Course Description
Understanding African Economies and the Global System introduces learners to economics through African realities, institutions, histories, and everyday experiences.
The course moves beyond narrow explanations based only on money, markets, and national statistics. Learners examine how households, workers, farmers, businesses, communities, governments, and international institutions make and shape economic decisions.
Across six connected modules, the course explores formal and informal economic activity, inflation and employment, trade and debt, inequality and institutions, and possible pathways for Africa’s economic future.
The course does not treat African economies as one uniform system. It equips learners with a practical framework for examining power, access, ownership, value, opportunity, risk, and development.
Who This Course Is For
This course is designed for students, young professionals, community leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, policy learners, diaspora learners, and anyone seeking a clearer understanding of African economies and their relationship to the global system.
No previous economics training is required.
Competencies You Will Develop
- Explain economic choices using scarcity, trade-offs, incentives, institutions, culture, and power.
- Analyze formal, informal, household, and community-based economic activity.
- Explain how inflation, wages, employment, and the cost of living affect households.
- Evaluate trade, debt, foreign exchange, commodity dependence, and global value chains.
- Analyze inequality through income, wealth, gender, geography, history, and institutional access.
- Assess economic futures through industrialization, technology, regional integration, climate resilience, ownership, and shared prosperity.
- Apply the course framework to a real economic issue affecting an African country or community.
The Path Through This Course
The course follows a clear linear sequence, building from foundational concepts toward an applied milestone.
Course Modules
Six connected modules build the framework. Each module includes recorded lessons, written companions, reflection prompts, and knowledge checks.
Economics Is About More Than Money
Introduces scarcity, trade-offs, opportunity cost, incentives, institutions, culture, and the relationship between individual choices and the wider economy.
How African Economies Actually Work
Examines formal and informal work, household production, agriculture, services, small enterprise, infrastructure, and global value chains.
Inflation, Employment and the Cost of Living
Explains inflation, household budgets, purchasing power, wages, employment, underemployment, and economic policy choices.
Trade, Debt and the Global Economy
Introduces imports, exports, foreign exchange, commodity dependence, value chains, government borrowing, debt service, and global economic power.
Inequality, Institutions and Development
Examines income, wealth, gender, geographic, and generational inequality and how institutions shape opportunity and development.
Africa’s Economic Futures
Explores industrialization, technology, the future of work, the AfCFTA, climate resilience, ownership, and shared prosperity.
African Economic Systems Analysis
Learners will select one economic issue affecting an African country or community and examine the problem through household, institutional, historical, national, and global perspectives.
The final analysis will identify- The economic problem
- Effects on households and livelihoods
- Institutions involved
- Relevant historical conditions
- Global economic connections
- Who benefits
- Who carries the risk
- One practical policy or community response
The applied milestone is completed as part of the final module.
Learner Progress
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Begin Learning
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Safari ya Utu is a private companion workbook you can use alongside this course, or on its own. Your answers stay with you.