Concluding Remarks

This study has attempted to model the macroeconomic interaction between Africa and the North. There are two main reasons why such an exercise might be considered important. Firstly, building a macroeconomic model of Africa which is based on stylized facts and econometric estimation within a world economy framework is an exercise that has value in itself. This claim may be justified since no such models of Africa may currently be found within the literature. Indeed, a number of policy questions and external shocks, not discussed in this book, may be analysed using the model developed here. Nonetheless, models are usually built with specific objectives in mind. In this respect, the model developed in this book is no exception. Hence, the second main justification for the present study, which is to examine the questions outlined in Chapter 1, using the simulation exercise set out in Chapter 7. Chapter 7 also outlined various policy implications of the model, as well as how such a model might be used to analyse external shocks and policy questions by locating these within a North-South macroeconomic framework. The main points arising out of this exercise are summarized below.