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Although ubiquitous, very little is generalizable about the informal economy. This is especially the case within Africa wherein the informal economy also intersects with the indigenous economy. The diversity of papers in the special issue (AJOM, Volume 4 Issue 3) on the informal economy reflects the variety of issues and challenges faced by those in the informal economy. This dialogue however focuses not on those challenges, but on the conceptualization of the informal economy by the special issue papers. We discuss how the utopian and dystopian characterizations of the informal economy by the papers determines different processes and outcomes for those within the informal economy. We conclude by questioning whether the challenging research and policy issues confronting the informal economy arise because it is itself a misnomer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deeper continental integration is considered critical for Africa's future growth, development and transformation. This paper reports on the results of a comprehensive review of the scholarly literature on Africa's continental integration dating back to the 1960s. We wanted to focus on publications drawing on the organization and management literature, but found these to be limited in number and scope. The review covered a range of topics relevant for continental integration including peace and security, decolonization, diplomacy and politics, cultural exchanges, social and economic development, environmental protection, and sustainable development. Although about half of the studies reviewed were atheoretical, the rest covered a range of theories from different disciplines. Most of the studies used documentary analysis and literature reviews; few used survey methods or quantitative data collection and analysis. Review results were grouped into five key areas for continental integration: organizational, economic, political, peace and security, and human rights. The paper concludes by identifying gaps and opportunities for research. Theory development in particular would help to improve understanding of the complexities of continental integration, and guide evidence-based policy and practice for deeper, more effective and sustained continental integration to improve the lives of Africans at home and in the diaspora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major component of tax administration reform in sub-Saharan Africa for the last 30 years has been the creation of semi-autonomous revenue authorities (SARAs). The effects of their creation on revenue performance have been much debated, although there are only a few quantitative studies. The core argument of this paper is that existing research suggesting diverse and contradictory outcomes has not taken account of trends in revenue performance in the years before the establishment of SARAs. Allowing for this revenue history our analysis, based on 46 countries over the period 1980–2015, provides no robust evidence that SARAs induce an increase in revenue performance. This does not imply that SARAs may not provide benefits for tax collection, but they do not demonstrably increase (or decrease) revenue collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absent actual panel household survey data, we construct for the first time synthetic panel data for more than 20 countries accounting for two-thirds of the population in sub-Saharan Africa. We employ in this process repeated cross sections that span, on average, a six-year period for each country. Our analysis suggests that all these countries as a whole have had pro-poor growth. In particular, one third of the poor population escaped poverty during the studied period, which is larger than the proportion of the population that fell into poverty in the same period. The region also saw a 28 per cent increase in the size of the middle class. Chronic poverty, however, remains high and a considerable proportion of the population is vulnerable to falling into poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Lipset's (1959) modernization hypothesis advances that economic development supports democratic institutions. • Income per capita is a narrow definition of economic development in empirical analysis for hypothesis testing. • We use principle component analysis for a composite measure for economic development. • We find the results for the modernization hypothesis to be more consistent with the economic development index than with income per capita. Previous empirical literature focuses on income per capita as a measure for economic development. Using Lipset's modernization hypothesis as our theoretical framework, we contend that this measure does not capture the fundamental quality of economic development and as such may disadvantage low income regions when conducting empirical analysis. Our initial results using income per capita highlight this, showing a negative relationship between income per capita and democracy for sub-Saharan Africa between 1960 and 2010. However when we create a composite measure for economic development by employing the principle component analysis on the indicators that are suggested by Lipset, we obtain positive and significant results for democracy. This evidence suggests that we need to be wary of income per capita as a measure for economic development as the two are not synonymous. Income per capita may not capture other factors that also encompass development in a country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of an individual's belonging to some ethnic groups as it relates to the meanings associated with food consumption as well as the outcome(s) of ethnic food consumption. To achieve this goal, data were collected from 607 individuals, using a survey and structural equations analysis. Findings revealed that ethnic food consumption triggers specific emotions associated with different ethnic origins; there is a significant and positive moderating effect of sense of belonging to the product's region of origin. Attachment serves as a mediator of the effect of ethnicity on commitment. These findings have several notable implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informal economy is an important phenomenon in African countries, accounting for up to 90% of the jobs in the lowest income Sub-Saharan countries such as Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Management research about Africa, therefore, cannot be complete without a closer look at and a better understanding of the informal economy on the continent, the opportunities it brings and challenges it faces. Research on the informal economy started during the early 1970s has been conducted mainly by economists and sociologists. Managerial and organizational knowledge of the informal economy in Africa, however, remains largely underdeveloped. We reviewed the literature on the informal economy taking a pan-African approach by surveying 102 studies published from 1992 to 2017 in English, French and Portuguese language outlets. We summarize the current state of the literature, identify seven general themes, raise pertinent research questions, and suggest directions to further advance research about the informal economy with a focus on management and organization knowledge in all of Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the meso-micro levels of entrepreneurial family-owned and small firms operating in Africa’s informal economy. It examines how these firms manage formal and informal business activities, and how entrepreneurs manage business risks associated with market imperfections. After a brief review of the literature on the structuring and management of these firms in the context of the informal economy, we present and illustrate the Octopus business model showing the strategic apex, tentacles, and the location of formal and informal business activities along the firm’s value chain. We use a composite sample of 31 case studies and managers’ stories from publicly published sources to illustrate and test the Octopus business model and locations of formal and informal business activities in distinct parts of the value chain. Preliminary results show that in structuring and managing their firms, entrepreneurs make deliberate and at times strategic decisions in their choices and locations of formal or informal business activities. We discuss the results in terms of their implications for management theory development, research, business and management education and training, public policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether African countries can learn from the experiences of BRIC countries that have informal economies. Our analysis revealed that some characteristics of the informal economy are common in both the BRIC and the select African group. The study found that the size of the economy does not tell the full story about the informal economy, and that post-conflict economies have a higher proportion of informal economy. Countries with the largest informal economies have had the greatest decline. Further, the absolute size of the informal economy is greater in both groups, resulting in more people working in the informal sector than official records would indicate. Moreover, countries with high female labour participation registered a far greater reduction in their informal economies than those countries with low female labour participation. All in all, limited availability of quality data on the nature, structure, behavior and consequences of the informal economy and its relations with the rest of the economy and society need to be overcome for a better understanding of the informal economy and informed development policymaking. [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]

In this study, we use cointegration techniques to investigate the determinants of diesel demand in Cameroon over the period 1994-2014. Our model produces robust and significant estimates of price and income elasticities. We find that short run elasticity is smaller than long run elasticity, showing that consumers are inelastic in the short run whereas elasticities are greater than unity in the long run. This confirms the assertion that diesel demand in the long run is principally determined by the pace of economic activity. Earlier elasticities reports for Cameroon show deviations that are acceptable in relation to the time span taken into account. Our estimates are in accordance with findings in other African countries that share similarities with Cameroon in their economic background and demographics. The results are useful in guiding tax and regulatory policies aimed at stabilizing diesel consumption through price changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country with high natural resources, but it has suffered from decades of civil wars and social turmoil, being heavily aid-dependent. In the DRC, several Nonprofit Organisations (NPOs) are major players in fighting poverty and enhancing welfare. This research aims to analyse the effectiveness of small NPOs in improving poor peoples’ lives through health, education, and economic activities. Two NPOs working in the DRC, one in a rural and the other in an urban area, are compared by researching the aid sites and surveying 201 households (aid beneficiaries). Our case observations and the survey results facilitate analysing the mission accomplishment, effectiveness, and accountability of the NPOs although we admit that the DRC conditions make exact measurements difficult. Multivariate analyses are used to study the differences in aid impacts. There are significant differences in the beneficiaries’ perception of the NPO effectiveness in improving health while no significant differences in education impact were found. This is probably because both case NPOs have succeeded in getting a large proportion of the children of their area registered in the education centres created by the NPOs. Differences were observed in the accountability and reporting style of the NPOs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the role of ideological mechanisms in support of long-term economic liberalisation. Specifically we examine the ideological roles of comparative advantage and debt reduction as precursors to austerity policy imposition. Austerity policies, as episodic mechanisms designed to deepen neoliberalisation, are examined in the comparative historical context of Africa and Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the recent financial crisis, institutional economists have issued a "call" for institutionalist research on alternative financial systems. While suggestions have been forthcoming, (for example, in Volume 48, Issue 4 of the Journal of Economic Issues), most have centered on national-level innovations in advanced capitalist countries, prompting further calls for "community" and individual level anti-capitalist financial relations. With this article, we respond to such calls. We show how networks of finance in Cameroon bridge the formal/informal dualisms in lending/savings activities. We demonstrate that any debates about whether to formalize informal financial institutions or leave them alone weaken in Cameroon because, through networks, people access both formal and informal financial institutions for different purposes and at various stages in the life of these institutions. This dynamism explains why, in spite of the growth of money markets in Cameroon, informal financial institutions have not disappeared, nor declined. In fact, they have expanded, contrary to predictions in existing new institutional economics research. While informal institutions have evolved, they have not necessarily become formal banks, microfinance, or stock markets. Rather, the informal financial institutions have adopted and adapted in terms of both lending and saving practices in a country where growing formal financialization has become the norm. Our findings challenge neoclassical and new institutional economics theories about money, credit, and the actors in the money market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gains in increasing productivity of grain in Sub-Saharan Africa are greatly undermined by the high postharvest losses (PHLs), which compromise the food and income security of households. Rice is one such important food and cash crop experiencing high PHLs. Given the limited mechanization of smallholder farms, PHLs result from practices influenced by knowledge, decision-making power in the household and cultural norms. Gender is an important consideration in the interaction of these factors especially for a duo purpose crop like rice serving both food and income security interests of households. A descriptive cross-sectional survey informed by qualitative focus group discussions was conducted in two major rice producing districts in Eastern Uganda to establish how gender division of labour and decision-making influence PHLs at the household level. The intra-household gender structure, division of labour and decision-making determine the postharvest loses of rice at the household level. Men and boys perform the labour intensive postharvest activities where postharvest losses are high. They also dominate decisions on the practices and technologies used. Due to labour intensity and cultural norms, households without men rely on hired labour, which increases their PHLs resulting from late access to and inadequate supervision of the hired labour. Interventions for reduction of PHLs at the household level must target men with better practices and simple cost-effective technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study complements the inclusive growth literature by examining the determinants and consequences of the middle class in a continent where economic growth has been relatively high. The empirical evidence is based on a sample of 33 African countries for a 2010 cross-sectional study. Ordinary least squares, two-stage-least squares, three-stage-least squares and seemingly unrelated regressions estimation techniques are employed to regress a plethora of middle class indicators, notably, the: floating, middle-class with floating, middle-class without floating, lower-middle-income and upper-middle-income categories. Results can be classified into two main strands. First, results on determinants broadly show that GDP per capita and education positively affect all middle class dependent variables. However, we establish a negative nexus for the effect of ethnic fragmentation, political stability in general and partially for economic vulnerability. Simple positive correlations have been observed for: the size of the informal sector, openness and democracy. Second, on the consequences, the middle class enables the accumulation of human and infrastructural capital, while its effect is null on political stability and democracy in the short run but positive for governance and modernisation. Policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article studies the current state and drivers of government local currency bond market (LCBM) development in Sub-Saharan Africa. We first show that, increasingly, African governments issue fixed-rate local currency bonds with tenors of ten years and more on a regular basis. However, African LCBMs are also often marked by illiquidity, very few corporate securities, and narrow, bank-dominated investor bases. Second, we present an econometric analysis of the drivers of African government LCBMs based on a new high-quality, OECD-compiled panel dataset. LCBM capitalization is found to be correlated negatively with governments’ fiscal balance and inflation, and positively with common law legal origins, institutional quality and democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to establish the connection between energy use, economic output, financial development and trade, based on the panel data of 15 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries during the period from 1983 to 2010. One full main panel and two subpanels were created by incorporating low-income and middle-income countries. The panel cointegration test results indicate a long-run relationship between the variables. The mean group (MG) estimators show that energy consumption, financial development, capital and international trade have significant impacts on economic output. In the case of middle-income countries, the Granger causality analysis reveals that rising economic output leads to higher energy consumption, but this is not true vice versa. This means that energy conservation measures are unlikely to have adverse impacts upon economic output. On the other hand, there is a complementary relationship between financial development and energy consumption. In this case, energy conservation measures should be critically analysed and implemented, so as not to have an unfavourable impact on financial development. In regard to low-income economies, there is no relationship between energy use and any of the other variables mentioned. Thus, a reduction in energy consumption has little or no significant impact on output, financial development, capital and trade. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Peace, security and development are inextricably linked. Peaceful, democratic and well-governed societies are believed to promote levels of growth, employment and prosperity. This article first defines the terms peace, security and development and then situates this within a current debate—that of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. It looks at the African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (AU PCRD) framework and how it addresses issues of peace, security and development. It examines the African Solidarity Initiative (ASI) and the way this framework addresses these issues. Finally, it discusses the Common African Position (CAP) on the Sustainable Development Goals with particular reference to peace and security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper places recent growth and structural transformation in 11 Sub-Saharan African countries in historical and international perspective. During the early post-independence period, resources were reallocated to manufacturing activities with high productivity growth. Structural change stalled in the mid-1970s. When it resumed in the 1990s, workers mainly relocated to distributive trade services. Productivity levels in these activities were higher than in agriculture, enhancing overall economy performance. But services productivity growth was sluggish and increasingly falling behind the world frontier. These patterns are also observed in Latin America, but not in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We study the effect of two tax innovations – value added taxes (VAT) and autonomous revenue authorities (ARA) – on tax revenues in sub-Saharan Africa. The dataset consists of 47 countries over 1980–2010. We find that VATs have no effect on total tax revenues, neither in the short- nor in the long-run. ARAs lead to higher tax revenues in the short- and medium-run, but the effect dissipates over time. The main conclusion is that tax innovations are not a panacea to overcome the revenue shortages in African countries, but they are helpful in the short- and medium-run. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the impact of trade (tariffs and import penetration) and foreign direct investment (FDI) on labor adjustment and labor-demand elasticities in Cameroonian manufacturing sector. Unlike previous studies, I distinguish the effect on different skill groups of employees. Using firm-level data pooled across sectors, I find that trade openness leads to faster adjustment of different labor inputs with a higher speed for unskilled workers. Tariff liberalization does not have any statistically significant effects on labor-demand elasticities. I find strong evidence for the impact of imports on skilled-labor-demand elasticity when I replace tariffs with import-penetration ratios. I also find strong evidence that FDI inflows strongly increase unskilled-labor-demand elasticity. The sector-level results do not alter the previous findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important political consequence of the crisis of capital in the 1970s has been an increasing intensification of informal imperialism within Africa. This paper argues that the advanced capitalist countries again confronted the endemic problem of overcapacity alongside a decline in the rate of profit and that the major neoliberal reforms foisted upon the African continent were part of the spatio-temporal fix that followed. The quotidian management of many African states was not an intended consequence of structural adjustment, but the subsequent perturbations that beset many developing countries after following such policies has led to such a degree of institutional instability that a new form of imperial governance has come into being. Juridical sovereignty has been maintained, but political sovereignty has been severely compromised through the emergence of this neo-imperial governance. Today an array of external actors is embedded in the sinews of these states, setting the general parameters of state policy to such an extent that one can no longer speak of these countries as possessingde factoindependence. The rise of these so-called ‘governance states’ and the new emphasis on ‘governance with government’ constitute a new non-territorial, political form of imperialism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One of the macro variables that are included in most models is the exchange rate. Overall performance of a country’s exchange rate is measured by changes in nominal or real effective exchange rate (REER). These rates are constructed and published mostly for industrial countries by international organizations. Less developed countries have received little attention. In this article, the two rates are constructed for 21 African countries using quarterly data over the period 1971Q1–2012Q4. As an application, we use the REERs to show that even in Africa the movements of the real effective rates follow a nonlinear path. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We consider the relationship between how a firm serves foreign markets and performance, using survey data on manufacturing and services firms for African countries. Results for manufacturing industries indicate a clear productivity ordering with firms undertaking outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) performing best, followed by exporters and domestically oriented firms. Results for services firms are more nuanced, indicating that while exporters and firms undertaking outward FDI are more productive than domestically oriented firms, there is no significant difference in productivity between these two types of firms (some evidence suggests that the productivity of exporters is larger than that for firms undertaking outward FDI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect the key factors that drives political and socio-economic instability in Somalia as of January 2014, highlighting the country's health care system. They provide a background of Somalia which is an African country that is considered as one of the most insecure countries worldwide. They also describe the range of assistance from different countries and examines the most important priorities to improve Somalia's health care system.

Recent studies on Cote d'Ivoire show a four-fold increase in poverty rates between 1985 and 2008. However, multiple revisions in the survey design questions the validity of the Ivorian poverty trend. In this paper, we follow two simple steps to recover the comparable poverty trend. First, we construct a common consumption basket over time. Second, we follow a two-stage method of moments framework (Tarozzi, 2007) to re-estimate poverty headcounts. On average, the adjusted trend shows a two percentage point difference in poverty rates from 1985 to 2008. A number of robustness checks provide robust support to this revised poverty trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a summary of events in politics and government in Africa from July 2012-2013. A contradiction is discussed between an improving rate of economic development in African countries and an increase in political instability in many countries. The intervention of France in Mali, political violence in Nigeria and a coup d'etat in Central African Republic are among the examples cited of the latter.

This article argues that understanding why Somali piracy has resisted control efforts requires understanding that it is a criminal business rather than a conventional international security problem. We statistically model Somali piracy and draw two conclusions: first, piracy increases with economic stability, and second, naval interdiction efforts are stabilising but not significantly reducing piracy. We argue that these conclusions are not surprising if piracy is understood as an organised crime. Our argument has four components. First, Somali piracy is a land-based problem, and naval control mechanisms are not deterring pirates. Second, improving Somalia's anarchic political situation will not necessarily stop piracy: our statistical analysis demonstrates that piracy is a business which improves with a more stable operating environment. Third, piracy is organised criminal activity, and like other organised crime groups, will be difficult to control, especially if it becomes embedded in state structures. Finally, we argue that few of the relevant players have any real incentives to alter their behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Five fundamental forces are driving Africa's current boom, and will shape the continent's growth for decades to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the widely reported increase of unfree labour in Africa through neoliberalism, arguing that, far from an individual relationship of domination epiphenomenal to global political-economic restructuring, unfree labour must be understood as a social relationship of insecurity and exploitation whose acceleration in recent decades is traceable to broader shifts in the relations of production and social reproduction. These include the impact of labour market reform and privatisation on wages, employment and poverty; the rise of informalisation, including the marketisation of social reproduction; Africa in the international division of labour and labour conditions in global supply chains; and the rise of brics, the ‘new scramble’ for African resources and markets, and intensified processes of primitive accumulation. In a continent beleaguered by the slave trade and the systematic, widespread and brutal exploitation of forced labour during the colonial era, concerns around labour conditions of violence, bondage and coercion are particularly acute. Understanding the complexities of labour unfreedom in Africa today requires an understanding of the various forms and layers of coercion, immobility and exploitation fundamental to the contemporary social structures of capitalist accumulation, overcoming the binary typically posited between free and unfree labour. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Several strategies have been designed and implemented in African countries to promote development. Even though they may have contributed to increased gross domestic product growth over the years, they have largely failed because of a number of factors, namely: ineffective leadership; poor policy implementation; policy discontinuity; slow industrialisation; and an environment not conducive for private sector growth. The failure of these strategies or paradigms has led to the continued search for an appropriate strategy to address Africa’s development predicament. This search has also been exacerbated by the rise of China, East Asia and some Latin American countries as newly industrialising countries, the 2008 global economic crisis stemming from market failure and the renewed interest in the role and nature of the state in the development process, especially its role in reviving the economies of many Western countries with bail-out packages by the state. These developments no doubt point not only to the role of the state in development but also to the kind of state that will promote and facilitate socio-economic development. The kind of state to shoulder the burden of socio-economic development is the developmental state, which according to (Evans, 2008, p. 13), ‘If … it was important to 20th century economic success … will be much more important to 21st century success’. Using Ghana (considered as a non-developmental state) and South Africa (considered to be an emerging developmental state) as case studies, the paper examines the extent or the degree to which the two countries have met or achieved the key seven features of the developmental state. Some recommendations are also made with the aim of consolidating progress thus far and deepening or accelerating the process. In doing so, it is hoped that the lecture will make a contribution to the literature on the concept of the developmental state. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author reflects on the incorporation of dominant logics into business research and various types of market conditions in Africa. He outlines the evolution of dominant logics including competitor dominant logic , customer dominant logic, profit dominant logic, and service logic. He explains that changes in business environments provide legitimate theory-testing opportunities for the scholars.

This article examines the dynamic relationship between stock prices and exchange rates for five Sub-Saharan African financial markets: Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria and South Africa. It uses weekly data, covering the floating exchange rate regime from January 14, 2000, to December 31, 2009, and applies both the Vector Autoregression and the Dynamic Conditional Correlation models. Results from the Vector Autoregression model suggest no evidence of cointegration between stock prices and real exchange rates for all the five countries in the sample. Results from the dynamic conditional correlation show that the correlation coefficients are not constant for the period under study, and the estimates largely show a negative time-varying correlation for all the countries except Ghana that indicates a positive correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the first macroeconomic empirical assessment of the relationship between mobile phones and finance, the author examines the correlations between mobile phone penetration and financial development using two conflicting definitions of the financial system in the financial development literature. With the traditional International Financial Statistics (IFS) (2008) definition, mobile phone penetration has a negative correlation with traditional financial intermediary dynamics of depth, activity, and size. However, when a previously missing informal-financial sector component is integrated into the definition, mobile phone penetration has a positive correlation with informal financial development. Three implications result: There is a growing role of informal finance; mobile phone penetration may not be positively assessed at a macroeconomic level by traditional financial development indicators; and it is a wake-up call for scholarly research on informal financial development indicators that will orient monetary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

GDP figures for Africa are unreliable. More dependable information can be found in government expenditure and international trade records. These records, though, provide little insight into non-market output. In this paper an attempt is made to draw explicit conjectures on real output per head in pre-independence Africa on the basis of trade data so that conjectures can be established about Africa's long-run growth. Two alternative approaches are considered. One estimates per capita GDP by assuming no increase in output per head outside the tradable sector, for which the purchasing power of per capita exports is accepted as a proxy. Another approach establishes an econometric association between real per capita GDP and the income terms of trade per head for 1950–1990 and, on the basis of the prediction equation's parameters and the values of the RHS variables, infers real output per head for 1870–1938. Trends in real output per head are then drawn for Africa (and its main regions). By comparing these trends with those from other developing regions, some conjectures about Africa's relative position over time are put forward. It emerges that economic growth started earlier than usually assumed and there is continuity in growth before and after colonial independence. Sub-Saharan Africa's retardation is a gradual process, as growing and falling behind took place simultaneously. But it is in the period 1975–1995 when the worst setback in modern Africa's history took place. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates how influential policy advice constructs a stable Congo image and upholds the belief in intervention benefits. By investigating analytical blind spots and the way counter evidence is dealt with, this article shows that current policy papers imagine the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s economy, politics and society in a reductionist way. The economy is seen as criminal, illegal and unproductive. The state is portrayed as weak, despite obvious examples of its influence. Finally, society is seen as dominated by sexual violence. This ‘functional pathologization’ allows for self-referential reasoning about Western interventions, security sector reform for example, and serves as a recipe to perpetuate them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The new political economy of development, characterised by the rising powers' new resource finds in many poor countries and the financial crisis, has driven development ideas and practices towards a paradigm shift, moving it beyond the post-Washington Consensus which marked the high point of development's 'Poverty Reduction through Good Governance' agenda. This has important implications for the extent to which developing countries remain governed by the institutional and ideological imperatives of development. Optimists suggest that this could herald a new era of sovereignty that enables African countries to take fuller control of their governance and development priorities, including a shift towards a 'southern consensus' around structural transformation, whilst pessimists argue that the hegemony of orthodox development ideas has only been partially reordered and that new problems of sovereignty are now emerging. Insights from Uganda suggest that both of these scenarios are currently unfolding, leaving the outcomes uncertain and much to play for. What remains of the 'good governance' agenda has yet to adapt itself to this new politics of development, which requires the emergence of new forms of developmental state in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dominant view of good governance as a pre-condition for economic success is theoretically compelling but empirically difficult to establish. Historical analyses tend to indicate a very strong correlation between institutional development and economic growth. Today's high-income and good-governance countries generally had bad-govemance environments at low levels of income. Moreover, some of today's most successful economies still exhibit sub-optimal governance indicators. By focusing on the search for the determinants of some global governance standards that often reflect particular political, ideological and philosophical conceptions of power, the traditional literature on governance has so far failed to offer a set of actionable policies that poor countries could implement to foster inclusive growth in a pragmatic and incentives-compatible way. This article acknowledges that governance problems are indeed major impediments to economic growth. But contrary to conventional wisdom, it argues that the well-known governance problems in African countries are mainly the reflection of their low level of development, and the results of failed state interventions and distortions originating from erroneous economic development strategies. Instead of posing 'good' governance as the main prescription and a prerequisite for sustained growth, development economists should design policy frameworks that offer the maximum likelihood of success because they are consistent with comparative advantage while providing minimum opportunities for rent-seeking and state capture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Optimising the development opportunities presented by emerging powers' growing interest in trade, investment and diplomatic engagement in Africa seems a priority for the continent in the context of a changing global system in which power is more diffuse. Taking into account a reconceptualisation of aid effectiveness as development effectiveness, this paper focuses on the manner in which African states understand and approach new opportunities for cooperation with emerging powers, especially China, India and Brazil, including the crucial issue of whether they seek joint development initiatives with both traditional partners and emerging powers. The central argument is that South–South cooperation, which is value-neutral although rhetorically reflecting the principles of solidarity and mutual benefit, must be part of an effective strategy to draw emerging economies into the national or regional development objectives of African states and the continent at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By drawing upon information gathered from interviews with pirates as well as statistics this article explores the major traits of contemporary piracy in Somalia and the how they. developed. Criminal maritime groups in the country have traditionally been the product of the actions and decisions of individual actors, although the current wave of activity is more the result of the weakening of political institutions. In all cases syndicates are driven by profit considerations and have largely shunned connections with political entities--although this latter factor appears to have changed since the end of 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, which is conceptually located at the intersection of trade–economics, resource politics, and environmental assessment, is a narrative-analytic review of Chinese economic expansionism in Africa especially its quest for the continent’s natural resources in the past 10 years. We seek to examine the environmental, ecological, and sociopolitical impacts of the current China–Africa engagement within the context of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The EKC hypothesis posits that an inverted U-shape relationship exists between economic growth and environmental quality. This implies that the quality of a country’s environment will initially decrease due to its economic growth, but will soon start to improve when the country attains a certain threshold level of economic development/income per capita. We argue that by virtue of its ‘omission’ and/or ‘commission’ factors, the EKC hypothesis can be misleading if not dangerous. Using the case study of China’s engagement with Cameroon in the forest sector, the paper illustrates the high threshold level of economic development/income per capita that is required before the quality of the country’s environment can begin to improve. The paper ends with the environmental, ecological, and sociopolitical impacts of Chinese involvement in the Cameroonian forest sector and concludes that this engagement and the larger Chinese economic expansionism in Africa under current trading conditions is fairly detrimental to the welfare of African peoples and their environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

1This article analyses current trends in the struggle for democracy in Africa, including the role of social movements. Such movements found early expression in the anti-colonial movement, while recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt are reminiscent of the second liberation struggles of two decades earlier. The article undertakes a critical evaluation of emerging democratic forces in Africa, arguing that such a review is vital to the analysis of the trends in the struggles for people power, and explores strategies for avoiding the pitfalls that undermined earlier waves of democratisation in the continent, particularly that of the 1990s when initial euphoria led to uncritical acceptance of movements that were later found to be opportunistic and undemocratic. The article concludes by examining the conditions under which an ‘emanicipatory’ African national democratic project—defined by an increase in people's participation in authoritative resource allocation—can be initiated and sustained in the face of a deepening crisis of the current neoliberal world order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research into the governance of public goods provision in Africa suggests that, on their own, bottom–up pressures from voters and service users are only a weak factor in improving performance. It confirms the importance of working with politicians and service providers as well as clients. However, getting ‘uptake’ of these findings into the practice of development agencies is difficult. In the dissemination of previous studies, certain propositions about the power of information and community monitoring have been heavily over-sold because they satisfy practitioners' hunger for simple, upbeat messages. Incentives, ideologies and vested interests inhibit the adoption of more complex findings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The South African competition regime established under the Competition Act of 1998 has been acclaimed as a success story of competition policy in an ‘emerging economy’. This paper critically reflects on the South African experience at different levels and draws lessons specifically for the expansion of competition law in Africa. It briefly assesses the record by the main areas of mergers, cartels and abuse of dominance. It then reflects particularly on two strategic areas: a) the importance of prioritisation and proactive analysis of market outcomes, including with regard to making corporate leniency work for prosecution of cartels; and, b) the framework for settlements with companies. It highlights the implications of these areas given the challenges of developing institutional capabilities in African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's insights on the economic development and environmental protection in Africa. The author comments that Africa's economic growth model is flawed, as stated in the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Africa's report which shows lack of improvement in employment of ordinary Africans. He discusses the exploitation of Africa's resources via global kleptocratic capitalism. He also cites the need to balance human rights and environmental protection in Africa.

This article examines Africa's role in an evolving international system where powerful emerging markets, such as bric, together with established powers are shaping economic trajectories. The specific focus is on South Africa as an aspiring leader on the African continent, and on its potential for becoming an emerging market shaping the global order together with bric and the West. It is unclear whether a changing global economy in which the postcolonial world plays a greater role will result in improved developmental prospects for Africans as African countries gradually reorient themselves from the West to the South, or whether relations with emerging markets will resemble neo-colonial ties with the West. South Africa's structural weakness, stemming from serious domestic problems of a social, political and economic nature, threatens to undermine its standing in Africa and its emerging market status. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is a direct challenge to the established view reflected in the World Bank's Berg report, that structural adjustment programmes and the markets alone will resolve Africa's underdevelopment challenges. This article completely accepts that science and technology lead to products and services that create efficiency, productivity and wealth. It accepts different dynasties of industrialisation from land use (agriculture and mining), labour-intensive activities, heavy machinery, assembly lines, branding, information technology and intellectual property, but shows how - in the current global paradigm - this has led to an anomaly: while development aid flows from more industrialised to less industrialised countries, larger sums of global investment capital leave poorer countries for richer countries in search of higher returns. Having accepted the 'returns-seeking' nature of capital, a strategy is proposed for Africa to engage with this reality. In contrast with the Berg view, it is argued that the public sector is a key stakeholder in the developmental process. As has been put forward by Thabo Mbeki, several African countries exhibit 'two nations' characteristics. If this is true, all seven dynasties of industrialisation can be simultaneously developed through interventionist government, which could not happen though markets alone. A direct policy and strategy positioning in technology-related sectors that support increasing returns should be developed. Economic development bodies should have scientific and technological people to ensure technological focus in development strategies.The article demonstrates that a different value paradigm is needed. Large numbers of poor people can provide markets for goods that can yield returns for capital that are similar to markets of small numbers of rich people. A shift in the development model from Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to Public Entrepreneur Private Partnerships (PEPP) is suggested to maximise employment through sustainable entrepreneurship. Through spearheaded emerging technologies such as information convergence technologies, cellular technologies such as mobile banking, resource management and alternate energy, Africans can create output that attracts global investment capital - and not only aid. This article explores how, through investment in activities that generate increasing rather than decreasing returns, Africa will innovate its way out of what appears to be a stubborn history of underdevelopment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development (AU/NEPAD) strives for both plurilateralism and regionalism, there are ideological and practical conditions that challenge the feasibility of a fully fledged regional integration institution in Africa. This article examines the AU/NEPAD in relation to Africa's ideological back-loading, while it explores how the programme reconciles Western-dominated economic plurilateralism with Africa's developmental regionalism. It highlights the ideological changes that helped with the modernisation of Western countries and how these developments become a challenge to Africa's economic development efforts. Africa has always been an ideological back-loader and a delayed integrator into global interdependence. During the mid-20th century, at the time Western countries (in particular Western European countries) were adopting regionalism, Africa was engaged in the same phenomenon for political and economic independence. While the economic crisis of the mid-20th century following the Second World War (WW2) enabled the industrialised countries to adopt embedded liberalism for socioeconomic development, at decolonisation Africa sought to espouse what turned out to be the dependency paradigm as the economic development strategy for Africa. In the 21st century, developed regions are transcending regionalism and gearing towards plurilateralism while most African leaders remain fixated in traditional regional integration on the continent. As the neoliberal ideology dominates the contemporary international political economy of the 21st century, albeit questionably, Africa's politico-socioeconomic realities are also premised on the same embedded liberalism. However, economic plurilateralism by industrialised countries with Africa challenges efforts towards regional integration on the continent. It would seem that the AU/NEPAD provides a viable compromise between developmental regionalism and economic plurilateralism on the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]