The impact of globalization on African countries economic development

The term globalization captures the attention of everyone and especially economic development researchers. However, despite the prior prosperity promises of globalization and the benefits of an information accessing society, the afterwards benefits have not been universal and global inequality has increased instead. Some studies show that globalization has widened the gap between rich and poor countries in its relentless progression while others are unclear about its effect. Although the idea of globalization had gradually been developed since the Second World War, its impact gained momentum in the early 1990s; Africa has not been spared from the implications of this phenomenon. We used the KOF Globalization Index with a special bias on African countries. The purpose of this article is to examine the progressive position of Africa in the global economy and highlight key sustainable approaches which African countries can adopt as economic development priorities as it fits into a globalized economy. However, the losses could be higher for African countries or less depending on its approach. African governments’ policies should be designed systematically so as to balance between its current low economic status, its political teething problems and the pressures to catch up and fit into the inevitable globalization trends. This would minimize the economic marginalization of Africa and increase it utilization of its raw materials and human resources.   Key words: African countries, globalization, economic development, information technology.