Search

ABSTRACT The article argues that it is hard to see that media development so far has contributed neither to economic development or to political liberation in African states. The media situation and the literacy problems is connected to social differences and tensions between elite vs. local populations and the urban culture vs. the village. Media transmits stereotypes of modernity and urban life that are conflicting with rural and traditional cultural identities. It is being argued that media changes in the future will make things even worse. African countries are confronted with globalized media trespassing into rural culture and establishing themselves in local consumption patterns, before local media structures have had the possibility to develop. This means a severe threat to local culture and to the possibility of developing civil society at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

A call for papers on multinational companies in Africa and host country development is presented.

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]

Innovation is key to industrialization in Africa and must be aligned with industrial policy. A challenge for African countries is to design and implement innovation and industrial policies that take into account the unique structural nature of African economies, in which the informal sector is prevalent. This paper argues that a measurement programme focused on innovation in the context of local economic development is imperative for setting industrial and innovation policy in Africa. Policies tend to speak and respond to those phenomena that have been subjected to measurement programmes. Is there space for designing new measures of innovation in Africa that include the informal sector? We propose a novel methodology and framework for measuring informal sector innovation, based on a local innovation and production systems approach. We end the paper with a proposal for using the evidence gathered from this methodology and a continental strategy that lends itself to direct policy intervention that has local economic development and upgrading of value chains as a goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper hypothesizes that the quality of institutions tends to evolve slowly and in a piecemeal nature over time. In this process policy is seen to be a mechanism through which this evolutionary process takes place. Policy influences intermediary variables, which in turn create opportunities for institutional innovation. There are two hypotheses derived from this analysis and tested empirically in the paper. It is hypothesized that improvements in institutional quality lead to increases in economic development (using two different measures). It is also hypothesized that changes in intermediary variables resulting from policy changes lead to improvements in institutional quality. These two hypotheses are tested using a panel data set made up of twenty-five countries in Africa. The results indicate that improvements in the quality of governance institutions do lead to improvements in economic development and that policies aimed at influencing intermediary variables lead to improvements in governance institutional quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African countries seek to intensify their industrialization while also increasingly pursuing green growth and, more recently, circular economy strategies. The competitive implications of this are, however, little researched empirically. We seek to investigate how African countries, examplified in this paper by Kenya, are experiencing a green and circular structural change of their economies. On the basis of early findings from a survey among 27 mixed manufacturing companies in Ruaraka industrial area in Nairobi, we highlight green and circular innovation trends, conditions and dynamics for different types of industries and firms (size). We apply a strong business perspective in framing the questions. We conclude that the companies are reaching a moderate stage of greening,although with a high degree of variability. Circular innovations are relatively widespread and ensuring resource supply seems to be a more important incentive than cutting costs. There seems overall to be quite strong business incentives to go circular among Kenyan companies, although these incentives are not necessarily realized by the companies, a factor that could be utilized in policymaking. We suggest a strong business-oriented survey methodology as a way forward to expand insights into the greening of industries in Africa and similar economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is a continent with remarkable economic potential yet the least developed largely due to its inadequate human capital to transform this potential into social and economic development. The focus on provision of classroom education as the cornerstone of human capital development in Africa has not produced the desirable outcomes expected. We see an important role in this process within the workplace and thus argue that the role of human resource (HR) professionals in human capital development in Africa deserves serious attention. The paper outlines why and how HR professionals can contribute to the development of Africa’s human capital. It also highlights the challenges HR professionals will face and the competencies they will need to address the challenges. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, inequality has been rising in Europe, North America and parts of Asia. How does our understanding of global inequality dynamics change if coverage is extended to the rest of the developing world? To rebalance the perspective on global inequality trends, this paper surveys data and literature on recent inequality trends in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It finds that in these regions there are more countries with falling than rising inequality over the past 20 years, as measured by Ginis of income or consumption inequality. At the global level, therefore, there are signs of inequality convergence, as inequality has been falling in countries with high inequality in the 1990s (particularly Latin America), and rising in historically low-inequality countries. We discuss the political and economic drivers of inequality decline in countries with a steady fall in the Gini. This suggests some common trends across the globe, including the role of democratisation, the rise of new social movements, and the expansion of education and social safety nets and favourable commodity prices, in reducing income disparities. This paper calls for more country-level comparisons of inequality trends, to highlight the multiplicity of paths in this latest phase of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Area Development & Policy 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.)

To what extent do colonial ties and knowledge spillovers continue to influence the development of scientific capabilities in sub-Saharan Africa? Using a new database of publication output of 46 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1976–2016 and a production function approach, this paper gives evidence that knowledge produced in former colonizing countries continues to have a large and persistent effect on publication output in Africa. This relationship is growing stronger over time. Furthermore, the publication output of smaller countries and those at more advanced stages of scientific, economic and political development is more closely related to the publication output of their former colonizer. Overall, these findings have implications for programs and policies aiming to facilitate the development of scientific capacity in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a systematic review of challenges to doing business in Africa. It complements the extant literature by answering two critical questions: what are the linkages between the ease of doing business and economic development; and what are the challenges to doing business in Africa? In providing answers to these questions, the nexus between the ease of doing business and economic development is discussed in six main strands, namely: wealth creation and sharing; opportunities of employment; balanced regional and economic development; Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and GDP per capita; standards of living and exports. Moreover, challenges to doing business are articulated along the following lines: (i) issues related to the cost of starting a business and doing business; (ii) shortage of energy and electricity; (iii) lack of access to finance; and (v) high taxes and low cross-border trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast growth and unique model of Chinese aid provide new perspectives and empirical evidence for the study of aid effectiveness. This paper employs GIS technology to match Chinese aid projects in Africa with satellite-measured nighttime lights – a proxy of economic development and converts them into 0.5° (longitude) x 0.5° (latitude) panel data. First, we find that Chinese aid projects are positively correlated to Africa's economic development. Second, we gain a deep understanding of the mechanisms and find that the aid-growth relationship is mostly attributed to economic infrastructure aid rather than social welfare projects, direct aid as well as production and other types of projects. Spatial panel regression further validates the robustness of the empirical results and sheds light on the spillover effects of Chinese aid. Moreover, our results also suggest that Chinese aid brings some side effects on the recipient countries, as it may intensify the spatial economic inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevailing narratives in the discourse on China-Africa engagement are that China is developing Africa. This paper departs from those narratives because they disregard the agency of Africa's political elite. Basing its argument on the nature of the African political elite, the paper analyses their role in determining the impact of China's economic and trade engagement on economic development in their respective countries. To do that, it first discusses the nature and identity of African political elites, and examines how they control their states and scarce resources. Having done that, the paper then analyses their role in determining the nature and extent of development emanating from their countries’ economic engagement with China. It then concludes that it is not how much foreign states invest in African countries that determines Africa's rise, but rather political elites who influence the direction of their states’ development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper revisits the discourse on development in Africa, following in the footsteps of leading development thinkers and focusing on social policy. Some of the thinkers and scholars have specifically and directly discussed development discourse in Africa. Others have made insightful points regarding inclusive development in Africa even though not directly engaging with development discourse. The paper also acknowledges earlier thinking regarding development in Africa, including perspectives that deal with underdevelopment. The paper concerns itself with the critical role that social policy can play in ensuring inclusive development in Africa. The interface between economic and social policy is emphasised. Although Africa faces many intractable challenges, most of which are externally imposed, robust social policies will go a long way in bringing about effective social and economic development. In the main, though, Africa needs a comprehensive socio-economic development approach that can ensure lasting inclusive development. Social policies are critical for any development endeavour in African countries. Another main point that the paper makes is that economic transformation is not enough to fully advance wellbeing in Africa (and probably the world at large). By restructuring economies in Africa, not much would be achieved though some gains would be made. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In an interesting and thought-provoking paper recently published by theEconomic History of Developing Regions, Johan Fourie and Leigh Gardner ask why relatively few papers from developing countries have been published in top-ranked economic history journals. They provide a number of tentative answers of which differences in academic traditions between regions seem to be an important one. In this paper, we contribute to this discussion by putting the identified puzzle in the broader context of the development of economic history in the Western world and African universities. We fear that the silence from African scholars in top-ranked economic history journals might lead economic historians in the Western world to believe that little economic history research is taking place at African universities. The paper shows that economic history research at African universities is not only strong, but remained vibrant even when African economic history was on the decline at universities elsewhere. The lack of visible output in major economic history journals is thus not a sign of weakness. Instead it is an effect of the increased methodological specialization of economic history in the Western world. There is a danger that this specialization may led to regional isolation and we thus urge economic historians in the Western world to further engage in the work by African scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the non-linear effect of tourism on environmental degradation in 31 African countries. It also determines the moderating effect of tourism on the impact of economic growth on environmental degradation. It employs Pedroni, Johansen-Fisher and Westerlund panel cointegration tests to investigate the cointegration relationship between the variables. It uses the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares, dynamic system Generalized Method of Moments and Augmented Mean Group. These techniques enable us to account for various economic and econometric issues such as cointegration, heterogeneity, endogeneity, dynamism and cross-sectional dependence. This study reveals a cointegration relationship between the variables. It shows that tourism has a U-shaped non-linear effect on environmental degradation in African countries. Specifically, at early stage, tourism diminishes environmental degradation, but aggravates it as tourism increases. Besides, this study shows that tourism adversely moderates the impact of economic growth on environmental degradation. This paper makes significant contributions to the extant literature by unveiling the non-linear and moderating effects of tourism on the environment. The implication is that tourism is a significant determinant of environmental degradation, hence, effort to mitigate it should incorporate tourism. It may be necessary for African countries to emphasize green tourism in order to attain sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2006 the iron mines in Marampa Chiefdom, in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, re-opened. This event sparked a widespread feeling of excitement and hope among the local population, and gave rise to a landscape of expectations in which memories of both relative prosperous and “dark” pasts were invoked and imaginations of a better future flourished. However, soon after the re-opening and initial development of the mines, it appeared that the expected opportunities would not materialize everywhere and for everybody. Frustration, disappointment and loss of hope became part and parcel of the dynamics in this place, which is seen as a hot-spot, a notion that is applied to highlight the numerous frictions and negotiations within this investment landscape. This paper examines this momentum of rising expectations in the hot-spot by scrutinizing its connection to the area’s recent past of boom and bust, the increased global demand for raw materials, especially from China, national development agendas and life-cycles of mining operations. Subsequently, some spatial and social dynamics of accelerated change in Marampa will be discussed. Exploring these dynamics allows to see accelerated change in these investment landscapes from a diverse angle. Through highlighting these temporal, spatial and social dynamics of change in the hot-spot, the paper argues that overheating, a phenomenon often associated with accelerated change, may play out not only as a result of accelerated change, but also as a result of deceleration and the experience of being excluded from the potential opportunities of change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite having convincingly linked colonial extractive institutions to African current poverty, the literature remains unclear about which exact institutions are to blame. To address this research question, in this paper I identify trade policies as one of the main components of colonial extraction by showing their long-term effects on African economic growth. By using the gap between prices paid to African producers in the French colonies and competitive prices as a measure of rent extraction via trade monopsonies, I find a negative correlation between such price gaps and current development. This correlation is not driven by differences in geographic characteristics or national institutions. Moreover, it cannot be explained by the selection of initially poorer places into higher colonial extraction. The evidence suggests that trade monopsonies affected subsequent growth by reducing development in rural areas and that these effects persisted for a long time after independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues the need to expand the research agenda on the use of ICT in African countries to include a stronger strategic developmental focus than is evident in much of the literature to date. Four strategic dimensions are identified, where ICT arguably has potential as a significant enabler for transformational development in Africa: institutional infrastructure; governance, accountability, and civil society; service production and economic activity; and access to global markets and resources. A representative set of literature on IS in Africa is classified along these dimensions, but an explicit focus on development is found to be lacking in most of this work. The four dimensions are then discussed in turn to describe their importance in the African context, to discuss some pathfinding research examples to date and to identify some directions for future research. The paper concludes with a call for IS researchers working on Africa to become involved in debate on national and international policy from an ICT perspective and to engage with other research communities in doing this, notably with those concerned with the field of African development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional integration remains an integral part of Africa's development strategy and has underpinned most pan-African development policies for the past 50 years. This paper explores the issue of regional integration in the context of 'development' theory and the neo-patrimonial state system in Africa. A central contention of the paper is that Western, Euro-centric conceptions of regionalism, particularly those centred on the market integration approach, have promoted a very biased understanding of regional integration in many parts of the developing world. Using southern Africa as an exemplar case study, the paper argues that the various meta-theories focused on explaining the political economy of regionalism, often closely allied to a development theory paradigm, fail to account for the nature, character and evolution of regional integration. Regional integration in sub-Saharan Africa has been conceived and analysed in the light of the market-led approach, modernity and development. Thus far, it is has failed. This paper therefore explores why market-led regional integration has failed and why, for the foreseeable future, it will continue to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes 24 African census samples from 13 countries available via the African Integrated Census MicroData website to illustrate how microdata may be used to assess development and pinpoint basic human needs at local administrative levels over time. We calculate a Human Development Index-like measure for small administrative areas, where much of the responsibility lies for executing policies related to health, education and general well-being. The methodological proposals introduced in this paper are particularly pertinent for the case of Africa. While it is true that data for much of Africa is not appropriate for economic growth rates or per-capita income estimates, the analysis in this paper demonstrates that they are good enough for many other purposes. Indeed, a major aggravating problem that contributes to the “African statistical tragedy” is the lack of accessibility to existing census microdata. This paper aims to illustrate the usefulness of census microdata—which are vastly under-utilized in Africa—and hopefully contribute to make them more transparent and freely accessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines theoretical and methodological issues in the study of African developmental states. We argue that applying this concept beyond East Asia must take into account changes in the global economic context - in particular systemic tendencies towards deficient consumer demand - to uncover the conditions under which demand for commodity production remains or becomes expansionary. We further argue for a mixed methods case study approach to structural transformation, blending quantitative and qualitative evidence at multiple levels of analysis. The examples of concrete manufacturing and oil and gas in Nigeria and Tanzania illustrate our approach to researching state-led development in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ralph Austen in African Economic History (1987) noted how few African countries explicitly choose capitalism on independence, and for those who did it was a default model or a residual pattern. ‘African socialism’ was popular in the early decades of independence and pursued by several countries, including Ghana, Guinea, Senegal and Tanzania, the cases considered in this paper. The term had multiple meanings, and its advocates were quick to stress that they were not communist, and some said they were not even Marxist. This paper explores the argument that African socialism was a search for an indigenous model of economic development for a generation that was justifiably ambivalent about capitalism, but wary of being put in the communist camp in the Cold War era. Importantly, advocates of African socialism often proposed bold and transformative visions for their countries. These visions might be worth revisiting, devoid of the paradigm of socialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While post-development theory is very concerned with the ways in which development has impacted upon the countries of the Global South, there has been relatively little written on post-development theory from an African perspective. This paper identifies some of the ways in which post-development theory fails to adequately understand the African experience of development. In particular, I explore the difficulty that post-development theory confronts when faced with the continued desire on the part of many people in Africa for development. In his introduction to the new edition ofThe Development Dictionary, Wolfgang Sachs discusses this desire, noting that despite development’s many failures, many still associate the concept with self-affirmation and redress. He explains this continued desire for development as being indicative of the need for the decolonisation of the imagination. In this paper, I show some of the problems with this explanation and present alternative ways of understanding the persistence of the desire for development in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper studies the relationship between economic development and within-country income inequality using satellite night-light data for a panel of 49 African countries. We highlight three worrisome facts describing regional income disparities in Africa, which rank among the highest in the world, they are persistent, and they have increased 2.16% annually over the period 1992–2012. Our instrumental variable (IV) results confirm the existence of a regional Kuznets curve characterized by an inverted U curve, implying that although economic progress increases regional income inequalities at first, this positive link eventually flats out at a certain level of GDP per capita (2200 constant USD) and turns to reduce income inequality as further as GDP per capita still increases. We also find that the positive impact of total trade on regional income inequalities disappears once we account for potential endogeneity issues. Aid flows, FDI, industry, oil rents, government share, and institutions present positive correlations and reinforce our main results. Our conclusions should raise the concern for policymakers and economists to enhance policies towards a more prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable economic future in Africa, especially in the least developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) is a legal mechanism that allows foreign investors access to a supposedly neutral dispute resolution forum other than the court system of the host country in which the dispute arose. Globally, ISDS resolution mechanisms are currently confronted with unprecedented levels of scrutiny, and the system's legitimacy is being questioned by both developed and developing countries alike. In Africa, criticisms of ISDS and the actual benefits of investment agreements for developing country host nations have informed recent collective efforts to shape dispute resolution mechanisms provided for in continental, regional and bilateral investment agreements. In light of these developments, this paper examines the contemporary international law regime in Africa and the ISDS mechanisms that are put in place by such an investment framework from the global, continental, regional and bilateral perspectives. It argues that African countries should not abandon ISDS, and provides recommendations on the way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the nexus of religion, space, and development. It sheds light on the role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) as partners in sustainable development and key actors for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Applying and building on the theoretical framework of Polanyi’sThe Great Transformationindicates that FBOs with value-laden agendas have formed new state spaces during the age of globalization, where state capacities are transferred to non-state actors at other levels. The case study of Qatari organizations in SSA demonstrates how their uptake of state capacities can lead to development efforts that are driven by faith apart from politics and economics, which help balance market liberalism and social protectionism to create the conditions for sustainable development. Among other things, FBOs offer alternative financing options and new opportunities for financial inclusion that are relevant to the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Alternative financing mechanisms are needed to deliver on the sustainable development goals that African countries have committed to. Private equity is an asset class that could leverage the geographical factors behind Africa’s economic growth to deliver impact in a variety of areas related to sustainable development. This paper uses a geographic lens to assess the challenges and opportunities presented by global goal setting for achieving development results and the role that can be played by the private equity asset class. Policy options for countries to choose from are identified for effective development of private equity as a solution for achieving selected development results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030, Africa has its major development aspirations defined in the broader global and continental economic development context. Implementation of the two Agendas calls for substantial financial resources at a time when the global development finance landscape is changing, from a model centered on official development assistance and the coverage of remaining financing needs through external debt, to a framework with greater emphasis on the mobilization of domestic resources. This paper looks at the capacity dimensions of domestic resource mobilization, which have received relatively little attention in the development arena and literature. Capacity being the missing link, this paper analyzes the capacity challenges associated with the effective mobilization and utilization of domestic resources in Africa, largely drawing on the 2015 Africa Capacity Report whose focus was on the capacity imperatives for domestic resource mobilization. The analysis finds that capacity challenges in domestic resource mobilization are largely around weak tax administration, inefficient collection of tax in the agriculture and informal sectors, low savings and financial non-inclusiveness, and high levels of illicit financial outflows. The paper recommends soft, human and institutional capacity building at the country, regional, and continental levels in the identified areas. Besides, it suggests the modernization of tax administration, and political will and mindset change at all levels. While the paper calls for concerted efforts by all stakeholders, it also proposes some research areas aimed at supporting the domestic resource mobilization agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is argued that China's relationship with Africa has transformed into one defined by a dynamism and African agency, thereby lessening the hold the former previously had on Africa in the early days of this evolving alliance. First, the authors will conduct a literature review of historical Sino-African relations, from the early Han dynasty to its contemporary manifestations. The second section will continue with this analysis by focusing exclusively on the status quo of the Sino-African economic relationship, including analysis of trade flows, investments, development, economic cooperation, and Chinese support for regional integration. Finally, this paper will conclude with an elaboration of some key, emerging relationship areas, such as opportunities for China and Africa to collaborate on the achievement of the latter's Agenda 2063 and African Mining Vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to the standard Granger causality, this paper employs the Toda–Yamamoto approach and instantaneous causality test to examine the causal relationship between domestic savings and economic growth in 10 sub-Saharan African countries utilizing time series data. Findings from both the standard Granger causality and Toda–Yamamoto approach are consistent and robust only in five countries where domestic savings and economic growth are completely independent in three countries. For the remaining two, causality runs from savings to growth. However, for the other five countries, findings produced from both causality tests are grossly inconsistent and mixed leaving us under a quandary although the Toda–Yamamoto test is often reliable on account of its ability to avoid misleading results associated with the asymptotic nature of the standard Granger causality test. Our findings further reveal an instantaneous unidirectional causality from domestic savings to economic growth for only Benin, Mali, and South Africa suggesting that savings-led growth is rapid for these countries. We conclude based on our findings that the myriad of ‘evidence’ in earlier studies on savings-growth causality should be treated with caution given that methodological differences can produce misleading results with the potential of misdirecting policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reviews the scope and function of secrecy jurisdictions and includes new research data on their extensive use by development finance institutions in delivering official development assistance. In order to establish what these empirical data mean in terms of economic development, the paper builds a theoretical model of secrecy jurisdictions as constructed spaces of exception and exemption. It then reviews how different economic paradigms explain, analyse and assign normative values to secrecy jurisdictions/tax havens, noting that the neoliberal account proffers ideological assumptions which cannot be empirically verified. This paper argues that the most robust evidence available indicates that secrecy jurisdictions lower ‘onshore’ rewards to national stakeholders, and critically shrink the fiscal base required for sustainable economic development. Further, the paper argues that the extensive use of secrecy jurisdictions by development finance institutions sponsors an elite financial class in recipient countries, but otherwise undermines broad-based development embedded in economic justice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In response to the paucity of human resources in post-conflict societies, various agencies have implemented programmes to facilitate returns of qualified diasporas to their countries of origin. This paper examines the context in which diaspora return programmes have emerged and developed, and implications of the return programmes for post-conflict societies. It specifically looks at Migration for Development in Africa (mida) using the example of Rwanda. The paper demonstrates that the prime purpose of diaspora return programmes is to mitigate the effect of brain drain caused by migration from the South to the North. Furthermore, the paper argues that a secondary purpose of the programmes can be to secure a chance of return for diasporas who would like to return to their countries of origin but would like to stay away from the politics of these countries. In conclusion, the author suggests that diaspora return may increase the multiplicity of voices available in countries that tightly control dissident voices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade witnessed the intensification of the commercial and political activities of emerging powers in Africa. These activities are analysed in terms of their impact on Africa, but also how they have potentially displaced the European Union and its leading member states as the key policy interlocutors in Africa. In many domains, the EU and its member states have now been normalised to strategic partners among other strategic partners. This has not been without implications for EU policymaking in Africa. This paper claims that the complexity and multifaceted nature of interaction between the European Union and emerging powers, notably China, in trilateral cooperation in Africa suggest that these actors have mutually accepted cooperation in Africa as a necessary end to be pursued. They have as a result of their respective presence and engagement in Africa modified their policies. While cooperation is a stated end, China is seen not only as a driver of certain EU objectives, including development, but it is perceived as a brake on the codification of certain EU norms such as democracy and human rights. Similarly, the willingness of China to pursue and deepen trilateral cooperation in Africa does not appear to be an urgent policy priority. Thus, this paper contends that in addition to an understanding of trilateral cooperation, a study of individual bilateral strategies and policy adaptation sheds more light through which relations between these actors should be analysed. In the main, the paper seeks to go beyond zero-sum analyses by arguing the relationship between the EU and emerging powers, particularly China, as deserving more nuanced and fuller analyses than it currently receives, in order to understand the impact on EU policymaking on Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Youth citizenship is now on the international agenda with African countries increasingly interrogating their national perspectives on citizenship andcitizenship education. In this emergent field of research, African scholars arebeginning to challenge the prevailing (Western) theories of citizenship and democracy. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to contribute an African perspective to the study of citizenship education by exploring the political influences and meanings that shaped citizenship education in Kenya, and how these have evolved from independence to the present day. Data and Methods: This article is based on a documentary analysis of key policy-related documents, complemented by an analysis of some critical historical moments in the life of Kenya as a postcolonial nation. The policy-related documents include government policy documents, as well as political statements, speeches, development reports, technical commission reports, media articles, research publications and reports, education syllabi and curriculum documents. Main Findings: Post-independence, the Kenyan government focused on rethinking the colonial concept of citizenship in line with its political-cultural traditions, encouraging new notions of belonging, of civic virtues and of duties in relation to nation-building and economic development. Social Ethics and Education (SEE) programmes in schools were established and then later removed from the secondary school curriculum. Conclusions: This paper yields important insights into the international and national political agendas that shape Kenya's notions of active citizenship. It indicates the tensions which vulnerable and fragile states such as Kenya experience in negotiating their citizenship education agenda, whilst attempting to win foreign investment and aid for their economy, and whilst addressing regional and ethnic inequalities and high levels of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will analyse Israel's past involvement (1956-1973) in Africa, in the context of a wider theoretical conceptualisation of the role of spatial development in the construction of moral geopolitics. Re-thinking the relevance of postcolonial critiques, the paper examines the political and institutional setup underlying Israeli involvement in development in Africa, documenting the scope of this phenomenon by looking at policy makers, professionals and institutions, studying the role of spatial development and planning in the design of Israel's policies, and analysing the actual results of such projects. Despite considerable Israeli involvement and investment in spatial development projects in postcolonial Africa, the existing literature on the subject is narrow, dealing mainly with pragmatic political interests, and there is hardly any structured documentation of Israel's exported spatial development to Africa - its scope, qualities, successes or failures. Moreover, in the wider literature the analysis of spatial development as “exported” knowledge is perceived as a by-product of the polity between Empires and the Margins - an assumption that this paper aims to question. This article is dedicated to the memory of Sara Khinski, with whom my journey to Africa began. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While debates continue about China's role in sub-Saharan Africa, there is growing consensus that China is a different kind of development partner. One distinct feature of Chinese partnerships is that they include support for the tobacco industry, a sector other donor states and institutions shun. Not only is tobacco a primary agricultural export in a number of Africa states, the state-owned Chinese National Tobacco Corporation is the largest tobacco company in the world. This paper analyses Chinese support for the tobacco industry in three states – Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia – documenting how co-operation is shaped by Chinese state capitalism and assessing the development and governance implications. Following an introduction situating the analysis within the context of China–Africa co-operation and tobacco's global value chain, Chinese engagement in each country is analysed. Findings indicate that, despite differences across case studies in terms of development outcomes, common governance implications are apparent. African elites initiated tobacco-related co-operation to meet their interests, but Chinese interests dominated implementation. Consequently, Chinese investments have maintained hierarchal governance of an exploitive and harmful industry. Analyses of Chinese African co-operation need to move beyond public–private paradigms and interrogate the nuances of Chinese state capitalism in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper empirically examines the extent to which different forms of capital flows (foreign direct investment [FDI], remittances, foreign aid and external debt) affect the impact of trade (exports) on economic growth in Africa. We do this with the aid of an augmented endogenous growth model which we estimate by dynamic system GMM technique with endogeneity-expunging efficiency. First, we find that whilst the direct impact of trade (exports) has been crucial in driving economic growth in Africa in both the short- and long-run, capital flows (FDI, remittances, foreign aid and external debt) do not. Second, our results clearly show that, in both the short- and long-run, inflows of FDI and remittances serve as important channels through which trade (exports) has its largest impact on economic growth while inflows of foreign aid and external debt do not. Following these outcomes, we conclude that policies aimed at attracting FDI and remittances to African countries are what policy reforms should target. Further, our findings suggest that moderating the inflow of external debt and foreign aid could be beneficial to the effect of trade (exports) on economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether or not local economies can benefit from investments that seek to take advantage of a local comparative advantage (e.g., cheap labor) is the question that is addressed in this article. Through multiple case studies of Moroccan companies operating in the textile sector, the paper shows that the link between low labor cost exploitation and economic development is an eclectic phenomenon. The best variable to explain whether or not this link exists is the development of human capital in local factories. The case studies show that suppliers' development initiatives in supply chain management and the vision of local managers/entrepreneurs are more effective mechanisms for growth and development than a "traditional" program of Foreign Direct Investment where knowledge is withheld by the investor. The implications are that management capabilities in emerging economies, such as those of Africa, can be developed even through investments that do not appear, at first sight, to be so appealing for host countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between openness and growth remains a controversial issue in development economics with many studies focusing on the export–growth relationship. This paper examines whether the relationship between exports and growth found in large cross-section studies also holds in the context of African economies. The paper employs threshold regression techniques to examine whether African countries benefit more from exports when they reach a certain level of development or openness. Our results suggest that there is indeed a positive relationship between exports and growth in Africa. The threshold regression analysis also suggests that it is not necessary for a country to reach a certain level of development or to have an existing export base for this relationship to hold, though it is found that the relationship is stronger for countries that experience higher rates of export growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses cross-national data to investigate the extent to which the adoption of human development strategies has resulted in a reduction of poverty in Africa. Inter-country variations in income and human poverty reinforce the established patterns of well-being within the continent, as countries in Northern and Southern Africa have the lowest levels of poverty. The empirical analysis reveals that inter- country differences in poverty levels can be accounted for by variables indicative of the different facets of human development. These include public expenditure on education, primary school enrolment, female educational enrolment, expenditure on health, and good governance. Other significant variables apart from those pertaining to human development are economic growth, high external debt, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the geographical disadvantage of being a landlocked country. The paper also shows that foreign aid has had a limited effect on poverty reduction in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV/AIDS is the major threat to development, economic growth and poverty alleviation in much of Africa. And yet the full extent of the catastrophe facing the continent is only just being recognized, and still not by all. The international development targets set by the great and the good of the global community--or at least by those members of the community who attend the international summits that set these goals--do not consider what HIV/AIDS means and are unachievable. This paper begins by setting the scene, describing the epidemic, explaining why it is so important and what makes HIV/AIDS different. It then explores how the poverty/epidemic cycle works, whereby poverty increases the spread of HIV and AIDS increases poverty. It suggests we need to look beyond monetary poverty to understand these relationships. Finally the paper assesses what can and should be done to break the HIV/AIDS poverty cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Africa is confronted with the urgency to provide its citizens with the basic requirements of life such as peace, food, education, health, shelter, safe drinking water, etc., the rest of the world and the developed nations in particular are fast heading towards a globally networked information economy. This raises questions about what the information economy holds for Africa and specifically what opportunities, challenges and impacts it may have. This paper attempts to provide an overview of the current state of affairs of the information economy in Africa by implementing a generic conceptual framework that includes ICT hardware, software and services, informatization and e-commerce. The paper also identifies the basic challenges that Africa faces in developing and benefiting from the information economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effect of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) on export diversification in Sub-Saharan Africa. The existing empirical studies suggest that AGOA has had a positive effect on the overallvolumeof trade between Sub-Saharan Africa and the United States. However, the economic development literature emphasizes the importance of exportdiversificationfor developing countries; therefore, it is important to understand the effects of AGOA on theextensivemargin of trade (i.e. the number of distinct products a country exports). Our empirical results suggest that AGOA does contribute to export diversification, specifically through its apparel provision. Countries that are eligible for the AGOA apparel provision export not only more apparel products, but also more non-apparel products to the USA. Thus, AGOA contributes to export diversification at the extensive margin of trade with the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author discusses the special issue of "Information Technology for Development" on how information and communication technologies (ICTs) affect development in Africa. Topics covered include the state of ICTs on the African continent, the role of ICT in line with development and an overview of the papers in the special issue on ICT in Africa.

This paper discusses the impact of the rise of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and social entrepreneurs on economic development, with a special focus on how they have been used in Africa. The paper describes the decline of the state and the rise of NGOs as a force in economic development under neoliberalism. We then turn to two of the major problems with the roll-back of the state in Africa: the inherent weaknesses of nonstate actors in the development process, and the significant cost that is incurred by undermining the role of state. The paper concludes by suggesting the necessity of reinserting the state as the major vehicle for economic development, albeit in productive partnership with NGOs and social entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper challenges the relevance of ethnic diversity in explaining the development impasse in Africa, using Kenya as a case study and arguing that the neopatrimonial and ethnic diversity theses are contradictory as explanatory variables of Africa's development crisis. The former speaks to homogeneity while the latter implies heterogeneity in the public policy process. This paper singles out the ethnic diversity thesis as the weaker of the two, arguing that ethnic groups lack a collective ethnic agenda that can be flagged as consequential for the political economy of the polity. Ethnic group intervention in the political arena is not determined by innate ethnic characteristics: it is due to the tendency for certain actors in the body politic to exploit institutional failure. With proper institutions, the assumed burden of ethnicity in African development would naturally evaporate. Focusing on supposedly ethnic problems is the wrong target. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we argue that the answer, to the question of whether Africa's recent growth is sustainable, is yes. Our optimism rests on the finding that differences in the level of institutional quality predict cross-country variation in African economic growth during the period 1995–2011. This finding is quite robust. It holds in OLS, LAD and 2SLS settings; it holds for different measures of institutions and different measures of economic growth; and it holds for the period before and the period after the global financial crisis. We also show that changes in institutional quality predict cross-country variation in African economic growth. Moreover, if we split our sample into two equally sized groups, a high-growth and a low-growth group, then the high-growth group has experienced a statistically significant increase in institutional quality, whereas the low-growth group has not. Overall, this makes it probable that institutions have played an important part in Africa's recent growth acceleration. The continent has seen many false dawns, caused in large part by increases in commodity prices, but a growth acceleration driven by institutions is likely to signify a genuine African takeoff. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bringing together history and economics, this paper presents a historical and processual understanding of women's economic marginalization in sub-Saharan Africa from the pre-colonial period to the end of colonial rule. It is not that women have not been economically active or productive; it is rather that they have often not been able to claim the proceeds of their labor or have it formally accounted for. The paper focuses on the pre-colonial and colonial periods and outlines three major arguments. First, it discusses the historical processes through which the labor of women was increasingly appropriated even in kinship structures in pre-colonial Africa, utilizing the concepts of “rights in persons” and “wealth in people”. Reviewing the processes of production and reproduction, it explains why most slaves in pre-colonial Africa were women and discusses how slavery and slave trade intensified the exploitation of women. Second, it analyzes how the cultivation of cash crops and European missionary constructions of the individual, marriage, and family from the early decades of the 19th century sequestered female labor and made it invisible in the realm of domestic production. Third, it discusses how colonial policies from the late 19th century reinforced the “capture” of female labor and the codification of patriarchy through the nature and operation of the colonial economy and the instrumentality of customary law. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]