SECURITIES MARKETS AND SOCIAL CAPITAL INTEGRATION IN AFRICA: RISKS AND POLICY OPTIONS

The need to develop securities market has, following the recent international financial crises, increasingly attracted the attention of national and international policy makers. Never before have developed and developing countries shared such a strong interest in ensuring the stable growth of the international capital flows. And yet, the question for policymakers is how to channel these gains into investments that promote development, sustainable poverty reduction and social equity. Using the African scenario, this paper argued that although many of the institutions needed for strong income growth and asset accumulation are equally important in fostering social assets, the institutional underpinnings of sustainable development are somewhat broader. They rest on greater access to information and knowledge and the ability to form broader partnerships. Without these additional institutional elements, society risks fragmentation that imperil both income growth and wellbeing. Nothing that market exchange plays a larger role in africa, we also argued that the presence of transactions costs naturally leads market participants to enter in long-term trading relationships(and these relationships form business networks that shape market outcomes) with minimum risks. However,when societies become more equitable in ways that lead to greater opportunites for all,the poor stand to benefit from a 'double dividend'.