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How does industrial policy currently interact with Regional Economic Communities in Africa? This article examines the tension between Regional Economic Communities and state-level industrial policy in Africa through two main problems: (1) how state industrial policies undermine Regional Economic Communities through a crisis of implementation and (2) how Regional Economic Communities undermine industrial policies through crisis of coordination. In discussing these issues, using indicative examples from the regions, especially the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the East African Community (EAC), the article brings together industrial policy and regional economic integration in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined finance-growth nexus in the finance industry and the influencing factors of economic indicators which deliberate on the performance of the Solow Growth model to prove the actuality of financial development (FD) inside the economic growth (EG) model, based on the regional data from 1980 to 2017 in Africa. We applied the econometric method of GMM style panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) and panel quantile regression (PQR). With the optimal finance-growth outcome, the review shows that the economic indicators influence the finance-growth nexus. The quantile results show that high economic indicators help to strengthen the finance-growth nexus, whereas low economic indicators hinder it. The GMM style PVAR results present a mixed effect in terms of the connection and marginal significance, indicating that FD has a varied impact on economic growth. Last, the granger causality results show a two-way causal association amid finance-growth in Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern African economies and a unidirectional causal link of finance-growth in Northern Africa. The policy conclusion is that to gain the long-term economic benefits of FD, African countries should strive for low and steady economic stability. To attain the required economic stability, it may be important to use suitable fiscal and monetary policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed the impact of investment on economic growth in Africa because extant studies generated mixed results, with the view that a negative relationship between investment and economic growth is peculiar to developing countries. We used data from the World Bank's WDIs and selected thirty African countries based on data availability and covering the period of thirty-four years starting from 1980. Pooled Panel Estimated Generalised Least Squares (EGLS) with the Cross-Section Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) weight estimation was estimated. We found that domestic investment contributes 19.36 per cent to economic outputs, while foreign direct investment (FDI) and current account balances contribute 13.21 and 3.61 per cent respectively to economic outputs. We concluded that the investment in general and domestic investment, in particular, is very relevant to the economic growth in the continent, though the impact of the latter is greater by the former by approximately 6 percentage points, which is still very small. We recommend investment promotion strategies to enhance more local participation in investment processes and opportunities. Also, the principle of political stability and peaceful transition should be encouraged; and structural constraints should be effectively managed to enhance absorptive capacity and more foreign direct investment in the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will discuss some issues related to what would be the "necessary university" for a country of the PALOP (Portuguese-speaking African countries) taking as example a Regional and Urban Economics course taught in an undergraduate programme in Economics. The main argument is that it is almost impossible and useless for the universities of these countries to train people with the same profile of an academic out of the so-called world-class universities. Because of this, the PALOP would look for alternative models. The first issue discussed is the definition of the profile expected for the graduates; secondly is what should be offered to them among the options from regional science; finally, what are the most appropriate methodologies and techniques for learning this subject. The text emphasizes the need for adopting teaching methodologies based on solution of problems such as the PBL (Problem Based Learning). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the role of globalization-fueled regionalization policies on the financial allocation efficiency of four economic and monetary regions in Africa from 1980 to 2008. Banking and financial system efficiency proxies are used as dependent variables and seven bundled and unbundled globalization variables are employed as independent indicators. The bundling is achieved by principal component analysis, while the empirical evidence is based on interactive fixed effects regressions. The findings are as follows. First, financial allocation efficiency is more sensitive to financial openness compared to trade openness and most sensitive to globalization. The relationship between allocation efficiency and globalization-fueled regionalization policies is defined by: (i) a Kuznets or inverted U-shaped curve in the UEMOA and CEMAC zones (evidence of decreasing returns for allocation efficiency from globalization-fueled regionalization) and (ii) a U-shaped relationship overwhelmingly in the COMESA and scantily in the EAC (increasing returns to allocation efficiency due to globalization-fueled regionalization). These relationships are relevant to the specific globalization dynamics within regions. Economic and monetary regions are more prone to surplus liquidity than pure economic regions are. Policy implications and measures for reducing surplus liquidity are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the structure and level of international cooperation among African states in the area of agriculture and rural development. It focuses on the African Union (AU) and its eight Regional Economic Communities. The international cooperation schemes between the World Bank, EU, FAO and African countries in agricultural policy are reviewed. The paper concludes that, despite numerous cross-border initiatives, governance of agricultural policies in the pan-African context remains fragmented. Policy-making and cooperation schemes need to be stepped up to address continent-wide challenges in the sector. There is an urgent need for the AU and the EU to intensify their cooperation in agricultural policies and development. The AU in collaboration with its regional bodies should establish a common agricultural policy for the continent. Such initiatives need to be Africa-driven and adapted to African needs. The EU should only provide technical know-how and institutional support if welcomed by African partners. Collective action towards rural areas via greater coordination of African agricultural policies and actions would help to develop the missing institutional framework needed for agricultural development in the continent. Fostering economic growth through agricultural development and reforms may also lead to a reduction of migration as witnessed by the EU in the sixties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-15thcentury, the space economy in Africa has assumed an imperial outlook under the influence of European mercantilism. It was the era that unfettered capitalism prevailed as economic orthodoxy for control of regional economies. At the inception of fettered capitalism in the mid-20thcentury, an imperial structure that served western interests under colonial rule was further entrenched in many African countries. At the turn of the 21stcentury, neoliberalism emerged as global economic orthodoxy, and free-trade relations implemented to manage Euro-American and Chinese mercantilism worldwide. This unleashed epistemological ideologies that ushered in urban productivity decline in the African space economy. As an entry point to address this urban development challenge in new regionalism, this article makes a case for neo-mercantilism as an alternative development ideology for Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the efforts of the organization International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to study the extent of implementation of policies discussed in the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa popularly known as the Kampala Convention. Topics include stocktaking of displaced and affected communities due to violence and armed conflict in Africa, support from the African Union (AU), and list of recommendations.

The last two decades have seen African countries adopt a new security approach through the activities of regional economic communities (RECs) and the African Union’s (AU) African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). This article argues that despite progress in conflict prevention and the promotion of peace, defence and security through the APSA and RECs, challenges do remain. In particular, factors such as financial costs involved, the inadequate funds available for peace and security missions, conflicting interests and lack of agreement, poor co- ordination and inadequate human and logistics capacity have constrained the ability of African countries to achieve their peace and security agenda. Thus, for peace and security efforts being undertaken by the AU and RECs to be effective, the actors involved should have not only the requisite capacity but also political will and commitment, and cooperation among members and with the international community should remain crucial to the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates the need for the harmonisation of public procurement regimes in regional economic communities, putting into perspective the importance of regional economic communities in the development of Africa.

Although the role of organized business in regional economic integration is well documented, extant scholarship portrays them as mere legitimizers and partners of regional policy. This neat categorization fails to capture the complicated, ‘multiscalarity’ of business and overall civil society's role in regional governance. Drawing insights from social constructivism and empirical evidence from fieldwork conducted in 2012 and 2013 on the interactions between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and region-wide business associations and advocacy networks since the early 1990s, this article shows that although African business groups are relatively new actors at the regional stage, their impact on regional governance is substantial. This is not only in terms of getting governments to adopt particular policies or the ability to hold the state accountable, as functional institutionalists might argue, but also in terms of the regional socialization effects, namely the willingness and ability to frame issues that influence the choices of political decision-makers. Business regional governance roles also straddle competing conventional roles, and sometimes counter the neoliberal vision of regional integration, even among those that owe their emergence to regional organizations. The study also challenges the pervasive view of business actors (especially in Africa) as simply profit-seekers by highlighting the ways business actors have deployed and acted on principled beliefs about regional identity collectively or individually to forge denser and relatively effective policy coalitions that signal unfolding changes in the direction of regional policy in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies of French Africa policy have traditionally focused on its neo-colonial basis and the often corrupt nature of the relations it engendered because of the connivances of semi-official and unofficial networks and covert practices that characterised it. These are often referred to in the literature as la Françafrique. In seeking to understand François Hollande's Africa policy this article moves away from a neo-colonial, Françafrique analytical framework and instead seeks to engage with the continuity versus change debate in French Africa policy through the lens of geopolitics. The three central themes of Hollande's Africa policy—security, partnership and trade—are analysed, focusing firstly on the French interventions in Africa, notably in Mali, since 2012, before discussing French engagement with African regional organisations, such as the Economic Community of West African States, and the increasing importance attached to economic and trade links. The article ends with a brief survey of some of the challenges facing French Africa policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]