CONFLICTS IN AFRICA: A THREAT TO THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE GROWING ECONOMIES

Abstract

The continent of Africa in the post-cold war period has been ravaged by horrendous destruction of lives and property following its prevalent conflicts. Almost all the countries on the continent have been engulfed by unabated and intermittent conflict and or war of attrition. This heart-rending continental woe has undoubtedly imposed some obvious and immediate human and economic costs such as, loss of lives, including workforce, wounding, disabilities and displacements on the continent. These corollaries of violent conflicts create losses that are transmitted across whole economies of these war-ravaging countries, because the unwarranted conflicts constitute significant threat to all factorial elements of productivity, which automatically undermine the potential growth of the economies of these countries. In order to appropriately comprehend the stand point of this stujiy. these factorial elements of productivity were examined in relation to how the conflicts are threatening their functionalities, thereby hindering the economic gravth of the war-torn countries. Some appropriate recommendations on how these ugly situations could be arrested were also highlighted in the study.