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The paper is an attempt at applying Samir Amin's lens in the analysis of socio-economic development in Africa. Social and economic development in Africa has been substandard, largely because of the economic system followed and because effective structural transformation has not taken place – Samir Amin's works explained what needed to be done to transform Africa (and the broader global south). It is in this context that the paper posits that post-colonial Africa has had to contend with disruptive socio-economic and political realities instituted by European colonialism, slave trade and inappropriate integration of Africa to the so-called global economy. The fundamental explanation for the poor socio-economic development in Africa is global capitalism, and one of the possible solutions is in Samir Amin's delinking proposal as well as the restructuring of the African economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the micro-level link between migrant remittances and state legitimacy. The paper argues that there are two theoretical channels through which remittances may ultimately erode state legitimacy. First, remittance income earners may use remittance income to bribe state institutions, and thus may feel that they do not need to abide by the laws those state institutions enact. Second, remittances provide funds for political mobilization and thus may enhance uprisings against autocratic states. I test these claims using individual-level pooled data from 3 rounds of the Afrobarometer surveys. For the quantitative analysis, I use multiple linear regression, propensity score matching, and an informal method of testing for omitted variables bias. Overall, the findings of the study show that remittance-receiving Africans hold de-legitimizing behavior towards the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Critical African Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sustainability-focused research networks and communities of practice have emerged as a key response and strategy to build capacity and knowledge to support transformation towards more sustainable, just and equitable futures. This paper synthesises insights from the development of a community of practice on social-ecological systems (SES) research in southern Africa over the past decade, linked to the international Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS). This community consists of a network of researchers who carry out place-based SES research in the southern African region. They interact through various cross-cutting working groups and also host a variety of public colloquia and student and practitioner training events. Known as the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS), its core objectives are to: (1) derive new approaches and empirical insights on SES dynamics in the southern African context; (2) have a tangible impact by mainstreaming knowledge into policy and practice; and (3) grow the community of practice engaged in SES research and governance, including researchers, students and practitioners. This paper reflects on experiences in building the SAPECS community, with the aim of supporting the development of similar networks elsewhere in the world, particularly in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is there any possibility that foreign aid may negatively affect African social ties? To answer such a question, this paper examines the impact of local Chinese aid projects on social capital in Africa. China or Chinese contractors directly control or operate Chinese projects in Africa. This feature may disengage Africans from participating in their own local development activities. Likewise, China gives unconditional aid, which may nurture corruption. By creating losers and winners, corruption may make people unhappy. Because of these features, Chinese aid projects may hinder the formation of social capital. This paper puts this claim to an empirical test using data from the Afrobarometer surveys and AidData. Conditional on a set of controls, I find several interesting results. First, Chinese aid is negatively associated with generalized trust. Second, Chinese aid projects are related to disengagement from associational life. Third, no similar pattern is found when the main analysis is replicated on aid from the World Bank. Finally, neither the Chinese nor the World Bank's aid is related to subjective wellbeing. The results suggest that Chinese aid may wither local social ties through social disengagement. Overall, the findings imply that it is vital to engage local citizens in the design and implementation of Chinese aid projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context where many African populations are excluded from the traditional banking system, financial inclusion appears to be a determining factor in enabling agents in need of financing, notably producers and consumers, to have easy access to financial services in order to contribute to the multiple efforts of economic and social progress of nations. However, to date, the literature remains silent on the optimal level of financial inclusion that can boost growth. Consequently, this paper aims to verify whether there is a non-linear relationship between economic growth and financial inclusion in the WAEMU zone. Econometric applications based on the PCSE (panel-corrected standard error) model on a panel of eight countries for the period 2014–2018 reveal a U-shaped relationship between the extended banking rate and economic growth. Economic growth shows two different behaviours depending on whether one is on the side of one or the other of the regimes inherent to the inflection point. In view of these results, we suggest that the public authorities: i) intensify campaigns to open accounts in local languages, ii) promote the development of online sales applications for goods and services, iii) pursue the dematerialisation of financial operations within public administrations. Finally, this paper paves the way for future research on the microeconomic component and a similar treatment of the subject, but taking into account the occurrence of the Covid pandemic19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is home to some of the world's most original, resilient, and remarkable companies. The singular challenges and opportunities of the continent's economic environment have given rise to idiosyncratic strategies and business models. However, there is a notable absence of studies on African companies. While there are numerous noteworthy companies in Africa, there are few as relevant, successful, and influential as the Dangote Group. This paper aims to add to the limited literature in the area by analyzing the business model and strategic choices of Dangote Cement, the Group's flagship business and one of Africa's industrial giants. In particular, it explores its corporate diversification and vertical integration strategies, which are at the core of its success. This article is based on 7 interviews with internal and external Dangote stakeholders and a detailed questionnaire completed by the Strategy Department of the firm, together with public data of the company. While the topics of diversification and integration have been studied in multiple contexts, this article provides an original perspective by applying existing research and management thinking to the specific business environment of Africa. This paper explores how and why Dangote Cement diversifies and how it identifies and integrates the advantages and disadvantages of its strategic choices. We believe it provides an original perspective that furthers our limited collective understanding of and research on strategic practices in Africa, the world's last business academic frontier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the trade co-movements and shock spillover across four African geographic regions. Specifically, we were motivated by the very low intra-trade activities in Africa, despite increased regionalism to study the possibility of a country's trade shock being transferred to its trading partners on the continent. Knowing the trade connectedness and shock transmission among African countries will serve as a baseline for the AfCFTA implementation. In our analysis, we considered the four African regional quarterly data between 2005 and 2021 from UNCTAD. The continent was divided into four regions namely, Western, Middle, Eastern, and Southern Africa. We divided the time into pre- and post-AfCFTA periods. The Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) and the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) models were adopted to determine the trade co-movement and the shock spillover respectively. The results show different trade co-movement and trade shock spillovers among the regions at different times. The trade co-movement seems to be dominant between the Middle and Southern African regions. Further analysis shows the presence of trade shock transmission across all four regions. The Western African region exhibits a sign of the biggest trade shock receiver from the other regions, while the Southern African regions turn out to be the largest contributor of trade shocks to the other regions both in the post and pre- AfCFTA period. The study contributes by sending a signal to AfCFTA implementers that trading on the African continents behaves differently among the various geographic regions. It also provides early warning signal for AfCFTA policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Critical African Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Critical African Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper argues that the current quest for decolonisation and decoloniality struggles are primarily embodiments of disenchantment with the development doldrums in the continent after decades of political independence. While both decolonisation and decoloniality sound like intellectual pursuits concerned with knowledge production, they are in essence efforts towards recasting and rebooting development in the continent. Despite ingrained differences both decolonisation and decoloniality, aspire towards unmasking the futility and incompleteness of Euro-American epistemological traditions and worldviews. Despite differences in the usage of concepts, both decolonisation and decoloniality reframe the notion of 'delinking' made popular by Samir Amin. In effect, Amin may rightly be conceived as a precursor of the decolonisation struggle. Apart from agitating for a pluriversality of epistemic traditions and 'ways of knowing', both decolonisation and decoloniality seek to reposition Africa in global relations of power and politics and from the above engender sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The profundity of Samir Amin's contributions to the quest for the development of Africa and the global South is beyond questioning. From the onset, Amin focused on ways to promote autonomous development in the periphery. He advocated delinking and remained true to these convictions till the very end when he concluded that the challenge was not so much about the South moving out of the crisis of capitalism as it was about its moving out of a global capitalist system in crisis; or moving beyond capitalism. This paper interrogates the suitability of this central plank of Amin's political economy vis-a-vis Claude Ake's contention that the greatest impediment to African development inheres in the nature of its politics and that the solution is to be sought therein. We argued that the challenge for contemporary Africa is not so much about exiting the anarchial global capitalist system as it is about striking internal balance in the context of the larger systemic perturbations. But beyond comparing, we mapped the place of contemporary African intellectuals in the continent's development schema along the path of Ake's proposition and in pursuit of the shared vision of these two illustrious scholar-activists for a democratic and prosperous Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his theory on delinking, Amin shows how Africa is linked to global Capital. For Amin, it is in this link that Africa's underdevelopment resides. An important element in this linking process is the role that the comprador bourgeoisie plays in its relationship with global Capital, which facilitates the continued underdevelopment of Africa. Amin raises the question of the role that the African comprador bourgeoisie played as agents of imperialism in keeping Africa linked to Europe. From this standpoint, Amin presents the possibility of approaching Africa's underdevelopment from another dimension – the possibility of exploring Africa's underdevelopment as an internally driven process initiated by home-grown African capitalists who accumulate for their own account. Extending the logic of the comprador bourgeoisie, this paper argues that Capital in Africa is responsible for internal under development. African Capital too, together with international Capital consciously participates in under developing Africa. We argue that internal underdevelopment is based on a capitalist logic that contains all the standard phenomena associated with Capital, namely, inequality, unemployment, and poverty. Furthermore, exploring the rise of our case studies, viz; the Dangotes, Motsepes, and the Dos Santos', we show how instrumental each of them are in the internal underdevelopment of Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrastructure assets are vital for economic development and integration, but they also encompass political risks. In Africa, infrastructure assets have remained a paradox where there is great potential for opportunities but very few projects get to the final phases. Adequate infrastructure can propagate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals whilst supporting recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing from a longitudinal data set from 2000 to 2021 for 35 African countries, the paper empirically examined the nexus between infrastructure and political risk. Several techniques were employed to determine the dynamic effect, cointegration and causality between infrastructure and political risk. Controlling for the potential endogeneity in infrastructure the system Generalized Method of Moments, the relationship between political risk and infrastructure was ascertained. Furthermore, the ARDL-PMG was employed to determine the cointegration and causal relationship between infrastructure and political risk. The results suggest a cointegration between infrastructure assets and political risk. Infrastructure adjusts to changes in political risk to its long-run equilibrium at a speed of adjustment of 16.9 per cent. Bridging infrastructure gaps in Africa requires an extensive set of actions. Thus, the policy derivatives of our findings, suggest controlling the proliferation of political risk to support infrastructure investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poultry population in Africa is mostly composed of local or indigenous chickens appreciated for the unique taste and texture of their meat. However, with the ever-increasing population growth, the free-range or backyard poultry farming system is no longer adapted to supply people with protein requirements. Crossbreeding local hens with an improved rooster weakens the thermotolerance and disease resistance of the offspring in African areas. In this context, the available breeds need to be preserved. The improvement of their productivity should be actualized through the implementation of a sustainable production programme that is simple and less expensive for the farmer, taking into account: feeding, habitat and chicken care. Scientific research should invest more time on the identification and characterization of all available breeds or chicken ecotypes allowing us to know production performances and their nutritional needs. Feeding with locally available resources, vaccination and use of indigenous medicine requiring training of farmers are essential perspectives. This paper focused on the productivity and resilience of indigenous chicken ecotypes in various African tropical environments and some essential factors to improve the birds. For this, a critical analysis was made based on the available data on the birds from research databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is aimed at reviewing literature on the significance of soybeans production in the face of the changing climates in Africa. Using literature from the secondary sources, the paper reviewed how Africa can alleviate poverty by growing soybeans amongst the many legumes due to its multiplicity effect (including easily accessed market due to its high demand, enhancing soil fertility, easy to manage, high protein levels which rural people need most as it is cheaper compared to meat). Africa's majority population gets their livelihoods from agriculture and this in itself shows how important the sector is, yet the continent is faced with food insecurities, poor livelihoods, and high malnutrition levels in the midst of changing climate that is compounding their productivity levels. Achieving sustainable food security and livelihoods for millions of poor producers and consumers across Africa where people are living on $2 a day or less, remains a serious problem, exacerbated by the challenges of malnutrition, climate change, and poor technologies. Soybeans as a legume can play an important role in ensuring sustainable food security for both the current and future generations across the continent. Soybeans farming is important in Africa, where small‐scale agricultural systems dominate the food production landscape, as it is a source of inexpensive protein and nutrients to rural households as well as natural fertilization for the soil. Also, the symbiotic nitrogen fixation properties of legumes (soybeans) mean that they are suitable for cultivation on a wide variety of soils in changing climates. Despite this, small-scale farmers are still faced with the following factors; lack of credit funds, recycling of seeds as tested seeds are way too expensive, among which hinders their adoption levels of soybean production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformative learning occurs when a person, group, or larger social unit encounters ideas that are at odds with their prevailing perspective. This discrepant perspective can lead to an examination of previously held beliefs, values, and assumptions. The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) has since 2011 been training and supporting faculty from different African universities, to become more reflective and productive researchers, research leaders, educators, and change agents who will drive institutional changes in their institutions. As part of a mid-term evaluation of CARTA, an open-ended question was posed to the CARTA fellows asking them to describe any changes they had experienced in their professional lives as a result of the CARTA Programme. The 135 responses were inductively coded and analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. These themes were subsequently mapped onto Hoggan's typology of transformative learning outcomes. CARTA fellows reported shifts in their sense of self; worldviews; beliefs about the definition of knowledge, how it is constructed and evaluated; and changes in behaviour/practices and capacities. This paper argues that the changes described by the CARTA fellows reflect transformative learning that is embedded in CARTA's Theory of Change. The reported transformation was enabled by a curriculum intentionally designed to facilitate critical reflection, further exploration, and questioning, both formally and informally during the fellows' PhD journey with the support of CARTA facilitators. Documenting and disseminating these lessons provide a guide for future practice, and educators wishing to revitalise their PhD training may find it useful to review the CARTA PhD curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria fever is a potentially fatal disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite. Identifying Plasmodium parasites in blood smear images can help diagnose malaria fever rapidly and precisely. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were 241 million malaria cases and 627 000 deaths worldwide in 2020, while 95% of malaria cases and 96% of malaria deaths occurred in Africa. Also in Africa, children that are less than five years old accounted for an estimated 80% of all malaria deaths. To address the menace of malaria, this paper proposes a novel deep learning model, called a data augmentation convolutional neural network (DACNN), trained by reinforcement learning to tackle this problem. The performance of the proposed DACNN model is compared with CNN and directed acyclic graph convolutional neural network (DAGCNN) models. Results show that DACNN outperforms previous studies in processing and classification images. It achieved 94.79% classification accuracy in malaria blood sample images of balanced class dataset obtained from the Kaggle dataset. The proposed model can serve as an effective tool for the detection of malaria parasites in blood smear images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been increasing calls for collaboration between Indigenous health practitioners (IHPs) and allopathic health practitioners (AHPs) in Africa. Despite this, very few successful systems exist to facilitate formal collaboration. Direct relationships between providers, and at a health systems level are crucial to successful collaboration, but the nature and extent of these relationships have yet to be adequately explored. To explore the relationship between IHPs and AHPs in Africa, and to discuss the implications of this for future collaboration. An interpretive qualitative synthesis approach, combining elements of thematic analysis, meta-ethnography, and grounded theory, was used to systematically bring together findings of qualitative studies addressing the topic of collaboration between Indigenous and allopathic health practitioners in Africa. A total of 1,765 papers were initially identified, 1,748 were excluded after abstract, full text and duplicate screening. Five additional studies were identified through references. Thus, 22 papers were included in the final analysis. We found that the relationship between Indigenous and allopathic health practitioners is defined by a power struggle which gives rise to lack of mutual understanding, rivalry, distrust, and disrespect. The power struggle which defines the relationship between IHPs and AHPs in Africa is a hindrance to their collaboration and as such could partly account for the limited success of efforts to foster collaboration to date. Future efforts to foster collaboration between IHPs and AHPs in Africa must aim to balance the power disparity between them if collaboration is to be successful. Since this would be a novel approach, decision-makers and organisations who trial this power balancing approach to facilitate collaboration should evaluate resultant policies and interventions to ascertain their feasibility and efficacy in fostering collaboration, and the lessons learnt should be shared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Critical African Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Critical African Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The 17th Sustainable Development Goal seeks to promote partnerships at various levels. To this end, COVID-19 vaccines development partnerships in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are inevitable in facilitating ethical access to affordable and safe vaccines the world over. With South Africa being part of the BRICS, its presence can assist in leveraging the partnership to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines developed by the BRICS are efficiently deployed in Africa. Through the tracking of announcements, documents and critical discourse analysis, and Geographical Information Systems, this paper investigates COVID-19 vaccines development collaboration in the BRICS and its implication for Africa. It emerges that there is an inherent discord in the BRICS, with bilateral arrangements both within and outside the forum being evident. This has resulted in advance breakthrough COVID-19 vaccines from China and Russia not widely tried across the BRICS. The paper notes that these developments weaken the global south and affect its potential to develop COVID 19 vaccines. The work recommends a reconsideration in terms of COVID-19 vaccines development and future proofing of collaboration within the BRICS and finding a way of having South Africa continue to lobby for affordable and accessible vaccines for Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the impact of tax administration and corruption on firm self-financing in Africa. The paper also explores the level at which tax administration and corruption are firm financing obstacles and whether these effects on firms differ regarding their size. The article uses data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey, which covers 45,048 firms in 48 countries across Africa. Using the Tobit, IV Tobit, and Multinomial Probit models, the results are robust as we controlled for country, firm diversity, and survey year. The study reveals that corruption reduces a firm's self-financing by negatively affecting its internal funds or retained earnings. In addition, weak tax administration reduces firm self-financing. The results also reveal that corruption and poor tax administration are severe obstacles to a firm's self-financed. Furthermore, while weak tax administration generally harms firm financing, the negative impact on larger firms surpasses the adverse effects on smaller and medium firms. The corruption issue is more critical in the case of small and medium firms than big firms as they spend a large portion of their profit to government officials as gifts or informal payments to reduce the burden of regulations and circumvent taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic purchasing of high-priority services is a critical part of effective spending to advance UHC goals. Available conceptual frameworks for strategic purchasing have facilitated high-level advocacy and policy dialogue, and they have framed research and analytical work to describe and understand countries' purchasing arrangements. What has been missing is a framework and approach that combines the conceptual framing of strategic purchasing with practical guidance to describe and assess purchasing in sufficient detail to inform policy. This paper presents a practical framework and approach to tracking progress in purchasing: the Strategic Health Purchasing Progress Tracking Framework. Co-created by a group of health financing researchers and academics through the Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Center (SPARC), it builds on existing frameworks and focuses on the core purchasing functions of benefits specification, contracting arrangements, provider payment, and performance monitoring. It incorporates factors that can either strengthen or weaken the power of purchasers to directly influence resource allocation and provider behavior. The paper also proposes a set of evidence-based benchmarks that country stakeholders can use to assess where their health system is on the continuum from passive to strategic purchasing and to identify steps to make purchasing more strategic. Application of the framework has shown the value of mapping purchasing functions across all health financing arrangements to identify where strategic purchasing progress is more advanced and where it may be lacking. It has helped countries identify challenges—such as fragmentation and duplication of purchasing functions across health financing arrangements—and prioritize policy actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008 nine African Universities and four African research institutions, in partnership with non-African institutions started the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) to strengthen doctoral training and research capacity on health in Africa. This study describes particular aspects of the CARTA program that promotes collaboration between the PhD fellows in the program, and determines the patterns of collaborative publications that resulted from the intervention. We reviewed program monitoring and evaluation documents and conducted a bibliometric analysis of 806 peer-reviewed publications by CARTA fellows published between 2011 and 2018. Results indicate that recruiting multidisciplinary fellows from various institutions, encouraging registration of doctoral-level fellows outside home institutions, and organizing joint research seminars stimulated collaborative research on health-related topics. Fellows collaborated among themselves and with non-CARTA researchers. Fellows co-authored 75 papers (10%) between themselves, of which 53 (71%) and 42 (56%) included fellows of different cohorts and different disciplines respectively, and 19 (25%) involved fellows of different institutions. CARTA graduates continued to publish with each other after graduating – 11% of the collaborative publications occurred post-graduation – indicating that the collaborative approach was maintained after exiting from the program. However, not all fellows contributed to publishing collaborative papers. The study recommends concerted effort towards enhancing collaborative publications among the CARTA fellows, both doctoral and post-doctoral, which can include holding research exchange forums and collaborative grant-writing workshops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a systematic attempt to establish the effect of anti-money laundering (AML) systems on FDI flows across the globe. Complex and related hypotheses are tested using data from 2012 to 2018 across 165 economies across different continents, income levels, and regulatory environments. First, the paper examines the effect of AML systems on FDI flows. Second, the paper examines the nonlinearities of the AML systems-FDI nexus. Third, the paper examines if host country peculiarities such as an offshore financial centre (OFCs) or originating from Africa alter this relationship. The paper employs the two-step system GMM and the dynamic panel threshold regression techniques to test the hypotheses of the study. Generally, the paper provides evidence that AML systems positively promote FDI inflows. However, the paper finds that AML structures dampen FDIs inflows for OFCs. Further, the paper finds that the influence of AML systems on FDIs is threshold-specific. Specifically, AML systems positively impact FDIs below the threshold for our full, developing, and African country samples. At the same time, the study finds a negative impact of AML structures on FDIs above the threshold value for our full sample and developing countries. However, for Africa, the study provides evidence of a positive impact of AML systems on FDIs across the different AML structures. Again, the study finds that AML systems negatively impact FDI across all AML structures for offshore financial centres. The findings of the study provide insights into the importance of AML systems in influencing MNEs' FDI decisions to a country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is still struggling to mitigate its electricity insecurity issues. This situation renders foreign direct investment in the renewable electricity industry (FDIREI) and renewable electricity production (REP) to become simultaneously important to Africa. Using a novel dataset of FDIREI, this paper examines the existence and nature of cointegration and causality nexuses among FDIREI, REP, and economic growth (GDP) in 32 African countries over 2003–2019. For methodological robustness purposes; GDP is added. By applying the panel vector autoregression model based-Granger causality test and a static panel data model, which are followed by robustness tests, more informative results are reported. Importantly, we find evidence of the growth hypothesis between REP and GDP, as a unidirectional Granger causality is seen from REP to GDP. Further, the neutrality hypothesis is confirmed among the remaining variables. This left us with the importance of REP in revitalizing African countries' economic growth. All facets of REP thus should be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Engineering Education Research Network in Africa (EERN-Africa) was created to enable connections between practitioners and researchers with a shared interest in African engineering education contexts. Recognising the importance of developing an African voice in the engineering education research space, the EERN-Africa community has interacted in a dynamic and dialogic way with our own teaching and research practices across diverse African contexts, with an ethical commitment to democratic and inclusive community-building. The objective of this paper is to reflect on the current status of the Community of Practice (CoP), and the challenges and opportunities in sustaining and growing the CoP. A collaborative analysis of perspectives on this emerging identity is presented, using an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) methodology and drawing on collective written reflections and discussions. Six broad themes on the value that the CoP has for both individuals and the group were identified: networking, capacity development, emotional support, impact on professional identity, social and environmental impact, and breaking borders. This paper contributes an approach for collaborative capacity-building in EER through a virtual CoP, underpinned by the spirit of ubuntu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both developing and developed countries have felt the impact of COVID-19 on global politics and trade. The African continent faces new threats in addition to already existing challenges like poor infrastructure, underdevelopment and weak institutions. Through an analysis of official speeches and UN reports on the emerging developments around COVID-19, this paper explores the impact of the pandemic on Africa and answers the critical question of the potential and place for Africa's international relations in a post-COVID world. While many argue that COVID-19 has further deepened the gap between Africa and the developed world, this paper argues that it has also created opportunities for innovation and a re-emergence of Africa as a more vital continent in global politics and far removed from its colonial legacy. This study finds that Africa's vast resources and wealth of experts; its innovative local industries and rapid response potential; its active community and grassroots; its committed private sector; the work of the African Union; the continent's geopolitical and economic position, and its many lessons position it to be a strong player in a post-COVID world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean) is an African legume that belongs to the family and subfamily of Fabaceae and Faboidea, respectively. It is becoming one of the most utilized legumes after being underutilized for many years in Africa. It is the third most significant legume after groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) and cowpea (Vigna hypogea). Bambara groundnut (BGN) is a complete food because of its richness in nutritional properties such as crude fiber, iron, protein, carbohydrate, fat and minerals. Moreover, BGN possesses antioxidants properties as it contains phytochemicals, such as tannins, flavonoids and phytic acids which possess health benefits for humans such as preventing diabetes, stroke, atherosclerosis, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, these phytochemicals extend the shelf life of food products and have antimicrobial properties which can inhibit microbial growth. This paper highlights the current findings on BGN nutritional composition, health benefits, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Therefore, it is advisable for food industry to exploit BGN grain to its full potential to tackle challenges of food security and nutrition globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role that corporate governance (CG) plays in contributing to firm performance enhancements has been widely acknowledged. However, the conduit through which CG is able to affect firm performance is an emergent theme. This paper re-examines the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and firm performance via means of causal mediation analysis using financial reporting quality (FRQ) as a mediator. The study samples 104 companies listed on the respective stock markets of nine sub-Saharan African countries, and collects annual reports data spanning over a period of 2007 to 2019 for analysis using causal mediation. The study finds that a causal relationship exists between CG and firm performance, albeit through the transmission mechanism of FRQ. Again, the study finds that CG positively affects firm performance both directly and indirectly through the mediation of FRQ. The study is useful in highlighting for mangers and CG practitioners attention, an important channel through which CG would favourably affect firm performance, being FRQ. The current study is unique, in that it is the first panel multi-cross-country investigation within Africa to introduce FRQ in the study of the relationship between CG and firm performance. It therefore extends the agency theory by employing FRQ as a mediating variable in the CG—firm performance nexus within the African context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the impact of central bank regulatory policies on market power in Africa. The study presents a representative sample of 52 African economies over the period 2006–2020. The study shows that the individual regulatory policies of the central bank (i.e. monetary and macro-prudential policies) enhance banks' market power. Also, it reveals that central bank regulatory policies are better coordinated, as complements, in achieving greater market power of banks in countries with strong central bank independence (CBI) framework. However, the coordinated policies are substitutes in determining bank's market power in countries with weak CBI framework. The policy implication is that the right policy mix of coordinated central bank regulatory policy framework is important in determining an optimal outcome of bank's market power in both an inclusive central bank (monetary-prudential) policy targeting economies and an independent policy targeting economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper employs partial and biwavelet coherence techniques to examine the time-frequency dependence structure of international remittance inflow on economic growth by moderating the effect of exchange rates. We investigate the comovements of remittance and economic growth from 1980 to 2020. We observed heterogeneous patterns in the comovements structure of international remittance inflow and economic growth at various timescales. By examining the biwavelet coherence, the comovements are noticeable at elevated occurrences, implying that exchange rates, when acting as moderator in the nexus between remittance and economic growth, can hamper economic growth. Findings from the partial wavelet coherence reveal that exchange rates influence remittance and economic growth connectedness in emerging and frontier economies in Africa. Consequently, in situations where radical changes occur in exchange rates, the implemented policies of emerging African countries seem to have largely influenced the comovements between remittance inflow and economic growth. The risk posed by exchange rates on remittance inflow requires sustainable policies to prevent widespread spillovers, mostly during severe economic downturns. We posit that implementation of exchange rate mechanisms are central to parity which is essential to mitigating potential risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changed health behaviours can contribute significantly to improved health. Consequently, significant investments have been channelled towards health behaviour change initiatives in Africa. Health behaviour change initiatives that address social, economic and environmental levers for behaviour change can create more sustained impact. Through a scoping study of the literature, we explored the literature on behaviour change initiatives in Africa, to assess their typologies. We explored whether the availability of initiatives reflected country demographic characteristics, namely life expectancy, gross domestic product (GDP), and population sizes. Finally, we assessed topical themes of interventions relative to frequent causes of mortality. We used the Behaviour Change Wheel intervention categories to categorise each paper into a typology of initiatives. Using Pearson's correlation coefficient, we explored whether there was a correlation between the number of initiatives implemented in a country in the specified period, and socio-demographic indicators, namely, GDP per capita, total GDP, population size, and life expectancy. Almost 64% of African countries were represented in the identified initiatives. One in five initiatives was implemented in South Africa, while there was a dearth of literature from Central Africa and western parts of North Africa. There was a positive correlation between the number of initiatives and GDP per capita. Most initiatives focused on addressing sexually transmitted infections and were short-term trials and/or pilots. Most initiatives were downstream focused e.g. with education and training components, while upstream intervention types such as the use of incentives were under-explored. We call for more emphasis on initiatives that address contextual facilitators and barriers, integrate considerations for sustainable development, and consider intra-regional deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One in five child deaths under age 5 are a result of severe wasting. Malnutrition at early ages is linked to lifelong consequences, such as reduced cognitive skills, reduced earnings in adulthood and chronic health conditions. Countries worldwide have committed to addressing child undernutrition, and ending hunger is foundational to the Millennium Development Goals. In this paper, we study the intergenerational effect of providing free tuition in secondary school on future children’s nutrition. We combined a novel longitudinal dataset that captures educational policies for 40 African countries from 1990 to 2019 with the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). We identified three countries that introduced free secondary education several years after implementing free primary education. Exploiting this variation in timing we estimate the additional impact of providing free secondary education over free primary education. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we find that introducing free secondary education significantly reduced wasting. Cohorts exposed to free secondary had an 18% relative decrease in wasting. The impact on cohorts exposed only to free primary was smaller and not statistically significant. Expanding free secondary education has long-term, intergenerational benefits and is an effective path to reducing malnutrition. Results are robust to different specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical drugs, substances and herbal medicines is important in medical advertising and promotion. Following guidelines for conducting a scoping review, we systematically searched PubMed, SCOPUS and Web of Science to identify in peer reviewed articles medications that were promoted and used widely in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also searched for information about how safety concerns about untested/or not properly tested drugs were communicated to the public during the pandemic. Of the 2043 articles identified, 41 papers were eligible for inclusion. Most studies were clinical trials (n = 11), systematic reviews (n = 9), quantitative studies (n = 9) the rest were qualitative studies, reviews and reports. We found that following global trends, several drugs, traditional and herbal treatments were used and repurposed for the treatment of respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 in Africa. The results highlighted the value of some herbal medicines for treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the risks posed by the unregulated sharing of advice and recommendations on treatments in Africa, and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformations required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals across the African continent demand new ways of mobilising, weaving together, and applying knowledge. Research, policymaking, planning, and action must be effectively inter-linked to address complex sustainability challenges and the different needs and interests of societal actors. Transdisciplinarity (TD) – the co-production of knowledge across disciplines and with non-academic actors – offers a promising, holistic approach to foster such transformations. Yet, despite increased application of TD over the past two decades, disciplinary and sectoral silos persist. TD is not well embedded in African academic institutions and, consequently, much SDG-related research is too narrowly framed and divorced from the action space to be effective. There is an urgent need to work collectively across disciplines and society for transformation towards more sustainable and equitable development pathways. Capacities to undertake collaborative, impactful research must be strengthened, and changes in research culture are needed to support relationship building. We explore these issues by drawing on two recent online social learning processes with researchers and practitioners working on sustainability issues and TD. In each process, we built on actors' own experiences of TD by investigating institutional, practical, and theoretical challenges and enablers of TD. Here, we synthesise our learnings, alongside key literature, and explore avenues to better: a) promote and support TD within academic institutions across Africa; b) resource TD for sustainable partnerships, and c) strengthen TD practices and impacts to support transformation to sustainability across diverse places and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climatic impacts on the environment, land cover and land use change such as urbanisation and deforestation affect rainfall and change riverflow responsiveness and seasonal flows as a result of their influence on nonlinear behaviour of the catchments of rivers. Water supply is seriously affected which invariably impacts on domestic activities and agriculture. In some countries river transportation, hydropower, irrigation and fish farming are at risk due to these impacts. Within this paper, a review of existing hydrological and climatic studies in Africa and Ghana in particular is presented. The paper highlights the knowledge gaps identified in the review, such as rainfall-riverflow processes and their controls in the country, estimation of cycles in evapo-transpiration and solar radiation time series, together with the complete characterisation of the temporal and spatial fluctuations within the climate cycles. The establishment of a monograph of catchment response characteristic across the Ghanaian latitudinal gradient and if possible across the tropics is recommended. This could be used for the prediction of hydrologic response of ungauged catchments in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While economic theory suggests a wide range of potential drivers of public debt, there is little consensus regarding the most relevant ones. This paper analyzes the determinants of the public debt in Africa. This is done by adopting a Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach applied to data of 51 African countries, spanning the period 1990–2018. Our results suggest that, among the set of twenty-seven (27) regressors considered, those reflecting international financial and institutional conditions as well as internal economic prospects tend to receive high posterior inclusion probabilities. Then, the study explores the effect of these regressors on public debt by employing the fixed effects (FE) and the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators. The results reveal that, foreign aid, fiscal deficit, trade openness, military expenditure, interest and exchange rates, debt-service, domestic credit, government stability index, political regime type and socio-economic crises are the main and robust drivers of public debt accumulation in African countries. These findings are robust to changes in the model specification, the inclusion of socio-economic crises and regional heterogeneities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the design of a study to generate a quality of care index for countries in the World Health Organization Africa Region. Quality of care, for all people at all times, remains pivotal to the advancement of the 2030 agenda and the attainment of Universal Health Coverage. We present a study protocol for deriving a quality of care index, hinged on indicators and data elements currently monitored through routine information systems and institutionalized facility assessments in the World Health Organization Africa Region. This paper seeks to offer more insight into options in the Region for strengthening monitoring processes of quality of care, as a step towards generating empirical evidence which can galvanize action towards an improved care process. The methodology proposed in this study design has broad implications for policymaking and priority setting for countries, emphasizing the need for robust empirical measures to understand the functionality of health systems for the delivery of quality essential services. Application of this protocol will guide policymaking, as countries work to increasingly improve quality of care and adopt policies that will best facilitate their advancement towards Universal Health Coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Center (SPARC) developed a framework for tracking strategic purchasing that uses a functional and practical approach to describe, assess, and strengthen purchasing to facilitate policy dialogue within countries. This framework was applied in nine African countries to assess their progress on strategic purchasing. This paper summarizes overarching lessons from the experiences of the nine countries. In each country, researchers populated a Microsoft Excel–based matrix using data collected through document reviews and key informant interviews conducted between September 2019 and March 2021. The matrix documented governance arrangements; core purchasing functions (benefits specification, contracting arrangements, provider payment, and performance monitoring); external factors affecting purchasing; and results attributable to the implementation of these purchasing functions. SPARC and its partners synthesized information from the country assessments to draw lessons applicable to strategic purchasing in Africa. All nine countries have fragmented health financing systems, each with distinct purchasing arrangements. Countries have made some progress in specifying a benefit package that addresses the health needs of the most vulnerable groups and entering into selective contracts with mostly private providers that specify expectations and priorities. Progress on provider payment and performance monitoring has been limited. Overall, progress on strategic purchasing has been limited in most of the countries and has not led to large-scale health system improvements because of the persistence of out-of-pocket payments as the main source of health financing and the high degree of fragmentation, which limits purchasing power to allocate resources and incentivize providers to improve productivity and quality of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital agriculture solutions hold a promise to build agri-food food systems that are more efficient, environmentally sustainable, and inclusive, thereby contributing to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. In most African countries, the rapid adoption of mobile phones and other digital tools have accelerated the deployment of agricultural services for farmers and other value chain actors resulting in enhanced access to information, knowledge, financial services, markets, and farm tools. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to fast-track the deployment of contact-free digital solutions along the agri-food value chains. Despite the numerous opportunities presented by the digital agricultural revolution, its potential to transform agri-food systems in Africa remains uncertain. With a broad perspective on Africa, this paper explores the emerging evidence on digital agricultural services including key drivers, evidence on impact, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper concludes with some implications for policy makers and professionals in agricultural economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contributions of this special issue explore the concept of colonial durabilities in a bid to unearth both the concrete and invisible sites through which coloniality continues to circulate and materialise in the African Great Lakes Region (GLR). Colonial durabilities, we argue, are non-linear dynamic processes that suffuse the realities and structures of international and national politics, as well as the conduct of daily life. These become particularly evident in the knowledge economy of the GLR, in endeavours as broad as state building and everyday practices, within international development and peacebuilding interventions, and in academic theorising, methodologies and writing formats. We introduce the papers in this special issue that urge us to address an important question: Can we truly decolonise if we do not fully understand the coloniality of the present and its effects? We argue a careful investigation of the structural conditions that enable coloniality to actively form and re-form is essential to accurately understand real-world ramifications of asymmetrical power relations, a crucial aspect of the process of decolonisation. Lastly, we reflect on avenues for re-thinking the effects of colonial durabilities and to work towards generating anti-/de-colonial knowledges to perhaps achieve 'epistemic freedom'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lovenula raynerae is the largest known African freshwater copepod. To date, it has only been sampled from ephemeral freshwater ecosystems. This paper reports the complete mitochondrial genome of L. raynerae, which was found to be 14,365 bp long. A base composition of 33.5% base A, 19.3% base G, 34.6% base T, and 12.5% base C was found, with 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, and 2 rRNAs. This paper contributes to an improved understanding of phylogenetic relationships in an important crustacean group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The underlying topography and forest height play an indispensable role in many fields, including geomorphology, civil engineering construction, forest investigation, and the modeling of natural disasters. As a new microwave remote sensing technology with three-dimensional imaging capability, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) tomography (TomoSAR) has already been proven to be an important tool for underlying topography and forest height estimation. Many spectrum estimation methods have now been proposed for TomoSAR. However, most of the commonly used methods are susceptible to noise and inevitably produce sidelobes, resulting in a reduced accuracy for the inversion of forest structural parameters. In this paper, to solve this problem, a nonparametric spectrum estimation method with low sidelobes – the G-Pisarenko method – is introduced. This method performs a logarithmic operation on the covariance matrix to obtain the main scattering characteristics of the objects of interest while suppressing the noise as much as possible. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by the use of both simulated data and P-band airborne SAR data from a tropical forest region in Gabon, Africa. The results show that the proposed method can reduce the sidelobes and improve the estimation accuracy for the underlying topography and forest height. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes and examines a new structural risk of default model for banks in frictional and fuzzy financial markets. It is motivated by the need to fill the shortcomings of probability-based credit risk metric models that are characterised by unrealistic assumptions such as crisply precise and constant risk-free rates of return. The problem investigated here specifically proposes a new Kealhofer–Merton–Vasicek (KMV)-type model for estimation of the risk of default for banks extended for both market friction represented by transaction costs and uncertainty modelled by fuzziness. The novel risk of default model is then validated using cross-sectional financial data of eight commercial banks drawn from several emerging economies in Southern Africa. The results from the proposed model are fairly stable and consistent compared to those from hazard function and structural credit risk models currently used in the markets. The model is relevant in that it fairly captures practical conditions faced by banks that influence their risks of default in their quest to improve financial performance and shareholders' wealth. The study recommends that banks in frictional and fuzzy financial markets, such as those in emerging economies, can adopt and implement the proposed risk of the default model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of fiscal impulses on macroeconomic variables within a New-Keynesian DSGE framework featuring an informal economy that allows for the examination of the effectiveness of automatic stabilizers in stimulating some selected sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies during crises. Stabilizers were modelled such that fiscal instruments react to their own lagged values and the official sector output. The results indicate that tax hikes lead to sizeable tax evasion and reallocation of factor inputs from the official sector to the shadow sector making the standard aggregate estimates of fiscal policies ineffective while government spending shocks slow down activities in the shadow sector. The findings also showed that automatic stabilizers on government spending (income taxes) stabilized the economy by reducing (raising) output levels even in the presence of the shadow economy. For policy implications, effective implementation of government policies should incorporate the informal sector in macroeconomic modelling, especially for countries with a large informal sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is rapidly urbanizing and its population is growing exponentially. The United Nations has predicted Africa will have the fastest global population growth, with over half of its populace residing in urban areas by 2050. This is concerning given Africa's current infrastructural deficits which compromise liveability in these urban areas. Education, health, and transport are core areas of challenge in Africa and currently, no research is known to have analyzed if the infusion of smart city technology in these core areas will make a difference, a gap this paper fills. This work reviews the literature on smart city technology using Singapore as a model to make inferences and ascertain the adaptability of the technology to the African situation. It seeks to investigate the prospects of enhancing the aforementioned core areas of challenge using smart city technology and determine the prospects for Africa's development. Findings indicate Africa's current state of development is an advantage here as infusing core areas with digital technology would proactively help address Africa's urbanization challenges. African nations are encouraged to embrace digital technology to address core development issues while putting adequate measures in place to maintain the security and privacy of citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-medication is an important initial response to illness in Africa. This mode of medication is often done with the help of African traditional medicines. Because of the misconception that African traditional medicines can cure/prevent all diseases, some Africans may opt for COVID-19 prevention and management by self-medicating. Thus to efficiently predict the dynamics of COVID-19 in Africa, the role of the self-medicated population needs to be taken into account. In this paper, we formulate and analyse a mathematical model for the dynamics of COVID-19 in Cameroon. The model is represented by a system of compartmental age-structured ODEs that takes into account the self-medicated population and subdivides the human population into two age classes relative to their current immune system strength. We use our model to propose policy measures that could be implemented in the course of an epidemic in order to better handle cases of self-medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]