NAACP Supports African Americans Involvement in the Global Economy

WHEREAS, the average economic growth rate in emerging markets is higher than in the developed world. Emerging markets typically grow at several percentage points a year faster than developed countries; and

WHEREAS, developing countries can play technological leapfrog. They can jump straight to the more advanced technologies created in the developed world, skipping the intermediate stages. A typical example is mobile phones, which are being adopted at enormous speed in Asia and Latin America, avoiding the need to build costly fixed line services; and

WHEREAS, the populations of emerging market countries are usually younger than in the developed world. More than half the population of Latin America, for instance, is under thirty (30). Younger populations are more energetic and productive, consuming and contributing strongly to continued high economic growth; and

WHEREAS, African Americans are in a unique position where their talents have been under utilized in the American economy; and

WHEREAS, many emerging markets, particularly African countries, are suffering from human resource shortages. South Africa, for example, had a huge exodus of skilled labor following the end of apartheid.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP will support efforts to increase African American participation in the Global Economy by educating African Americans on employment, business, and investment opportunities in emerging markets.