Economic Development for Haiti

ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT FOR
HAITI

Synopsis
In the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is classified among the poorest nations in America.
In this report, the factors, or rather obstacles which contribute towards Haiti’s poor
economic development have been identified and an appropriate development
strategy suggested. Various factors lower the nation’s economic efficiency and
hence should be rectified for the nation to perform better in terms of economic
growth. Such factors include political instability, corruption and a poor education
system among others (Jacgues Phillipe, 2011). The nation needs to adopt the
infrastructural development strategy as it will assist in improving the nation’s various
infrastructures such as access to quality education and health and good transport
system which highly contribute towards a nation’s economic development.
Table of Content
CONTENTS
Synopsis...................................................................................................................2
Table of Content.....................................................................................................2
Introduction.............................................................................................................2
1.0 Economic
Snapshot..........................................................................................3
1.1 Haiti's Resource Endowment and
Production...................................................3
1.2 Haiti's Governance and
Stability....................................................................4
2.0 Haiti's Economic
Development.........................................................................5
3.0 Obstacles to Haiti's Economic
Development......................................................5
4.0 Haiti's Development
Strategy............................................................................6
Conclusion...............................................................................................................8
Bibliography............................................................................................................8
Appendices..............................................................................................................9

Introduction
1.0 Economic Snapshot
1.1 Haiti’s Resource Endowment and Production
Haiti is endowed with various resources. Some of the natural resources which the
nation is blessed with significantly include oil and natural gas, gold and copper
(Bhattacharyya & Hodler, 2010). Haiti is among the nations in the world with
significantly large oil reserves. The nation currently has identified close to twenty oil
reserves for drilling activities and 5 of them are very crucial, having the capability of
producing higher amounts of oil.
Source: https://www.britannica.com/place/Haiti/media/251961/65100
Haiti is enclosed to the east by the Dominican Republic, which covers the rest of
Hispaniola, to the south and west by the Caribbean, and to the north by the Atlantic
Ocean.
Human capital generally indicates the knowledge that an individual acquires from life
at home, school, job training, and experience. Human capital overall shows a

nation’s education level and the labor force. Haiti has low levels of literacy as its
education standards are still low. The nation’s literacy rate stands at 61% which is
below the expected rate of 90% in America and Caribbean nations. 90% of schools
in Haiti are owned privately (Luzincourt & Gulbrandson, 2010). Parents who are
capable of paying for their children’s fee enrol them with those who are poor, only
taking their children to school when they can afford school fees. Primary school age
is prolonged in Haiti up to about 16 years. The low literacy rates have continued to
undermine Haiti’s human capital as the majority lack of necessary skills in
accordance with the job market.
In terms of gross domestic product and trade, Haiti has been lagging behind in the
Western Hemisphere. The average gross domestic product averages at around $7
billion for the nation. The gross domestic product since 2010 is shown below.
Year
Value of GDP
($Billion)
2010 6.62
2011 7.52
2012 7.89
2013 8.45
2014 8.78
2015 8.72
2016 7.97
2017 8.41
2018 8.7
The graph for the data is shown below.