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A database of journal articles and conference papers that cover the economics of agricultural development in Africa during the period 2016–2020 was compiled. These papers are first described in terms of demographic and bibliometric criteria, followed by a network analysis of the main centers of origin and of influence of this research. Finally, three different processes were used to test the policy relevance of the work. These include a simple enumeration of the policy recommendations in a sample of the papers, a megatrend analysis, and a comparison of their focus with the standard narrative of the role of agriculture in economic development. The results show that a large proportion of the literature is not forward‐looking, and is weak on policy relevance. We ignore a number of issues that engage the attention of those concerned with implementing structural change in agriculture across the many very different but very real natural resource, political, social, economic, and technological environments around the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the prospects and promises of continent‐wide infrastructure projects under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and its implications for intra‐regional trade and economic development in Africa. Building on the supply side theory of trade and economic development, and taking cognizance of the impacts of asymmetric market sizes on trade integration, this paper argues that continent‐wide infrastructure projects are perhaps not the biggest constraints to intra‐Africa trade. Consequently, the paper recommends caution in pursuing regional infrastructure projects under the BRI. Given that the economies of most African countries depend largely on natural resources, the BRI could be adopted strategically to establish and manage infrastructure projects that would relax the binding constraints to structural transformation and allow for the development of manufacturing and/or service capabilities in the respective countries, especially in niche areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of literature highlights the importance of export sophistication for economic development. Given the newness of the literature on export sophistication, its determinants are under‐exploited. As a pioneer study, this paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature by examining the effect of infrastructure development on export sophistication. Based on a panel of 45 African countries over the period 2003–2016, the results of the different estimations show that infrastructure, including transport, electricity, ICT and access to water and sanitation, improves export sophistication in Africa. Our results also show that the effect of infrastructure varies at different intervals of the export sophistication distribution. Therefore, improved infrastructure would allow African countries to not only improve their export structure but also achieve sustainable and durable growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

This study explores the potential for South Africa to become an engine for intra‐regional trade and industrial development in Southern Africa. It focuses on new backward linkages that can be created from South African exports of final products to producers of intermediate inputs in other Southern African countries. We do so by identifying South Africa's lead products, where it has formed its own GVCs, and, in turn, earmarking intermediate inputs used in the production of these lead products. Using Revealed Comparative Advantage and Unit Cost analysis, we identify Southern African countries that could supply the identified imported intermediate inputs more competitively than South Africa's existing partners and kickstart regional integration. We explore issues around the nature of linkages, supplier capabilities and industrial policies in the region, with special reference to the identified product value chains. Focusing on the agricultural sector—a key regional priority with immense potential for industrial growth and large‐scale employment—we also identify existing agricultural lead products in South Africa, and the 'new markets' to which South Africa can export. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African countries face an economic transformation gap. Given the large and growing Chinese presence on the African continent, a fundamental question is whether Chinese firms contribute to, or hinder, economic transformation in Africa. This article conducts a scoping review of over one hundred sources, examining the pathways through which Chinese firms can affect economic transformation. On balance, the literature points to a positive role of Chinese firms. Africa–China trade leads to mixed results, while Chinese investment and infrastructure construction are found to contribute positively to transformation. Chinese firms are also found to support capacity building, spillovers and innovation in African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the developer's dilemma—a seeming quandary emerging from the fact that developing countries simultaneously pursue two different developmental goals: (a) seeking economic development through structural transformation and (b) reducing income inequality. However, the proclivity of increasing income inequality while pursuing structural transformation is often referred to as the developer's dilemma. This study investigates for the presence of this dilemma in Africa using sample splitting and threshold estimation technique. While we find support for the existence of a developer's dilemma, suggesting that structural transformation induces income inequality, the income inequality‐widening effect is disproportionate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The federal solution has been widely discussed in relation to political systems where the articulation of major cleavages, differences, and pluralities threatens political integration and stability. The relationship between conflict, development, and federalism, however, has been poorly accounted for in the literature on federalism. Existing theories about the utilitarian value of federalism thus face serious challenges, especially with respect to post‐colonial Africa. The relationship between conflict, economic development, and federalism in the African context needs to be carefully examined from the perspective of governance, as well as the impact they have on society‐state relations. This article discusses the impact of ethno‐linguistic, ethno‐regional, and ethno‐religious conflicts on economic development in Nigeria – informed by the inequalities, insecurity, and poverty prevalent in the country – and examines the relevance of the federal solution for mitigating such centrifugal pressures as well as other divisive and violent tendencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is currently the only continent that is yet to experience sustained industrial growth and structural transformation. The continent's position as the last frontier for industrial growth became clear following the spectacular transformations of the Chinese economy since the late 1970s. While it is often emphasized that Africa must improve its industrial capacities and diversify its economies in order to achieve real growth and development, there is little clarity on the most effective model and strategies for the continent's industrialization. This article conceptually examines the Washington Consensus versus the Beijing development models, and empirically presents their evolution in Africa. Drawing on a modified Fukuyama's state theory which differentiates between the strength of state institutions and the scope of state activities, this article argues that strengthening African states is a prerequisite for the success of any development model. The article provides strategies for strengthening state capacity in African countries from weak to moderately strong states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between access to domestic and international communication and economic development. It does so by constructing two indices of linguistic distance, domestic and international, capturing language acquisition costs, which are higher when acquiring linguistically more distant languages. The domestic linguistic distance index captures the constraints of communication among speakers of different mother tongues within a country, while the international linguistic distance index captures the constraints of global communication via English. This study's results reveal a negative association between domestic linguistic distance and GDP per capita, whereas international linguistic distance has no significant association. Moreover, by investigating the mechanisms of the negative association of the domestic linguistic distance, we find that communication difficulty among different language groups hinders economic development through a channel of less employment requiring communication‐based operations. Furthermore, we determine that the negative association of the domestic linguistic distance may be mainly driven by relatively poor countries such as many in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Global value chains (GVC) have propelled substantial expansion in international trade across the globe over the last two decades. Yet, the institution–GVC nexus in Africa suffers complete neglect in literature. Therefore, we evaluate the impact of different components of political and economic institutions on backward (BWDGVC), forward (FWDGVC), total GVC participation, and GVC position (upstreamness) in Africa. Using system‐GMM with United Nations Conference on Trade and Development GVC database (UNCTAD‐Eora MRIO) for 47 African countries over the period 2000–2018, the key findings show that the effects of the political and economic institutions on GVC participation are diverse. Specifically, property rights, government spending, monetary freedom, and tax burden negatively affect BWDGVC participation while government integrity, investment freedom, and financial freedom stimulate the BWDGVC. Also, all the components of institutional quality that propel BWDGVC, hinder FWDGVC participation and upstreamness, except investment freedom which promotes both BWDGVC and FWDGVC. Nonetheless, property rights, government integrity, monetary freedom, financial freedom, and tax burden engender total GVC participation, whereas government effectiveness, and investment freedom hinder the total GVC participation. Furthermore, good political institutions promote BWGVC and total GVC but reduce upstreamness. Thus, institutions are fundamental drivers of GVC participation in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peace has been deemed paramount to socioeconomic progress and economic development across nations. It is for this reason nations strive to improve the peaceful coexistence of citizens. This study investigates the effect of democracy, governance and militarisation on peace in 43 African countries for the year 2018 in a cross sectional framework. The ordinary least square (OLS), the tobit regression and the quantile regression (QR) where employed as estimation strategies. The empirical result firstly reveal that democracy increases peace in Africa, particularly in countries where the initial level of peace is at its highest level. Secondly, militarisation of Africa reduces peace in the region only in countries where the initial level of peace is at its highest level. Thirdly, the influence of governance on peace in Africa depends majorly on the measure of governance utilized. The control of corruption, government effectiveness and regulatory quality increases peace where the initial level of peace is at its lowest level. Political stability increases peace across the entire quantiles utilized while rule of law increases peace in countries where the initial level of peace is low. In conclusion, governance in general increases peace in the countries where initial level of peace is very low. Policy recommendations based on these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Many African countries experience persistent trade deficits and are in need of better export strategy. While the East African Community (EAC) performs best in regional integration among the Regional Economic Communities of Africa, it is important to formulate a comprehensive export strategy that harnesses the benefits of deeper regional integration. Purpose: This article analyses the productive capabilities of the five Partner States of the EAC to investigate the potential benefits of greater economic integration. It identifies products that have potential to boost economic development and suggests a regional export strategy. Approach and Methods: The product space framework is used to analyse national productive capabilities. In particular, the trade‐off between the potential benefit of developing a complex product and the difficulty to do so is considered. Findings: Deeper regional integration in the EAC would create opportunities to develop new products and to enhance the competitiveness of existing industries. The bloc could produce more diverse and more sophisticated products. Specifically, the analysis highlights the potential of agro‐processing and chemicals, which is generally in line with the strategic regional industries stated in the EAC Industrialisation Strategy 2012–2032. Policy Implications: Deeper regional integration can help develop products. EAC countries should strengthen co‐operation and leverage their expertise to develop products in clusters of related goods, rather than adopting a scattershot approach, thereby reaping economies of scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]