13 The Global Financial And Economic Crisis And The South

The main objective of the conference was to discuss the nature of the crisis, its fundamental causes, its effects and impact of the different countries of the South. [...] From Africa, case studies were presented on specific sectors which had been worst affected by The Global Financial and Economic Crisis in the South326 the crisis, for example, the analysis of African stock markets, the impact of the crisis on the timber industry in Gabon, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville and also the case of the automotive, textile and clothing, and mining sectors in South Africa. [...] These include: the nature of and the root causes of the crisis and its effects on the different regions and economies of the South; the transmission channels and mechanisms by which the crisis affected them and, finally, the implications in terms of strategies and policies which the South should pursue in future in order to substantially reduce their risk and vulnerability to external shocks. [...] There is clear agreement that the crisis was sparked off by the collapse of the housing bond market in the United States and Europe and that, subsequently, the contagion effect then spread out to countries of the South particularly in the case of those that were more integrated in the economies of the North. [...] The crisis has also demonstrated the vulnerability which arises due to the politics of inequality and exclusion of a large segment of the population from participation in the economy of the country.