Search

This book provides a thorough understanding of the key policy debates on international trade and investment for development with a focus on the East African Community (EAC) to strengthen Member States'capacity to develop policies to promote their exports'competitiveness and diversification. Beyond Member States', the book serves as a base for a deeper understanding of the challenges, opportunities and requirements of the intra-continental trade agreement which is now in sight with the ratification of the Tripartite (EAC-COMESA-SADC) Free Trade Area that is critical in addressing key constraints to trade in the African continent. Moreover, the lessons from this edited volume may also extend to the challenges and opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The book brings together a comprehensive overview and an evidence-based analysis that can be considered best practice in the region. The trade and investment policy analysis of constraints and opportunities aims to improve trade and competitiveness and covers macro- (economy-wide), meso- (sectoral) and micro- (firm or household) levels. This multi-level approach is crucial for understanding how current trade and investment policies limit competitiveness and diversification in order to identify more tangible policy action for overcoming such constraints. The individual contributors follow comprehensive applied empirical approaches, and each chapter generates knowledge needed to identify key challenges and opportunities focusing on research-led policy-relevant approaches that enable readers to better understand national, bilateral, and multilateral cooperation as well as policies for sustainable development in East Africa. The contributors know the EAC context very well as their engagement in policymaking goes beyond the context of the papers they are writing about. The individual chapters were developed as part of a research and capacity building programme under the aegis of ACP and EUthat we implemented in 2020-2022. The research project well fits into the Frontiers in African Business Research series as we have many African contributors. The contributions matter to policymakers and academic circles. For students, the book serves as an excellent guide for understanding international trade and investment theories and gaining up-to-date knowledge on developments in the world economy and their effects on developing countries and SDGs. Trade policy researchers and students will be able to extend theories and empirical data to address new and emerging topics beyond the settings already covered in the book.

​This edited book examines the private higher education (PHE) sector in African countries. Reports suggest that private institutions across the continent outnumber their public counterparts, yet there has been little scholarly investigation into this emerging phenomenon. The book therefore seeks to document, map and analyse key trends and contemporary themes in the PHE sector, as well as chart historical developments, policy and regulatory frameworks. As a whole, it provides the reader with in-depth knowledge, rich perspectives and robust analyses from leading authorities in the field. Contributions from all sub-regions combine thematic issues with shaping discourse on the topic, and the discussions are undertaken in the context of global perspectives. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, postgraduate students, policy makers, analysts and development partners interested in African higher education and PHE in particular.

This volume represents a cornucopia of research studies coming out of an international conference held in Kigali, Rwanda in 2018. The essays comprise contributions on various microeconomic and macroeconomic policy angles that are crucial for a less developed economy to embark on a road to recovery to converge with the desired trajectory. The topics encompass a broad range of issues like the role of savings, capital formation, human capital, innovations, entrepreneurship, profit-shifting by multinational corporations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and firms'strategies for achieving sustained and balanced growth. The chapters are organized under three major themes based on the commonality of areas that they cover: (i) Macroeconomic Constraints: Monetary Policy, Investments, and Population; (ii) Firms'Performance, SMEs, and Role of Entrepreneurship; and (iii) Entrepreneurship and Business Performance: Strategies and Policies. It has a collection of 12 empirical studies that havean overall focus on macroeconomic policies such as savings among the rural poor; sustained investments in and development of capital markets; role of entrepreneurial sustainability; role of innovations for firms'performance; healthcare reforms; the benefits of technology, policy incentives such as tax benefits for promoting growth, and strategic considerations such as marketing or positioning strategies; export strategies; and productivity enhancement via processing and profit sharing. With contributions from 27 authors, the studies bring forth knowledge about the factors that influence well-being via better technologies and innovations favoring productivity, firm performance, and their positive externalities in the food, nutrition, and health sectors. Given the wide-ranging coverage of top-down and bottom-up approaches and strategies for development, the book offers insights for policy interventions necessary for Rwanda's gradual transition from agriculture to an industrial transformation via manufacturing and service-led development without smokestack industries.

China is transforming Africa's information space. It is assisting African broadcasters with extensive loans, training and exchange programmes and has set up its own media operations on the continent in the form of CCTV Africa. In the telecommunications sector, China is helping African governments to expand access to the internet and mobile phones, with rapid and large-scale success. While Western countries have ambiguously linked the need to fight security threats with restrictions of the information space, China has been vocal in asserting the need to control communication to ensure stability and development.Featuring a wealth of interviews with a variety of actors – from Chinese and African journalists in Chinese media to Chinese workers for major telecommunication companies – this highly original book demonstrates how China is both contributing to the'Africa rising'narrative while exploiting the weaknesses of Western approaches to Africa, which remain trapped between an emphasis on stability and service delivery, on the one hand, and the desire to advocate human rights and freedom of expression on the other. Arguing no state can be understood without attention to its information structure, the book provides the first assessment of China's new model for the media strategies of developing states, and the consequences of policing Africa's information space for geopolitics, security and citizenship.