land bank targeting landowners is suggested.
- Authority over public goods should not be concentrated in the hands of the central government but rather transferred to communities.
-Natural resources should be handled as global resources because of corruption among government officials, horizontal and vertical inequalities; global governance is important.
- Young people’s giving up farming and the population shift to cities cause high unemployment rate; to solve this problem, creating job opportunities is the first step; it is important to empower young generation with vocational training to acquire skills and financial support to set up new businesses.

In his closing remarks, Professor Nobuaki Hamaguchi, Director of the Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration (RIEB) at Kobe University, addressed, “Although diversity itself is a factor in vitalizing the economy, economists have not given thorough thought to the development of diverse societies. This research made us realize that the economics of ethnic diversity was an important and advanced area of study from now on.”