Role of Money Market in Economic Development of Nigeria

Discount Houses Operations, the Money Market and the Nigerian Economy: A Preliminary Investigation C. B. Ezirim and F. E. Enefaa Abstract This paper investigates the relationships subsisting between the operations of discount houses and the performance indices of the money market and the general economy. The method used involved the estimation of regression models and subsequent analysis of results using conventional statistics. The findings indicate that positive and significant relationships existed between the indicators of discount houses and those of the money market and the macro economy.Thus, the operations of these houses reserve the potentials to boost the performances of the money market and the economy considerably. This calls for policy options that would favor the encouragement of existing houses and licensing of new ones to adequately carter for the needs of the overall economy. Introduction It has been underscored that discount houses play very important roles in stimu lating investments in the economy and in boosting the general operations of the money market.Not only do they serve as catalyst in the market, they are, on their own, large-scale investors in the money market as well. Their role in facilitating profitable open market operations is worth stressing (CBN, 2004; Ezirim, 2005). Notwithstanding these and other roles performed by discount houses in a typical economy, the Nigerian money market operations are said to be sub-optimal in terms of engineering desired growth in the economy. The observed sub-optimality of the Nigerian money market is blamed, in part, on the poor performance of discount houses and other money market institutions.Discount houses, from the onset of their operations in the country, were expected to cause the Nigerian money market to operate optimally. Since the money market is yet to achieve this objective, can we then say that the discount houses have failed in their expected duties? It is the burden of this study to ravel the true position by x-raying the relationships between relevant variables representing the operations of the money market and those of the discount houses.Furthermore, the entire activity of the discount houses is expected to directly or indirectly boost aggregate domestic investment, output, and income. The levels of these macro magnitudes, even with the advent of discount houses, have left much to be desired. Does this suggest that these institutions, alongside others, have failed in their critical duty to the economy? The need to investigate the relationship between the 94 operations of these financial institutions and relevant macro indicators is only rife.It is, therefore, main purpose of this study to analyze the operational performance of discount houses in a bid to see how they relate with the general performance of the money market and the macro economy. Theoretical Framework and Review Concept and Roles of Discount Houses Discount houses are recent but novel develo pments that are meant to further the catalytic processes in the economic advancement of the less developed countries (LDCs) like Nigeria, especially in the money market sub-sector.By definition, discount houses are financial institutions devoted to trading in money market securities in the secondary market. As in Ezirim (2005), discount houses (DHs) were established to serve as financial intermediaries between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), licensed banks, and other financial institutions. DHs mobilize funds for investments in securities by providing discounting/rediscounting facilities in government short-term securities.According to Central Bank of Nigeria (2004: 1) Revised Guidelines for discount houses in Nigeria, â€Å"a discount house means any person in Nigeria who transacts a discount house business which in the main consists of trading in and holding of treasury bills, commercial bills and other securities and whose operations are in the opinion of the CBN those of a d iscount house†. Local Banks and other financial institutions including insurance companies, with or without the participation of international finance institutions acceptable to the CBN, can subscribe to the shares of a iscount house business. However the maximum permissible equity holding for any single investor in a discount house is 40%. Kakawa Discount House Ltd. (2005) provided a distinct approach to understanding the discount house phenomenon. To them, a discount house is a specialist financial institution, which intermediates in the money market by accepting short-term monies for onward investment in short-term financial securities from commercial, universal, investment and development banks, building societies, other financial institutions and high net worth individuals.They are credited with playing a vital role in the Nigerian Monetary System by sitting at the centre of the money market, and offering the safest avenues available for investment in Nigeria today. They invest mainly in government treasury bills and to a lesser extent in commercial bills issued by blue chip companies, and accepted by creditworthy bank. Their principal specialization is in providing primary liquidity in the Nigerian financial sector through the buying and selling of security in huge volumes for very short period of time.A discount house in Nigeria is a specialist financial institution that acts as an agent for facilitating the Open Market Operation (OMO) allocations; and as a market marker in Nigeria money market. Ajie and Ezi (2001) maintained that the establishment of discount house in Nigeria has been an important development that led to an increased level of activity, fund flows and growth of the money market. 95 Establishment and Raison d’etre of Discount Houses in Nigeria Discount Houses were set up by the provisions of Section 28, of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Decree No. 4 of 1991 and sections 61 of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFID) Decree No. 25 of 1991 as amended. Three discount houses commenced operations in 1993 while two others joined between 1995 and 1996. Discount Houses were primarily created in Nigeria to carry out the following functions: (a)Promotion of rapid growth and efficiency in the money market; (b) Acting as an intermediary between the CBN and licensed banks in Open Market Operations (OMO) transactions and other eligible transactions; (c ) Facilitating the issuance and sale of short termGovernment securities, (d) Providing discount/re-discount facilities for Treasury Bills, Government Securities and other eligible financial instruments; (e) Accepting short-term investments on an intermediary basis from banks and wholesale investors; and (f) Providing short term financial accommodation to banks. The CBN injects or withdraws funds from the money market through the Discount Houses, whose operations will enable them serve as a mirror with which the CBN gauges the liquidity position in the market. Discount Houses help banks to adjust their books on a daily basis, resulting in the stimulation of the money market and paving the way for healthy growth, efficiency and professionalism. Following the recent CBN 2004 Guidelines, the functions of a Discount House were expanded to include: (a) Providing portfolio and funds management services, (b) Providing financial and business solutions, and (c ) Other functions that may be prescribed by the CBN from time to time (CBN, 2004).Regulation and Control of Discount Houses in Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulate and control the activities of the Discount Houses. In a bid to keep Discount Houses secure, the CBN strictly regulates them through daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annual and annual reporting of their statement of affairs while relevant quarterly reports are sent to SEC. This keeps the regulatory agencies continuously informed of the situation prevailing in the Discount H ouses on a daily basis ( Kakawa, 2005).In terms of prudential requirements, the CBN (2004) required that every discount house shall: (a) transfer to the statutory reserve a minimum of 15 percent of profit after tax if the reserve fund is less than the paid-up capital and a minimum of 10% if the reserve fund is equal to or more than the paid-up capital; (b) maintain capital funds to risk assets ratio of 1:13 and cash asset ratio (CAR) of 10% or as may be prescribed by the CBN from time to time; (c ) not exceed a maximum ratio of 50:1 between its total borrowing and capital plus reserves without the prior approval of the CBN; (d) not grant to any bank, facility of more than 75% of its shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses without the prior approval of the CBN; (e) (i)at all times maintain not less than 60% of total borrowing in government securities; (ii) Any discount house which fails to maintain the 60% of borrowings in government securities is guilty of offence and liable to fine as stipulated in Section 15(4)(b) of BOFIA as amended. (f) shall classify and make provision for its risk assets in line with prudential guidelines for banks; (g) maintain proper books of accounts; (h) every discount house shall display its daily rates or interest in a conspicuous position in all its offices; (i) 96 hanges in the discount house’s top management and Board of Directors shall be subject to the prior approval of CBN; (j) every discount house shall appoint an auditor approved by the CBN whose duties shall be to make to the shareholders a report of their annual balance sheet and profit and loss account. The qualifications, duties, powers and responsibilities of the approved auditors shall conform to the provisions of Section 29 of BOFIA 1991, as amended; and (k) all repurchase transactions (Repos) by discount houses shall be reported on the balance sheet if the securities used are owned by the discount houses with the affected assets remaining in the books of the sellers (discounting houses), while the cash received by them shall be recognized as a liability (CBN, 2004). Services and Financing of Discount Houses Discount Houses offer a wide range of financial products to Banks, Non-Bank Financial Institutions and the general public.The main services include: (a) Securities trading which includes buying and selling of: Treasury Bills, Treasury Bonds, Government Bonds, and Commercial Bills; (b) Accepting short-term investments from banks and providing short-term accommodation to banks; (c) Short-term financial intermediation through the acceptance of funds and simultaneous investment of the funds in: Commercial Papers, Bankers Acceptances, Government Securities; (d) Providing personalized wealth management to high net-worth individuals through a network of investment managers, financial consultants and other specialists; (e) Effective portfolio management on both discretionary and non-discretionary basis through the provision of medium to long term investment management services to: Pension funds, Private clients, Employee Schemes, Trustees of family settlements and charities; and (f) Providing Business Solutions in: Financial Arrangement and Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, Privatization, Business Assessment, Business Structuring, and Data Resource and Management (kakawa Discount House Ltd. , 2005) The Sources of funds for discount houses in Nigeria included: (a) Equity – Paid- up Capital and Reserves. (b) Call money and short-term borrowings of not more than three years maturity. (C) Call money placed by banks with discount houses shall form part of the specified liquid assets of the respective banks for the purpose of the liquidity ratio requirement. d) A discount house that is short of funds may: (i) obtain from the CBN an overnight advance against acceptable collateral. However such an advance shall not exceed 20 percent of the total assets of the discount house and shall not in any event be gran ted if the discount house has exceeded the borrowing limit as prescribed by CBN; (ii) sell short-term bills and/or other securities to the CBN. The CBN shall provide rediscounting facilities for treasury and other eligible securities; and (iii) enter into Repurchase transactions with the CBN using eligible securities. The short-term nature of the liabilities of a discount house requires that its assets be substantially liquid.The assets of a discount house shall consist of the following: a) Treasury Bills; b) Treasury Certificates; c) Negotiable Certificates of Deposit (NCDs); d) Bankers’ Acceptances; e) Commercial Papers (eligible); f) Asset-Backed Securities (of not more than three years to maturity); g) Federal Government Development 97 Stocks (development stocks not exceeding five years); h) Eligible State Bonds (bonds with not more than five years to maturity); i) Promissory Notes issued by State Governments; and j) Any other securities that may from time to time be appr oved by the CBN. Discount Houses, Open Market Operations, and the Money Market Open Market Operations (OMO) is an indirect monetary policy technique that is used to control the level of money supply.It involves the sale/purchases of money market instruments in the open market. In Nigeria, the money market instrument used for OMO auctions is the Treasury Bills. Discount houses are the exclusive agents, in the conduct of OMO in Nigeria. OMO auction are held on a weekly basis. Presently, the notice is put out on Wednesday. Banks and other participants forward their bids to the discount houses on Thursday whilst the results are released the following day, Friday. The Discount House submits bids from authorized dealers, including its needs for OMO instruments, to the Central bank and facilitates the payments and settlement of the transactions.The money market is a wholesale market for low risk, highly liquid, short-term debt instruments. Shortterm refers to a tenor of less than one year. In Nigeria, the instruments traded in the main are Treasury Bills, Bankers Acceptances and Commercial Paper. The heart of activity in the money market occurs in the dealing rooms of discount houses and banks. Each day, billion of Naira is traded between operators in the money markets (CBN, 2004; Kakawa, 2005). Performance of Discount Houses in Nigeria Since inception, the discount houses have especially increased the level of activity in the secondary market for government securities. This is apparent from the volume of treasury bills currently held by banks. This increased from N5,181. million in 1992 to N38,286. 8 million in 1994. This is very remarkable when we consider that the treasury bills issued by the CBN had shown a downward slide from N81152. 1 million in 1992 to N30633. 2 million in 1994 and N20247. 7 million in 1996. As at 2002, there were 5 discount houses operating in Nigeria. Relative to their performance in 2001, they recorded significant growth in 2002. The total assets of the 5 operating Houses amounted to N57. 3 billion at December 2002 and N67. 3B as at the end of 2004 ( See Table 1 below). Total funds available amounted to N28. 7 billion compared with N9. 7 billion in 2001. The funds were sourced mainly from money-at-call (N13. billion), other amounts owed to bank and non-bank customers (N11. 7 billion), accretion to capital and reserves (N1. 6 billion), and reduction in cash and balances with banks (N1. 5 billion). 98 Table 1: Selected Indicators of Discount Houses, Money Market and Nigerian Economy Discount Houses Shareholders’ Funds (DHSF) NM 1993 436. 0 1994 565. 7 1995 865. 6 1996 1251. 7 1997 1430. 5 1998 1710. 3 1999 2136. 5 2000 3730. 7 2001 4948. 6 2002 6511. 0 2003 7679. 0 2004 9924. 5 Source: CBN Annual Reports, various years. Year Discount Houses Assets (DHASS) NM 4,461. 8 9,583. 2 3,431. 9 1,178. 4 6,996. 1 7,842. 6 15,049. 6 30,260. 8 32,353. 7 57,282. 52,731. 2 67,346. 2 The funds were largely utilized for investmen ts in government securities (N19. 7 billion), settlement of claims to banks (N2. 4 billion), and acquisition of other assets (N2. 4 billion) among other uses (CBN, 2002: 42, 43). The Central Bank (2004a) reported that the level of activities of discount houses recorded relatively improved performance in 2004 relative to compared with what obtained in 2003. The total assets/liabilities rose from N52. 7 billion in 2003 to N67. 3 billion in 2004, representing an increase of N14. 6 billion or 27. 7 per cent, while the total funds sourced amounted to N22. 6 million, compared with N15. billion in the preceding year See Table 1). The funds were sourced mainly from non-bank customers (N8. 1 billion), reduction on claims by banks (N5. 7 billion), and an increase in reserves (N2. 2 billion). The funds were utilized mainly in the purchase of Federal Government securities of less than 91-days maturity (N16. 2 billion). Discount houses’ investment in Federal Government securities of less than 91 days maturity amounted to N38. 1 billion at end-December 2004, representing 80. 1 percent of their total deposits liabilities. This was 20. 1 percentage points higher than the prescribed minimum of 60. 0 per cent for fiscal 2004 (CBN, 2004a).These show how important the impact of the discount houses has largely been felt in the level of activity and nature of holding of government debts instruments. Research Methodology Design of the study and Data: The study investigates the effect of the operational Performance of the discount houses on the Nigerian economy. The method employed included the estimation and analysis of regression models. For the purpose of this study, the research design used was the investigative research method which is mainly biased to inferential statistical analysis (Baridam, 2005). This study was intended to cover the entire discount houses operating in Nigeria.Accordingly, time series annual data 99 covering the period of 1993 through 2004 were obtain ed and analyzed. The Annual Report and Statement of Account of the CBN for various years constituted the sources of the time series data for the estimations. Operational Measure of the Variables: The dependent variables in this study are the operational performance indices of the money market and the entire economy, namely the total value of operations of the money market and the real GDP respectively. The independent variables are the operational performance indices of the discount houses, namely the discount houses shareholders’ fund (DHSF) and discount houses assets (DHAS).Data Analysis Techniques: Besides the desk research method which informs an extensive review of the theoretical underpinnings related to this topic, the study involved the estimation of conventional regression models as earlier mentioned which assisted in analyzing the data. The ordinary least square (OLS) technique was also adopted using the SPSS software for the estimation of the variables. The tand F- tests were used to test for significance of the results obtained. Hypotheses, Estimation Results, and Analysis Two hypotheses were formulated to the intent of finding the nature and magnitude of relationship existing between discount houses operations, on one part, and the money market operations and the general economic activity of the country, on the other. The resultant linear regression models were estimated and analyzed below. Relation between Discount Houses’ and Money Market Operations The first ypothesis states that: there is no significant relationship between the country’s money market operational performance and the operations of discount houses in the country. As expected the regression statistics were calculated using the SPSS computer software programme. The indicator of the money market, namely money operations from 1993 through 2004 were regressed against the indicator of discount houses, namely, the total capital injections (shareholders fund – DHSF) of discount houses on one part, and total assets of discount houses (DHAS) on the other. This procedure yields two subhypotheses: one relating money market operations (MMOP) with discount houses shareholders’ fund (DHSF) and the other linking MMOP with discount houses assets (DHAS).The results of the computations are summarized on Table 2 which depicts the regression results of relations between the above variables. In each case, the MMOP remained the dependent or explained variable, while the DHSF and DHAS were the independent variables. As shown by the Table, for the MMOP-DHSF relation, the observed coefficient of regression was 0. 995, while the same statistic was observed as 0. 978 for the MMOP-DHAS relation. 100 This suggested that the degree of association between the money market performance and the discount houses’ operations was very high, being at least 97%. The observed high degree of relationship was confirmed by each of the coefficient of determinat ion (r2) of 0. 91 and 0. 957 respectively. The results of the r2 showed that at least 95. 7% of the variations in money market operations can be attributed to the effects of discount houses’ operation, when the explanatory variable was DHAS. Table 2: Regression Results Showing Relationship between Discount Houses and Money Market Operations Independent Variables Statistics DHSF DHAS Coefficient of Regression (R) . 995 . 978 Coefficient of Determination (r2) . 991 . 957 Adjusted R Square . 990 . 952 F-Ratio 1050. 12 220. 522 Significance Level of F . 000 . 000 Regression Coefficient (beta) . 995 . 978 t-Statistics 32. 406 14. 85 Significance level of t . 000 . 00 * Dependent variable is MMOP. Source: Computer Printout (SPSS) The level of explained variation when the explanatory variable was DHSF was 99. 1%. The range of the degree of explained variation attributable to the models, thus, was between 95% and 99%. After adjusting for the effects of small sample size (number of ob servations) and number of independent variable (which remained constant however in each case implying that only sample size was adjusted), the adjusted coefficient of determination, r2, were 0. 99 for DHSF and 0. 952 for DHAS. By implications after the necessary adjustments, the proportion of explained variation remained at between 95% and 99%.The F-ratios of 1050. 12 for DHSF variable and 220. 522 for DHAS variable are all significant at 1% level or less (P = . 000 in each case). This implies that the relationships between MMOP and DHSF and DHMS are statistically significant at the conventional levels. The relative effects of each independent variable as denoted by the t-statistics are equally computed to be statistically significant as expected (t = 32. 406 for DHSF and t=14. 85 for DHAS; P= . 000 in each case) at 1% level of significance. Given these, we cannot accept a null hypothesis of no significant relationship between operations of the money market and those of the discount houses.Thus, there is a statistically significant relationship between discount houses operations and money market performance in Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian money market both positively and significantly. Relationship between Aggregate Economic Performance and Discount Houses Operations The second hypothesis attempts to know whether or not the general economy has been significantly impacted by the discount houses’ operations in the country. This hypothesis stated in the null is as 101 follows: There is no significant relationship between the aggregate economic performance represented by the GDP and the operations of discount houses in Nigeria.Table 3: Regression Results Showing Relationship between Discount Houses’ Operations and Real DGP Independent Variables Statistics Coefficient of Regression (R) Coefficient of Determination (r2) Adjusted R Square F-Ratio Significance Level of F Regression Coefficient (beta) t-Statistics Sign ificance level of t DHSF . 971 . 943 . 937 163. 97 . 000 . 971 12. 805 . 000 DHAS . 947 . 898 . 887 87. 705 . 000 . 947 9. 365 . 000 * Dependent variable is real GDP. Source: Computer Printout (SPSS) The regression statistics were calculated using the SPSS computer software program. The indicator of the economy namely Real GDP from 1993 through 2004 were regressed against the indicators of iscount houses, namely, the total capital injections (shareholders fund – DHSF) of discount houses on one part, and total assets of discount houses (DHAS) on the other. This procedure yielded two subhypotheses: one relating Real GDP (RGDP) with discount houses shareholders funds (DHSF) and the other linking RGDP with discount houses assets (DHAS). The results of the computations are summarized on Table 3 which depicts the regression results of relations between the above variables. In each case, the RGDP was treated as the dependent or explained variable, while the DHSF and DHAS were the in dependent variables. As shown by the Table, for the RGDP-DHSF relation, the observed coefficient of regression was 0. 971, while the same statistic was observed as 0. 947 for the RGDP-DHAS relation.This suggested that the degree of association between the aggregate economic performance and the discount houses’ operations was very relatively high, being at least 94%. The observed high degree of relationship was confirmed by each of the coefficient of determination (r2) of 0. 943 and 0. 898 respectively. The results of the r2 showed that at least 89% of the variations in aggregate economic activities can be attributed to the effects of discount houses’ operations, when the explanatory variable was DHAS. The level of explained variation when the explanatory variable was DHSF was 93. 7%. The range of the degree of explained variation attributable by the models thus was between 89% and 94%. 102After adjusting for the effects of small sample size (number of observations) and number of independent variable (which remained constant however in each case implying that only sample size was adjusted), the adjusted coefficient of determination, r2, were . 937 for DHSF and . 887 for DHAS. By implications after the necessary adjustments, the proportion of explained variation remained at between 88% and 93%. The F-ratios of 163. 97 for DHSF variable and 87. 7 for DHAS variable are all significant at 1% level or less (P = . 000 in each case). This implies that the relationships between RGDP and DHSF and DHAS are statistically significant at the conventional levels. The relative effects of each independent variable as denoted by the t-statistics are equally computed to be statistically significant as expected (t = 12. 8 for DHSF and t = 9. 4 for DHAS; P= . 00 in each case) at 1% level of significance. Given these, we cannot accept a null hypothesis of no significant relationship between aggregate economic activities of Nigeria and operations of the discount houses . Thus, there is a statistically significant relationship between discount houses operations and economic performance of Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian economy both positively and significantly. Concluding Remarks It was thus the main purpose of this study to analyze the operational performance of discount houses in a bid to see how they relate with the general performances of the money market and with the macro economy.Put simply, the study investigated the effects of the operational Performance of the discount houses on the Nigerian money market and the economy. The method employed included the estimation and analysis of regression models. The results indicated that: there is a statistically significant relationship between discount houses operations and money market performance in Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian money market both positively and significantly. Furthermore, there is a statistically significant rel ationship between discount houses operations and economic performance of Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian economy both positively and significantly.The results suggest that the establishment of discount houses has been shown to be one of the potent measures that have tremendous potentials to strengthen and cause real growth to the money market and the economy. In keeping with the above, the Government and the Central Bank should endeavor to license more discount houses since their operations are beneficial to the country. The five discount houses currently operating are too few to satisfy the requirements of a vast country like Nigeria. The opearational Houses and the authorities should also endeavor to awake the consciousness of the investing and the business public to proper usage of the facilities and services provided by discount houses.Candid awareness should be provided and information made available to the investor public to know which discoun t house is performing better and good for patronage. The management of the operating discount house should endeavor to improve in their service offerings to their customers especially in the area of making their discount charges to be reasonably competitive. This could also improve the clientele level of the 103 operating discount houses in the economy. It is important that discount houses’ management, investors and government critically analyze and understand the effect of under-utilization of services or facilities provided by discount houses.It is the humbly suggestion of the authors that further empirical works be carried out on the identified relationships using more powerful and sophisticated tools and larger number of observations such as in the cases of monthly and quarterly data. Comparisons between the Nigerian experiment and the experiences of other developing countries should also be made. These would assist the general understanding of the unique roles of discoun t houses in the less developed countries. 104 References: Ajie, H. A. and Ezi, C. T. (2001) Financial Institutions and Markets, Paragraphics Publishers, Enugu. Baridam, D. M. (2005) Research Methods in Administrative Sciences. NTA Road, Port Harcourt. Sherbrooke Associates. Central Bank of Nigeria (2002) Annual Report and Statement of Accounts. Abuja: CBN Press. Central Bank of Nigeria (2004) Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses. CBN Press.Central Bank of Nigeria (2004a) Annual Report and Statement of Accounts. Abuja: CBN Press. Ekezie, E. S. (1990) Elements of Banking. Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press. Ezirim (2005) Finance Dynamics: Principles, Techniques, and Applications. Port Harcourt: Markowitz. Federal Government of Nigeria (1991) Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFID) Decree No. 25 of 1991. Lagos: Government Press. Federal Government of Nigeria (1991) Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Decree No. 24 of 1991. Lagos: Government Press. Kakawa Discount House Limited (2005 ) Discount Houses in Nigeria. www. Google. com, Accessed October 2005. Layi Afolabi (1992) Law and Practice of Banking. Lagos: Lagos University Press. 105

Mock Trial Closings Essay

The closing argument is the last piece of a mock trial, essentially the last time you get to sell your case to the jury. During the closing argument, you are summarizing and putting together everything the jury has already heard during the trial. You are basically clarifying everything presented in the trial from showing the relevance of a particular witness to showing how everything you’ve presented comes together to prove your case. It is one of the most important parts of mock trial, mainly because the jury listens. It is the last chance to convince the judges of your case, to show you are more skilled than your opponent, and get the perfect 10 you’re hoping for because they are the last words the jury will hear from your team. It can make your case, or break it, thus delivery is very important. Writing the Closing Theme An important part of a great closing is the theme. It will tie your case together in a pretty ribbon that will stay in the juries mind. It will be the same theme from the opening, one that runs through your entire case, and in the closing reminding the jury of your case with the catchy phrase or sentence. Structure 1)Introduction: Begin with a short introduction that catches the jury’s attention. It should remind the judges of the big picture. If it’s a murder trial, talk about how tragic it is that this person’s life was taken away. If it’s a civil trial you can speak about how the person’s rights were violated. Also be sure to introduce your theme during the introduction. 2)Burden of Proof: Explain what your burden is and what your role is in relation to it. Tell the judges exactly how you’ve met the burden or how the opposing counsel has failed to met this burden. In addition, frame the burden of proof in your favor. 3)Law: Tell the judges about each element of the charge. Explain whether or not you have proved or disproved each element, or whether it is enough to prove or disprove any one element. Then make a roadmap. Tell the judge that to prove your burden/undermine your opponents case, you are to prove x, y, and z. 4)Argument: This is the meat of your case. This is where one by one you are going to signpost and tell the judge exactly what you are talking about. Example: â€Å"Now let’s look at X†. X, Y, and Z should not be your three witnesses but parts of the law that you need to prove or disprove. Remind your judges of testimonies/evidence from the trial that adds up to show X. Do this for all points. Its important to remember it should be based around the law. Don’t go witness by witness recounting the evidence. 5)Conclusion: Sums everything up. Restate how you’ve met your burden of proof through x, y, and z. Use your theme once more to tie everything together. Ask for a verdict. Remember to be this strong, convincing and memorable.

Growth and Development of Paksitani Media

Growth and Development of Paksitani Media Pak inherited 05 radio channel son its birth. International Trend played important role in development of Mass Media in Pakistan. Initial decades of Pakistani Media’s history have been dominated by PTV. 2. Government was compelled to permit freedom of media (a)Liberalization of airway in India led to mushroom growth of TV channels (b)In Kargil war India was able to sell its viewpoint to the world and cashed on its version while Pak suffered since it had only the state channel. (c)Economic boom in telecom in Pakistan. Commercial nature of Media was discovered in the economic advantages related to it. Revenue generated by Media in 2002 was 2 billion and in 2007 this soared to Rs. 17 Billion. (d)Literacy rate / level grew in Pakistan and played a role in media Development. (e)Arrival of cable operators / network and its growth held vision. (f)Govt policies played vital role, especially of President Musharraf. Javed Jabbar. Said â€Å"Media is more powerful then nuclear devices† he worked on PEMRA 3. Private sector was involved and posed challenge to state media. State Media to compete with Pvt Media has to improve and become more open and provide realistic stories, this reformed the State Media as well _ since realistic input was being provided by the Pvt Media. 4. Pak Media Market was in raw form and was untapped; it had the potential to grow. Phenomenon of community based radio channels i. e. FM channel, community based Services (print / elect) have played important role in media development. 5. Number of Press Media / Printing groups were permitted and have launched their TV channels e. . Jang Group – Geo, etc. 6. Mass media is the major source of providing news and entertainment to the people who wants to know who is doing what and what is happening. Aristotle in his book â€Å"Poetics† has written that â€Å"Media is a means of catharsis and is must for normal living†. 7. The entertainment and news value of media has played very important role its development. However, electronic media enjoys larger scope over print media, since it has wider audience, is easily accessible and be understood by even illiterate people. The media provides wide range of entertainment / news according to interest of people of different age groups / liking / languages. Talk Shows Mania has brought more liberalization and has revolutionized the concept since erstwhile taboo issues are being discussed enhancing the awareness of people. 8. The realization in the people and Government about the role of media in society / economic development is there. Indian soap operas have a large viewer ship and their popularity has attracted lots of commercials / advertisement. The commercial aspects attached to the media have contributed to its rapid development. . The Infrastructure Development has taken place. Modern state of art studios /introduction of latest equipment / communication facilities like video conferencing, fax, electronic data transfer, chat / mobiles, etc have brought in a revolution and contributed immensely in the media development. 10. The advertisement / commercials have brought big money to media market. The co ntents of programmes are changing. The high economic stakes attached to the media have brought in Professionalism in all its related fields. Due open market, there is a Scarcity of professional media men 1. The abundance of media outlets has on one hand has created lot of employment opportunities but on the other has posed challenges to the media men to excel in their fields. Jang Group has more than 50,000 employees; media persons are getting enhanced wages. Today we have number of highly professional and well-known media persons who are stalwarts of Pakistani Media and form its backbone. 12. Dozens Of other factors have played role in the development of Pakistani Media. It has been a â€Å"watchdog† on actions of the state, people strengthened the media. Media has played important role in discussing un-touched subjects. It has helped harmonizing the nation on otherwise contentious issues. The competition among the channels is bringing in qualitative improvement in the content and other aspects of programmes Impact of Cable TV Media is strengthening development in Pakistan. †¢Media has supported Democracy. †¢Media has highlighted Public issues. †¢Media has given voice to neglected element of society. †¢Media has become entertainment industry; it satisfies all segments, age groups of our society. CERTAIN NEGATIVE ROLE OF PAKISTANI MEDIA . Consumerism. Our society is consuming all messages being spread by the Media. Media has made us a talking nation, the Mobile Mania-kids, ladies, youngsters all are just talking on the mobile phones. The effect of media is very strong with respect to advertisement on consumer products, instead of being producer media has made us consumer. 2. Moral Vacuum. The dramas, programmes etc shown on media glamorize everything they depict, this has created a moral vacuum and our younger generation is going away for our values (religious, social). 3. Westernization. Western / Indian cultural invasion has taken place through media and is permeating Pakistan society. Our commercials are depicting western values and causing a loss of national identity. There are media talk shows on subjects including sex etc which otherwise are taboo in our society. 4. Not Developing National Image. Our Media is blamed for not developing /projecting our national image. Our media at times uses Indian language; projects Indian Stars in our ads, etc, the threats posed to our values are immense and must be countered. Our country lacks a defined policy to promote national image through media. . False Values. Pakistani Media is projecting false values in its programmes, etc. The projection of family planning, love stories in dramas, hi-fi living styles / material depicted in dramas, etc. are not real and are not based on ground realities. (a)Media lacks compact programmes to educate Pakistani nation. (b)Projected values on media are not congruent with our values / ground realities. It is actually projecting ‘False Values’. (c)Programmes / dramas shown are exaggerated beyond imagination. 6. Manifestation of Interests. Media is negatively manipulating the interests of the people. People of Pakistan are yet not critical / educated enough to realize this manipulation / twisting of facts. There is a famous dictum that â€Å"a lie spoken 100 times becomes greater than a truth†. 7. Exaggeration. Pakistani media is also blamed for overwhelming negative Exaggeration. It glamorizes issues, resorts to negative exaggeration of matters, newspaper headlines are depicting violence, etc all this demoralizes the nation. At times news are given without authentication / confirmation. Unethical material /photographs / scenes are shown on our media promoting vulgarization. Media is Damaging basic fiber of our nation and has created a crisis of misidentification. 8. Dangers to Socialization. We remain fixed to TV screens at the cost of socialization. We cut short our social activities just to watch some favorite programmes on TV. We are not undertaking socialization / giving time to our kids, parents, etc because we are glued to TV etc. This is developing a generation gap. We are giving more time to TV channels and less time to social activity and a sort of isolation is being developed. 9. Sensationalizing / Creating Uncertainty. Our media sensationalize the issues / accidents / incidents. When too much of information is available it creates confusion. Our media is broadcasting every type of information at times even compromising the accuracy and is creating uncertainty. 10. Overloaded with Information. Pakistani Media is discussing so many of topics are actually bombarding the audience with information. Media has flooded us with information. (a)This is psychologically not good for our scenes and disturbs our body functions. (b)Media is stuffing our minds with all types of information and has onverted us into ‘generalist’. Media is misusing our energies. (c)Media has become corporate; it possesses / uses lot of resources and has phenomenal business / financial benefits attached to it, accordingly it bombards the viewers with information. Different surveys are undertaken to find out various methods on how to attract the viewers / readers. Media Marketing has Converted us into recipient. Media is s pending so much of money on efforts to attract / enhance its viewer ship. (d)Commercials breaks are introduced at the peak points of programmes. Such commercials are very expensive.

The influence of the Denver National Western Stock Show on Prostitutio Essay

The influence of the Denver National Western Stock Show on Prostitution - Essay Example It is therefore expected that the people who will be visiting the city of Denver will lead to an imbalance in the market for prostitution and this is bound to create some pressures on the prices for the services. The various dimensions of the effects as well as the movements expected are discussed below in order to have a clear picture of the expected outcomes (Moffatt, Peter and Simon, 681). As has been mentioned above, the first basic effect of the National Western Stock Show is the fact that there will be some imbalances in the supply and demand of prostitution services. This is due to the fact that a lot of people are expected to come to the city to showcase their products and services while others will be visiting the city in order to experience the show. The first dimension of this influx is that there will be an increase in the demand for prostitution services and this is expected to push the prices upward as the market forces adjust themselves accordingly. It is expected that the prostitutes operating in the city will increase the prices of their services in order to benefit from increased demand for their services (Moffatt, Peter and Simon, 683). Another dimension is that the influx of people will bring in people with more disposable income and therefore they will be willing to spend their money on various forms of leisure and entertainment such as seeking the services of prostitutes. This will lead to an increase in the prices of the services since they will be willing to pay more than normal in order to access the scarce services. It is, however, important to note that this may not go on for long as the market will adjust itself almost immediately as it is expected that other prostitutes from other cities and localities will also invade the city in order to benefit from offering services to the people at the show. This means that the supply of prostitution services may actually increase and this may put a downward pressure on the prices (Dill 96).

Economic growth of Japan after 1945 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economic growth of Japan after 1945 - Term Paper Example The net national savings (NNS) of an economy is calculated from the difference between its gross national savings (GNS) and the rate of depreciation of the capital stock of the economy (Depr). NNS= GNS – Depr. Figure 2: Falling Savings in Japan over Time (Source: â€Å"World Bank†) In the above line diagram, the pink line clearly shows the fall in the net national savings rate in Japan over time. The real interest rate is the rate of interest which is experienced by an investor in the market after compensating for the loss from inflation. The real interest rate (R) is calculated on the basis of the Fischer’s Equation. This equation explains that real interest rate is the simple difference between the nominal interest rate (N) and the inflation rate in an economy (I). R= N – I. The inflation rate for an economy is again calculated from the consumer price index (CPI) of a country. CPI is the simple average of a particular basket of goods and services produce d in nation. I = [CPI(this year) – CPI(last year)] / CPI(last year) (Baumol and Blinder 77). Figure 3: Real Interest Rates of Japan over Time (Source: â€Å"World Bank†) The above graph explains the real interest rate in Japan over the years. The entire quantitative data for the purpose of the research in this paper is taken on annual basis. The data table for the above line graph is given in Table 1 in the Appendix. Solow Model Analysis The Solow Model of growth is based on the concept of long run economic progress within the framework of neo-classical growth model. The neo-classical concept of growth states that a country can grow rapidly over time with the help of capital accumulation, population growth, technological progress and productivity. Figure 4: The Solow Model... According to the view of the neoclassical economists, the technological progress seen in the economy of Japan should have facilitated the growth of its national product. Moreover, the technological progress in the country should have reduced the use of labor in its economy. However, this is not the real scenario in Japans economy. The service sector income of the country contributes to the majority of its national income. In the last few years, Japan also had to face a severe decline in its national income, net domestic savings and real interest rates. This is because, in the real world, the idealistic view of endogenous growth does not exist. The crises of credit and fluid capital in the market have reduced the level of national income in the economy of Japan (Paul 47). The fall in the level of production capabilities has forced to reduce the national income of most of the countries (like Japan) in the world after the global recession. The decline in the national income has, therefo re, resulted in a fall of the per capita income level of the country. The fall in the income level is in turn responsible for the decline in the net domestic savings in Japan (Mankiw and Taylor 132). As the gross amount of savings in Japan has fallen over time, the number of investment opportunities in the country has also declined. After the emergence of globalization and liberalization in the world economy, the prices of most of the goods and services in the market are determined by the free market forces of demand and supply.

Cantonese Romanization System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cantonese Romanization System - Research Paper Example From the essay it is clear this is a form of Romanizing Cantonese proper nouns that is widely used by the Hong Kong government departments and non-governmental organizations in Hong Kong. This use of this method by the government has a long history dating back to the days of British rule and it has undergone a lot of metamorphosis through the two world wars. There are no strict guidelines laid on the method since it just established itself and since then it became a common practice. Due to the un-standardized nature of the method, this system got its critics to a point that other systems are recommended in teaching institutions for its place. As the research declares there are several drawbacks associated with Hong Kong government Romanization system. Firstly, Hong Kong government Romanization system not fully standardized as a system and thus posses a great challenge in spelling since many of the phonemes are similar to more than one letter combination or the other way round. Secondly, In Hong Kong government Romanization system, all tones and distinctions between unaspirated and aspirated stops are omitted and this leads to a great problem in spelling. Lastly, there is existence of inconsistencies throughout Hong Kong government Romanization system as a result of loss of distinctions historically. That is, a distinction between alveolar and palatal sounds making most consonants undistinguished in present-day speech, lacks tone marks, lacks diacritics and different spellings sometimes used for the similar phonemes.

Animal rights the Strength and Weakness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Animal rights the Strength and Weakness - Essay Example While some argue that humans should be distinguished from the rest of the other animals and that they are in a separate moral category, some are against this ideology. The ones that believe that animals have no moral status will support any treatment to the animals including practices that cause discomfort, pain, suffering and death. Some people treat the animals according to the way they feel is fit for them and their beliefs an action which elicited the need to develop a forum where animal rights could be guarded and this secure them from the jaws of the malicious owners. Contrary to them, many philosophers believe that though there are differences in all manners of ways between the animals and the humans, there lacks a philosophical defense for denying the animals a moral consideration. The two sides have debated on the justification of these moral rights for ages (Mack, 2012). The philosophers who came forward to develop this argument supported their argument by purporting that since animals have a distinct life just like the humans they also should be considered as living things with their rights no matter how developed they may be closer or further from the humans. The explanation of various philosophers in regard to the subject will be discussed in the following chapters. It is important to note that the explanation may not give a conclusive decision as what is offered is a mere explanation and leave the reader to decide independently. The Kantian approach towards animals, which is said to have marked progress from Descartes theory that stated that animals were mere automata, acknowledges animal pain. The theory however, still states that animals were not self-conscious and were there merely as a means to an end. Kant claimed that man’s duties towards the animals were but indirect duties towards humanity. This means that though man should strive to treat the animals well, it was not because he owed them any

Explain how the Bank of England tries to manage inflation and discuss Essay

Explain how the Bank of England tries to manage inflation and discuss whether the Quantitative Easing Programme may cause higher - Essay Example The rate of inflation of the economy is jumping high. Financial analysts quote this rate of inflation as an all time high. The Bank has constantly failed to maintain the rate of inflation which has been prescribed by the government (Dimsdale, 2009). The Bank may blame the cause of the increasing inflation on external factors, but the problem mainly arose because to deal with this situation the Bank started printing money. The printing of money was not backed by gold reserves held by the Bank. Apart from this the quantity of Bank notes printed was in a very large amount (IEA, 2013). The bank is of the view that it has done the right thing. By doing this the bank has breached the government instructions of maintaining a 2% inflation rate but has successfully managed to maintain an annual rate of 5-7%. The Bank claims that this policy will ease of the debt payment. EXPLAINING THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND The argument of the Bank of its actions can not be catered by the common rational of an individual. This is because no rational economy would take such an action. Printing so many currency notes will prove to be a hole in the economy. Printing extra notes will always result in more inflation then before. The rise in the inflation rate will prove to be beneficial for a few of the citizens. The rise in the inflation rate will impact the individuals as an additional tax implemented on them. The individuals will feel a prominent squeeze in the prices when paying of the utility bills or consumable goods. The government has eased the individual by implementing several tax cuts by decreasing costs and fuel prices, etc (Bell, Martyn, & Stanton, 2012). The complete economy is facing a problem of rising inflation. This is causing a problem because there are financial crisis rising due to the upcoming recession. The economy needs to deal with the situations accordingly. If it fails to do so then the people of that economy would be facing huge problems. This is the reason why it has become necessary for the economy to use quantitative easing. This will raise the flow of funds within the society. By taking these actions the economy can survive the effects of recession (Anderson, Gascon, & Liu, 2010). The result of quantitative easing will be rising amounts of inflation and hence devaluing the real value of the currency. This action taken by the Bank of England will raise the inflation of the country due to the devaluation of the currency. The set of standards of the government are not being followed appropriately, in this case, and for this reason the economy has a low annual inflation rate but the instant rate of inflation is high. The debt repayment of the economy can also be done easily to reduce the debt of the economy. Quantitative ease is the process which is used to manage and reduce the debt instantly. The rationale behind this action will ensure that the economy will become successful in eliminating the debt but the currency will deval ue resulting in a higher inflation rate (Breedon, Chadha, & Waters, 2012; Cobham & Kang, 2011). Any central bank which does not want inflation to occur will not use the qualitative pricing technique to cover up with the shortage of the funds. The usage of the printing of currency notes will surely result in a higher inflation rate (de Rezende, 2011). QUANTITATIVE EASING When the standard

Strategy implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Strategy implementation - Essay Example In Andrews’ definition, there appears to be a clear division between strategy formulation and its implementation. It is at the implementation stage that resource allocation becomes crucial. This is in keeping with the classical or planned model of thinking about strategy. In the more recent, process, or resource-based view (RBV) of strategy, when speaking of the competitive advantage of a firm, scholars stress the importance of ‘resources’ and ‘capabilities’ available to it (Amit and Shoemaker 1993). It is commonsensical to argue that the strategy implementation of an enterprise is predicated on the availability (’command’) of resources and capabilities of the firm. Resources are held to be available business-wide, while capabilities are the skills and abilities developed within and specific to the firm. Resources alone therefore, are not in themselves sufficient to gain a ’sustainable competitive advantage’ for a firm. Cap abilities, often in the form of patents, and expertise developed in-house, and not easily replicated by outsiders, are equally, if not more important. It is too simplistic to separate strategy implementation from strategy formulation, since a strategy has to be adaptive and evolving, while keeping at the forefront the ends and goals that need to be met for the business to remain viable. Barney (1991), supported by a number of other researchers, claimed that a firm’s key resources needed optimally to conform to the following criteria.

Reality TV Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Reality TV - Essay Example In recent decades, the media has covered the analysis that the reality shows almost around the world have brought an enormous popularity as well as profitability, implicating a promising growing trend of such phenomenon in practice (Holmes & Jermyn, 2004, 302 pp.). However, not all the reality shows are very successful in particular, though they bring the attention of mass with its significant increasing popularity as well as cultural prominence. On the other hand, this does not necessarily imply that they are good in societal context or that they ought to be aired. This paper aims at criticising the essentiality of regulatory bodies to effectively ensure the respect for human dignity of participants in reality TV show by providing empirical evidences. The significant part of the popularity achieved by such programmes is primarily due to the involvement of ordinary individuals within extraordinary framework. Reality television shows possess the potentiality to portray an ordinary individual into national celebrities in the sense of encouraging his or her outwardly in endowment as well as making them to participate in performance-based programmes such as Pop Idol, however, programmes like Survivor as well as Big Brother have the capacity to make their participants to accomplish some level of celebrity phenomenon. Some of the critics of reality television shows have argued with its description as a 'r... he potentiality to portray an ordinary individual into national celebrities in the sense of encouraging his or her outwardly in endowment as well as making them to participate in performance-based programmes such as Pop Idol, however, programmes like Survivor as well as Big Brother have the capacity to make their participants to accomplish some level of celebrity phenomenon. Some of the critics of reality television shows have argued with its description as a 'reality-based show' as they explain several reasons for it such as the inclusion of several programmes under single genre. Big Brothers and Survivor, the reality based competitive programmes, as well as living arrangement shows like The Real World, the regulatory bodies essentially design the layout of the show and govern the daily activities of the participants in order to formulate the environment based on which the competition rules out which in essence involves the psycho-drama consisting of challenges, events, behaviours, emotions and conflicts in a pre-defined scenario (Anderson 1995, p.36). Mark Burnett, the originator of Survivor, also elucidates and agrees with the statement of not deszcribing the reality show as 'reality show'. He emphasizes the reality show as being a 'good stories of unscripted dramatization' (online). The second criticism mainly stems from the idea that the reality sho w producers may become highly premeditated in their editing process that may vary from altering chronology and selective appearance of the events to portraying specific participants as heroes or villains in particular (Anderson 1994, p. 8-13). The third criticism may be encountered as the counterpart of the second criticism in which it has been noticed that the participants by themselves modify their behaviour and

Property law and trust question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Property law and trust question - Essay Example According to English, C. (2005, 211), â€Å"Personal property includes all property other than freehold estates and interests in land. Personal property was called chattels by the common law and often referred to as movable goods, which included such items as money, debts, clothing, household goods, food, and all other movables and the rights and profits related to them† (Halsbury, Laws of England, 1960) b) The Japanese-style summer house and pagoda Under the law, Sarah has the right to demand for the Japanese style summer house and pagoda  because they are considered as immovable properties and they follow the land. The deed of sale entered by Sarah and the couple, Matt and Jane, has for it object a parcel of land, which is considered a real property or otherwise known as an immovable property. English, C. (2005,211) defined â€Å"real property as land and whatever is attached to the land, fixtures, rights and profits annexed to or issuing out of the land†. Therefore , Sarah is allowed by law to the recover permanent fixtures attached to the land, after purchasing the cottage. Hence, if the structures on the land are by nature, fixed and cannot be moved from one place to another, they are considered part of the property which was newly purchased. ... â€Å"The statutory requirements for a valid contract for the sale and purchase of land are the following: Capacity, Offer and Acceptance, Consideration and Legality† (Cummins, 1997, p. 44). b) Explain whether there is a valid contract between Sarah and Peter for the sale and purchase of the London flat    Yes, there was a valid contract between Sarah and Peter for the sale and purchase of the London flat. All elements for a valid contract of sale are present, namely: Capacity, Offer and Acceptance, Consideration and Legality. In the case at bar, there was a meeting of the minds between Sarah and Peter the moment Peter agreed to sell his flat to Sarah for the consideration of ?180,000. The fact that Peter accepted the offer tendered by Sarah in the amount of ?180,000, there was already a perfected contract as she signed the letter that she is willing to buy the property. To consider an offer to be acknowledged, â€Å"a valid act of acceptance must be made by the offereeâ₠¬  (Gillies, 2004, p. 149). This was further clarified in the case of Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co., (1893) 1 QB 256. â€Å"The first requisite of a contract is that both parties have reached an agreement. There are three essential requisites to the creation of a contract, namely: agreement, contractual intention and consideration† (Oughton and Davis, 2000, p. 21). Here, all the essential requisites to make a contract perfected are present. Therefore, there was a valid contract entered by both parties, giving rise to the cause of action by Sarah against Peter for breach of contract and to compel him to fulfill his obligation to deliver the flat. 3.) Explain the nature of the rights if any, which peter has to keep his horse in the paddock Peter has

Group Communication Essay Example for Free

Group Communication Essay Effective group communications come in forms of verbal and non-verbal techniques. Essential parts of the entire group’s contribution are that the group contains full participating members, the group is diverse, and that the diversity is recognized and respected (Hartley, 1997). In the videos viewed, three were evaluated on the effective and ineffective communication skills of the participants and suggestions made on how they could improve. The videos are titled, â€Å"Planning a Playground†, â€Å"Helping Annie†, and The Politics of Sociology. Planning a Playground For the impact diversity plays on group member’s communication styles, I choose the video titled â€Å"Planning a Playground†. In this video, community residents are meeting for the first time to discuss an issue pertaining to funding of new neighborhood playground. The residents belong to diversified backgrounds in regards to their ages, genders, race, and SEC (Planning a Playground, 2008). The origins of the residents differ as one member is Black; one is Asian, whereas the other three are Caucasian. The residents come from different SEC backgrounds. One member opens the discussion about funding and how much difficulty they are having in raising enough money. Another member chimes in and mentions how she is close friends with a person with a lot of resources who might help with contributions. The group members communication style is totally different because their diversified backgrounds. Some sit facing the other’s and makes constant eye contact. Another sits at the ‘head’ of the table able to view everyone but does not necessary look at everyone. Some members are taking detailed written notes, where another is just sitting there listening to everyone. Physical placement places a huge effect and impact on communication. People facing each other, sitting in close proximity, ensures everyone is heard and gives a feeling of comfort. Other effective communication methods could have made use of for the meeting and benefitted all members. Two of these methods are written materials and telephones (Hartley, 1997). Written material could be repared before the group met and used to make occurrences clearer to members, who have no knowledge of the subject. The other method is telephones, which can assist the members to gain better understanding of each other. In the use of telephones there is the reduce chance of discrimination since the members can not see each other (if they have not met prior- in some incidences here). Annie To address the verbal and nonverbal interaction among the members of a group the video titled â€Å"Annie† best illustrates this. In the video there is clearly both listening and miscommunication going on. The setting of this video is that the title character, Annie is a high school girl, who seems to be suffering from a possible eating disorder as well as depression (Understanding Relationship- Helping Annie, 2008). A nurse from a school has called upon a meeting with a psychiatrist and a social worker to seek out a possible treatment plan for Annie. In â€Å"Annie†, again the physical setting and placement of participants play an important part in the communication style. Two of the members are sitting side-by-side on a couch while the third person sits in her desk chair across from the couch. The person in the chair is not only able to make eye contact with the other two but also is in a physical position to see their verbal and non-verbal communications. The two on the couch are at a disadvantage for reading the non-verbal language and making eye contact with each other. The school nurse, psychiatrist, and social workers are engaged in a verbal conversation. The psychiatrist is talking to the school nurse and is not all concerned or ready to take any sort of arguments from the social worker. He is engaging in various sorts of non- verbal communication with the social workers showing his disinterest. The various non- verbal communications used by the psychiatrist are body language and voice. He continues to cut the social worker off in mid-sentence, not allowing her to speak (Understanding Relationship- Helping Annie, 2008). These non- verbal communications were hindering the process of group communication. The two methods of communications, which could have facilitated the group would have been one-to-one conversation as well as written communication. Each member could have met individually to avoid interruptions and bad sitting placement (Hartley, 1997). Also since each one evaluated Annie separately the could have just submitted their findings and suggestions/recommendations to the social worker and let her develop a plan off of that- and send a copy to the nurse and psychiatrist for editing and review. The Politics of Sociology The third video, The Politics of Sociology†, demonstrates good communication techniques from all members of the group. The various listening techniques, which have been used by the members of this group, are encouraging, paraphrasing, and reflecting feelings. The encouraging technique used, refers to the utilization of a variety of verbal and nonverbal to promote others to go ahead with their talks. Paraphrasing is restating the conversation to give an impression that the person listening has understood the conversation. Reflecting is concerned with showing empathy with the speaker. Listening is an important activity of group communication. To bring out an effective solution or conclusion to the matter discussed, it is important to listen to all the opinions. The participants are all professors at a university but still have different backgrounds (The Politics of Sociology, 2008). There are differences in the ages, races, and subjects they teach. Each person has a different communication style. Some shot ideas out right away where others waited for all to speak then evaluate and give their opinions, while staying respectful and understanding of each other’s point of view. The physical set-up of the room plays a positive part in their effective communication. Each member is facing each other and is able to see the faces of everyone. This positioning helps cut back on misunderstandings or non-verbal cues. Even though the communication techniques used in this video seem to be effective, there are always room for change and improvement. Since the group was composed of multiple people, five or six, a visual display could have been used. Either a blackboard or overhead projector could have been set up and allow each member to put up their pros and cons for change of the curriculum as well as any ideas or suggestions they had. After each member went then one person could be delegated to summarize the lists and come up with final recommendations to be voted on (Hartley, 1997). Another method could have been to break the group up into two smaller groups to work on solutions and then bring them back to the large group for discussion. Conclusion In problem solving, group discussion, or just typical dialogue it is important to have effect communication techniques. Depending on the group or topic of conversation there are several techniques that work better for discussion then others. Taking into consideration time frame or group size written, telephone, or one-on-one techniques can be utilized. Communication styles vary among groups but key essentials are universal; listening, respecting, and appropriate interaction between members.

How has Portugal been affected by globalization

How has Portugal been affected by globalization Economic globalization is not a recent phenomenon, it is the continuous evolution of developments that have been in train for a considerable amount of time. One may define economic globalization as the process by which markets and production in different countries are becoming increasingly interdependent due to the dynamics of trade in goods and services and flows of capital and technology European Commission (1997) cited in Sloman (2006). In other words, it involves the use of the factors of production on a world scale. The aim this essay is to discuss the impact of globalization in the economy of Portugal. Firstly, this paper will examine the relation between the globalization concept and the Portuguese integration in the European Union, explain in what forms its has been beneficial and describe the job creation in the service sector brought about the development of new information, production technologies and the expansion of tourism. Secondly, it is going to discuss the different negative repercussions of globalization in the various sectors of economic activity, analyse the socio-economic consequences of the relocation of multinationals, consider certain foreign investments in Portugal and expose certain possible disadvantages of having a single currency. The European Union as Cardoso and Ferreira (2000) asserts is currently the most successful example of regional economic integration which reflects the present Era of globalization. Portugal as a member of it since 1986 and as consequence of the European integration process has been experiencing considerable political, social and mainly economic changes. According to the above mentioned author, the various Portuguese areas of economic activity have been profoundly influenced by the European regulations and policies. With the creation of a common European market and a single currency, several constraints that limited in some extent the efficiency of business organizations and the full employment of their resources have been suppressed, the Portuguese companies gained the opportunity to explore economies of scale and to specialize in certain good and services through comparative advantage, improved their position to negotiate internationally, eliminated the exchange rate uncertainty, re duced inflation rates and enhanced competition which stimulates greater economic efficiency. Moreover, Cardoso and Ferreira (2000) further affirms that the gains of greater economic integration and interdependence between countries due to the globalization of the economy through the European Union also involve savings in foreign exchanges and transport costs. Furthermore, according to Lima et al. (2006), the above mentioned regional economic integration with its respective technological development of telecommunications and transport also permitted for example the organizational and technological restructure of the banking sector and stimulated employment in the service sector, mainly in the tourism sector. Considering the case of tourism, as Cardoso and Ferreira (2000) explains, this sector that in Portugal assumes significant social, cultural and particularly economic importance in creating jobs, increasing income per inhabitant, in the development of skilled labour, economic dive rsification and infrastructures has been profoundly positively affected along with different various areas of economic activity by the globalization and the European regulations and policies. Currently the total contribution of Travel and Tourism to the Portuguese Gross Domestic Product, including its wider economic impacts, is forecast to rise by 2.4% from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬25.7bn (14.7% of GDP) in 2011 to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬32.6bn (16.2%) by 2021 (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2011) and one may deduce that the above mentioned economic facts are due to the present globalization that made the tourism industry grow mainly with the fusion of cultures, transports revolution and deregulation policies as Wahab and Cooper (2001) assert. In addition, Lima et al. (2006) corroborates the above mentioned arguments by pointing out the fact that jobs in the hotel and restaurant sector increased by 9.4% between 1998 and 2004 and it also asserts that there has been noteworthy investments in transpor t and telecommunications, 30,000 jobs were created between 1998 and 2004 in this sector and it represented in 2006 7.4% of the service jobs. Furthermore, as a positive impact of the globalization in the countrys economy, Portugal since its integration in the European Union has always benefited from various structural funds and programs to encourage economic growth, higher competitiveness and to help reduce disparities among regions. As an example, one may consider the Portuguese archipelago island of Madeira which according to Beirman (2003) has been apportioned since 1986 structural funds to develop and modernize the region that made possible the construction of numerous infrastructures as roads, bridges, schools, airports, ports and health clinics. On the other hand, globalization also affected negatively the economy of Portugal in various aspects. According to Lima et al. (2006), the liberalization of the global economic markets encouraged the relocation of national and foreign industries from Portugal to other countries with more profitable production costs, which ultimately resulted in increasing unemployment in certain economic sectors, particularly in the automobile, footwear and textile sectors. As Lima et al. (2006) explains, the effects of the above mentioned aspects are considerably different in the various economic activities. In the case of industry, according to Lima et al. (2006), the number of jobs has been cut significantly by 105,000 jobs between the year 2000 and 2006. In contrast, over the same period, approximately 417,000 new jobs were created in the service sector. However, the above mentioned author further notes that precarious work situations are more common in the service sector. On one hand, from the a nalysis of the above mentioned arguments one may notice that globalization in Portugal creates in some situations new jobs and opportunities to expand companies, but on the other, provokes significant qualified and unqualified unemployment. According to the European Commission cited in Lima et al. (2006), the sluggish European economic growth combined with the acceleration of the liberalization of World Trade resulted in a loss of 860,000 textiles and clothing jobs in EU between 1998 and 2010; sectors that are considerably important for the Portuguese economy. The footwear and textile industries are the source of a considerable amount of jobs in Portugal and they have been severely affected by the relocation of enterprises to countries that offer fewer bureaucracies, less strict labour criteria, financial benefits and cheaper factors of production. According to the Portuguese national statistics institute cited in Lima et al. (2006), Portugal lost 90.000 jobs between 1998 and 2004, reducing its industrial employment from 23.5% in 1998 to 19.4% in 2004. In addition, at the above mentioned period, as Lima et al. (2006) asserts, Chinese entrepreneurs have been investing in the textile and clothing sector, a phenomenon that has previously occurred in Italy where the Chinese business management method, based on production at considerable low margin of profit and high volumes of sales has raised several issues regarding unfair competition. Although one may initially suppose that the above mentioned foreign investment is beneficial to the economy of the country, in reality it may be perhaps considerably prejudicial in several aspects since local small and medium size industries possess difficulty in competing with the Chinese production costs. Regarding other industries, particularly the automobile industry, according to Lima et al. (2006), has also been affected since 1990 by industrial relocation for mainly the above mentioned reasons; There was a 9% drop in jobs i n this sector between 1998 and 2004 (ibid). As the above mentioned author further notes, the closing of the Opel factory in Azambuja in 2006 left 1.200 people without a job and Renault closed its Setubal factory and invested in various new factories in Brazil and Slovenia. Consequently, unemployment as Lipsey and Chrystal (2007) point out, involves numerous micro and macroeconomic issues that damage the economy of Portugal, including the loss of the individuals income, a decline in their living standards, social deprivation, negative multiplier effects, a loss of potential national output, a waste of resources (labour) and fiscal costs since the government loses tax revenues and possesses the necessity of spending more on welfare payments for unemployed family members. Moreover, as Sloman (2006) make clear, due to the current global and regional interdependence Portugal is affected by the economic health of other countries and by their governments policies, issues in any area of the world can significantly affect Portugal through trade and financial markets, despite the eventual geographical distance. The present Portuguese economic situation reflects the vulnerability of the country to financial crisis. Finally, the European Monetary Union that is one of the examples of todays globalization, may be prejudicial to the Portuguese economy if Portugal possesses for example higher rates of inflation and if consequently its national enterprises possess difficulty in competing with the rest of the European Union. With a separate currency Portugal could allow its currency to depreciate and prevent being a depressed region of Europe with rising unemployment. In conclusion it seems apparent that the economy of Portugal has been profoundly affected by globalization. This essay has shown that it is possible to identify in Portugal numerous positive aspects and a significant amount of negative consequences of the global and regional increasing interdependence. One may deduce that the current concerning economic Portuguese situation is in part a reflection of the international financial crisis and the countrys vulnerability to the exterior. Nevertheless, from the analysis of the above mentioned arguments and despite the referred serious prejudicial implications of globalization, it seems undoubtable that globalization in recent years has contributed to the economic prosperity of Portugal. Hence, this essay suggests to minimize the negative effects of globalization in the Portuguese economy, the investment in education to qualify the work force and gain competitiveness, creation of more jobs in viable sectors as tourism, possible greater monit oring of financial institutions to prevent unexpected issues and increased international co-operation to solve the current and future economic problems.

Indias Economic Engagements with Sub-Saharan Africa

Indias Economic Engagements with Sub-Saharan Africa INTRODUCTION Africa till recent past quite easily qualified for the unceremonious category of â€Å"hopeless continent† that largely failed to provide basic services to their people that have non-existent or fragile government and are subjected to regular outside interference. Decades of impoverishment, factional feuds, power struggles, natural calamities, harsh living conditions and exploitative attitude of global powers ravaged most of the countries of Africa pushing them to bottom of the third world, incapable of sustaining themselves despite enormous wealth of natural resources. A lot has changed recently, wherein democracy has not only found its feet but also, strengthened manifolds leading to economic growth. There has been renewed interest of many powers, world over to engage with Africa as its equal partner, while boundaries of power take a new shape. This has its roots in ever increase in positive narrative of Africa. The history indicate a long and ancient account of indo-African relations[1], with Africa being a host to Indian Diaspora for a reasonably long time. Recent times have witnessed a new set of dynamics emerging in the form of rapid expansion of relations. In 2010/11 Indo-African trade reached USD 45 billion and is expected to grow beyond USD 75 billion by 2015[2]. While carrying out any study on Africa it will be important to understand the human scene with an attention toward a general review of the kinds of peoples and social organisations that are to be found in Africa. In societies, such as those of traditional sub- Saharan Africa, which have a fairly simple socio-economic structure, the various sectors of human life which are organised and from which stem a measure of established authority are more closely interwoven than in more complex societies[3]. Each area of life is more sensitive to change and to influences emanating from every other part. Human life is simpler, because its needs are fewer and the methods of satisfying them are more restricted and more sharply defined. The native Africans need to be contrasted with millions of Europeans, Indians and Syrians apart from sprinkling of people from all over the world. A special character emerges owing to the disparity which has been impacted by outside world on its original form. Hence it becomes imperative that any evaluation of present situation on the continent and particularly any planning for the future, regard the indigenous African and his traditional way of life and thought as a major factor in determining the facts and assessing the probable results of change. While US shifts its focus on Asia-Pacific region, China competes with all emerging powers for energy resources and markets for finished products apart from a big time engagement in infrastructure development. India’s growth, though not as spectacular as China, its capitalist interests are ambitious to extend their commercial reach. The pursuit for economic growth has superseded previous outlook of Indian foreign policy which has provided drive to the commercial ventures in newer avenues. Africa, as portrayed by ex Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as ‘a major growth pole of the world[4]’, can be viewed for new investment sites, export markets and capital accumulation for Indian-based interests[5]. The launch of Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM) as part of its â€Å"Focus Africa† initiative can be regarded as a stepping stone towards upsurge in economic activity[6]. The project initially targeted Ethiopia, Kenya and Mauritius with extension of lines of credit i n support of goods export to these countries. Engagement is the buzz word for today’s world and involves many dimensions, to include politics, trade and commerce, security, infrastructure, capacity and capability building etc. India continues to deploy troops in Peace keeping missions in Sudan as well as Democratic Republic of Congo under UN flag apart from provision of expert advice as part of defence cooperation to many countries such as Nigeria, Zambia, Lesotho and Botswana in development and transformation of their militaries. The western analysts have propounded many theories with respect to nature of Indian engagement with Africa; some see it as a supplier of investment and aid donor whereas others narrate ‘benign and nuanced approach; while it lacks in foreign reserves to compete with Chinese cheque book diplomacy and futility of economic munificence alone. Ian Taylor in his paper titled India’s rise in Africa questions if â€Å"India is a scrambler or a development partner†, a self interested actor bent on exploitation or one that aspires to some level of mutual benefit[7]. Amidst these analyses the most pertinent factor which needs to be seen is how African leaders seek to leverage Indian engagements. Thus politics comes to fore, which has two related dimensions, the competitive pursuit of private interests, and the determination of public policy. Observing the priority of African elites to accelerate efforts to improve the conditions, develop institutions and enabling infrastructure for overall growth, a discussed/researched approach for symbiotic relationship holds the key to any engagement. While addressing its national interests in the area, a holistic study of all possible areas of mutually beneficial engagements will add to focussed betterment of the region at large. The mutually beneficial engagements should allow a lasting impact in polity as well as common public of sub Saharan Africa that their true interests and future lie with India. The skilled yet jobless youth of India can find meaningful engagements in these countries contributing to th eir capacities while earning goodwill, friendship and favourable environment for enhanced engagements. The study seeks to analyse existing engagements of India with sub Saharan Africa in fields like economy, military, education etc. with examination of feasibilities to enhance the same, as the opportunities, which emerge in contemporary times in the backdrop of highly competitive world may not arrive/ relent in times to come. The study has been organised into various chapters as under:- (a)Chapter I: India’s Africa Policy in Contemporary Times. (b)Chapter II: India-Africa Security Cooperation and its Evolution. (c)Chapter III: Economic Situation in Sub Saharan Africa. (d)Chapter IV: India’s Initiatives in Sub Saharan Africa. (e)Chapter V: Indian Diaspora and its Contribution. (f)Chapter VI: Way Ahead. CHAPTER I INDIA’S AFRICA POLICY IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES Post independence, seventeen years of Nehruvian era witnessed non-alignment as the corner stone of India’s foreign policy. This was adopted primarily as a visionary policy based on idealism. The geography as well as fragile economic conditions acted as material reasons for following a policy of non alignment, which certain academicians view as a safe path to seek cooperation of big powers and prevent any power bloc from turning hostile, apart from Nehru’s strong conviction against balance of power, military alliances and rush to exhibit military power. India became extremely inward looking during Cold war era as it was marred by its domestic problems. Persistent levels of poverty, rising corruption and poor governance during 1970’s and 1980’s along with tumultuous neighbourhood tied India to sub-regional and national issues, overlooking African Continent as being irrelevant to its National interests. Post cold war the policy mandarins in Delhi were compelled to reshape its foreign policy, taking into account the new impulses of global arena. In addition, India’s growth rates have averaged at around 6% per annum since 1990’s, after taking off in 1980’s[8]. India’s pro-business strategy followed by liberalisation in early 1990’s along with refocus of Indian Companies to fresh markets and investment opportunities in regions having large Indian diasporas resulted in consolidation of old ties. Impressive growth rates allowed India to address its internal problems and fine tune its foreign policy with economic ambitions. After a detailed arrangement to send envoys to sub Saharan countries during 1996-97 as a mark of reaffirmation of India’s assurance to strengthening cooperation with these countries in a spirit of south-south partnership[9], the Government of India increased its involvement with African states further in 2003. This was followed with announcement of Indian Development Initiative. India is in drastic need of finding new suppliers of energy and other primary resources. For India to become a global power it must grow above 8 percent annually for at least two decades. The assured availability of energy will be a key factor. India despite its domestic production of oil and natural gas will still incrementally require additional resources of energy. India’s hydrocarbon import dependency has been predicted to rise from current 70 percent to almost 92 percent by 2030[10]. As true to any Nation, the continued growth of India depends on availability of raw materials for industrial production and energy sources to support industries. As per reports till 2009, India imported 70% of its oil requirements and provided heavy subsidies on domestic prices, leading to double digit inflation figures after being under 6%[11] for 13 years. India’s Africa policy has laid emphasis on expansion and diversification of supply sources and to that end Indian national oil co mpanies have purchased equity stakes in overseas oil and gas fields to ensure reserves and provide a boost to production capability. These include fields in Africa, Southeast Asia South, America and Caspian Sea region. Despite these efforts the majority imports arrive from Middle east where Indian companies struggle for direct access or investments[12]. The tilt in relations of immediate neighbours of India towards China, tensions with Pakistan, competition with China and demonstration of African partners as all weather friends during world wide sanctions post nuclear tests were the major motivators for India to reformulate its foreign policy. While India is seeking to be a more dominant power and credibility in global scene, it is increasingly relying on Southern backing. Objectives of Indian National interests appear to be fulfilled through newly identified means of â€Å"Aid†. On one hand India rejected foreign aid from most of its donors in 2003 to draw attention of world order to its self sufficiency in tackling its internal problems of poverty, corruption etc. and on the other hand to reflect its role as a new donor. India initiated its development assistance way beyond its immediate neighbours along with scaling up of diplomatic initiatives within Africa, increasing the number of Indian embassies in the continent. It a lso covered the regional divisions of Africa by creating three joint secretaries[13]. Historical and ideological linkages between India and African countries have been important factor, too.1950s witnessed south-south cooperation as a platform for struggle by former colonies for independence and greater autonomy. Bandung conference of 1955 brought together 29 Asian countries with Africa to promote cultural and economic cooperation in Asian-African region. Mutual interest and respect for national sovereignty was the basis of this conference. NAM came to being in 1961 and Group of 77 in 1964, which were viewed as anti hegemonic. India and China championed these movements and have been in competition to lead the representation of Southern states, since then. While China provided military assistance for liberation movements, India was assisted in anti- apartheid struggles in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Ideals of Mahatma Gandhi were integral to India’s foreign policy, who has been quoted to have said that â€Å"ideas and services will be drivers of commerce between India and Africa unlike Western exploiters busy in trading manufactured goods against raw materials†. This resulted in emergence of India’s philosophy of developmental assistance to Africa which culminated in creation of ITEC programme[14]. This placed training and capacity building ahead of financial assistance. During Delhi declaration of India-Africa Forum Summit in 2008 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, announced that: â€Å"The time has come to create a new architecture for our engagement in the 21st Century. We visualise a partnership that is anchored in the fundamental principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit. Working together, the two billion people of India and Africa can set an example of fruitful cooperation in the developing world†[15]. The Indian policy makers identified the pre conditions of Western donors which was attached for a long time on any aid without aligning it with the aspect of developing the productive ‘supply side’ of economies. A model of developmental assistance with minimal conditions and respect for the national sovereignty worked out by Indian policy makers appeared to be more acceptable and less imposing. A new body for governing India’s outgoing development assistance, called development Partnership Administration (DPA) has been set up under the Economic Relations Division of MEA, which is just short of an â€Å"aid† agency. It is mandated to streamline administrative issues of entire process apart from assessing the effectiveness of credit lines that India is extending to its partners.[16] It primarily allowed African states to set terms of agreement and overall purpose of aid. In 2009, Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, announced his desire that:- â€Å"All would benefit if the world focused on increasing investment in Africa, and if Rwanda and the rest of the continent worked to establish more equitable international partnerships. A trade relationship built on this new approach would be more helpful in reaching what should be our common goal: sustainable development, mutual prosperity and respect†[17] Value and Sector based distribution of Lines of Credit   Source: Indian Development Cooperation Research at Centre for Policy Research India’s security concerns and contribution into stability of African security are also related issues with an aim to secure its National interests. Owing to deteriorating conditions of piracy at sea on West Africa and existent threat off the coast of African horn, there lies an opportunity to exercise its well espoused maritime doctrine published in 2004 and revised in 2009[18]. India’s experience in UN peace keeping missions especially in Africa has its origin in contributions to ensure stability of the region. There exists a framework for defence cooperation in the form of training teams to evolve better training programmes for the countries it is engaged with. India’s naval presence is largely restricted to anti piracy in the gulf region, but there exists a wider scope for enhanced engagement in operations as well as training with a broader aim of addressing strategically important Indian Ocean rim. Analysis What emerges from the study of evolution of India’s foreign policy with respect to Africa, is that the main drivers of India’s relations with Africa present a tricky mix of strategic, economic and political factors based on national interests of India with complex set of internally diverse actors and historically stated policy of non alignment generally understood as non interference, thus providing enough space for the other partners to have a say in engagements. In effect, India has sought to develop and pursue a strategic partnership simultaneously maintaining bilateral policy objectives. African relations are suggestive of being a conduit to India’s wider international objectives with a focus on improving trade as well as political conditions not only for itself but also developing nations at large employing its economic and political muscle. As part of revisionist approach India has pushed hard for reconfiguration of some of the institutions of global govern ance. African nations have been observed as useful allies in such ventures, as almost all of them have backed India in its bid for permanent seat in UN Security Council. The critics of the subject have highlighted certain specific issues with respect to hidden intent of India, incoherent policies, pitfalls in thought process by way of over reliance on nostalgia of Nehruvian era and over stretched MEA with limited staff to address a huge area and lack of decentralised agency to ensure correct and transparent implementation policies on ground. A relatively ad-hoc system of overseeing various policy issues have led to significant gaps in implementation of identified thematic areas. Though India’s private sector actors drive numerous commerce related agendas, businesses haven’t progressed based on the regional strengths against the backdrop of fragile security conditions. Issues of poor infrastructure, lack of access to finance for small traders and limited logistic support act as impediments that need to be addressed to harness unprecedented opportunities that emerge for Indian companies. The experts also point at pitfalls in public-privat e economic diplomacy approach to Africa largely due to poor coordination, lack of long term vision and enthusiasm to pursue apart from poor market intelligence. Despite provision of Lines of Credit commitments, in consonance with the principle of mutually beneficial development cooperation, engagement on economic affairs also should seek enhanced role and integration of Confederation of Indian industries, with pan-African mechanisms such as NEPAD (The New Partnership for Africa’s Development), AU (African Union) and AfDB (African Development Bank Group). As more and more oil imports are planned from traditional oil producing countries in Africa, security strategies need to be put into place in greater details. Countries like Nigeria which are one amongst the largest oil suppliers to India from Africa face internal as well as external security crisis. While groups like Boko Haram pose threats closer home to various oil producing infrastructure, emerging piracy in the west coast of Africa pose threat at sea. The scrounge of piracy has been addressed in a very limited manner by certain groupings like Economic community of West African States(ECOWAS), India’s capabilities in defence and familiarity with wide ranging security concerns can empower ECOWAS to address insecurity caused by rising piracy on the region. India needs to consider initiating economic diplomatic strategy including maritime defence cooperation and innovative infrastructural financing mechanism aimed to benefit local development in gas and oil producing countrie s in Africa while securing imports that could assist in India’s need for fuel. To sum up the analysis it is felt that India has tremendous potential and value to stimulate development and economic growth across Africa, but it has lacked to articulate a coherent Africa Policy which appeals Africans. In addition, more clarity needs to be brought into the actual agencies dealing with India’s development cooperation to Africa along with a vibrant spokesperson who clarifies any ambiguities which are perceived in daily discourse of business. A greater coordination of Indian private sector with African regional and continental governance frame works rather than bilateral engagements will bring better prospects. [1] Beri R, ‘India’s Africa policy in the post-Cold War era: an assessment’, Strategic Analysis 27: 2, 2003, p 216–32 [2] Noury V, ‘Trade levels grow by 400% in five years’, African Business, Jan. 2012, p. 35. [3] Peter FM Mc Ewwan and Sutcliffe Robert B, ‘The Study of Africa’, p 13. [4] Times of India, 24 May 2011. [5] Agrawal S, Emerging donors in international development assistance: the India case (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, Partnership and Business Development Division, 2007), p.7 [6] Noury Valerie, ‘Trade levels grow by 400% in five years’, African Business, Jan 2012, Issue 382, p. 35. [7] Corkin L and Naidu S, ‘China and India in Africa: an introduction’, Review of African Political Economy 35: 1,2008, pp. 115–116. [8] Jenkins Edwards, 2006:2007 [9] En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_India#Africa, accessed on 03 Nov 2014. [10] Gupta Ranjit, Special Commentary, India and Gulf: Looking beyond Energy, Islam and the Diaspora, www.ipcs.org, accessed on 03 Nov 2014. [11] Mc Carthy Tom, Assessing China and India’s New Role in Africa, www.e-ir.info /2011/07/26, accessed on 03 Nov 2014 [12] Independent Statistics and Analysis by US Energy Information Administration, www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=in , accessed on 03 Nov 2014 [13] Mc Carthy Tom, Assessing China and India’s New Role in Africa, www.e-ir.info /2011/07/26, accessed on 03 Nov 2014 [14] 50 years of ITEC, www.mea.gov.in / uploads/PublicationDocs/24148_Revised_50yrs_of ITEC_brochure.pdf, accessed on 03 Nov 2014 [15] www.idsa.in, 9 April 2008, accessed on 04 Nov 2014 [16] www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/aid-from-india-coming-to-a-country-near-you/article 3859607.ece , accessed on 04 Nov 2014. [17] www.paulkagame.com/speeches_main_3.php, accessed on 04 Nov 2014 [18] Indian Maritime Doctrine release (release ID: 52223), Indian MoD, 28 August 2009, pib.nic.in /newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=52223, accessed 04 Nov 2014 ; News article titled â€Å"Maritime doctrine makes subtle changes in principles of war†, published in THE HINDU, on 30 Aug 2009, accessed on 04 Nov 2014 www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/maritime-doctrine-makes-subtle-changes-in-principle-of-war/article216179.ece