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Many authors in the literature have worked on models for producing PV module performance, but the question of a climate-specific model is problematic. Some studies have shown more appropriate models for any PV module technology, while others have highlighted models that are more appropriate for a given climate. The aim of this work is to evaluate our model which is based on the I-V characteristic and their accuracy was assessed versus one-year of ground measurement from a system of PV module at different time resolutions. To predict the performance of PV modules in crystalline silicon in a sahelian climate in Senegal, the results obtained experimentally and those of the model were compared. The monthly nRMSE is 17.33% during the rainy season and 17.46% in dry season. There was a good correlation of the model, with a coefficient of 0.88 in January and 0.94 in September. Key words: PV module, short-circuit current, open circuit-voltage, maximum power output, I-V curve.

Key message Groundnut has entered now in post-genome era enriched with optimum genomic and genetic resources to facilitate faster trait dissection, gene discovery and accelerated genetic improvement for developing climate-smart varieties. Abstract Cultivated groundnut or peanut (Arachis hypogaea), an allopolyploid oilseed crop with a large and complex genome, is one of the most nutritious food. This crop is grown in more than 100 countries, and the low productivity has remained the biggest challenge in the semiarid tropics. Recently, the groundnut research community has witnessed fast progress and achieved several key milestones in genomics research including genome sequence assemblies of wild diploid progenitors, wild tetraploid and both the subspecies of cultivated tetraploids, resequencing of diverse germplasm lines, genome-wide transcriptome atlas and cost-effective high and low-density genotyping assays. These genomic resources have enabled high-resolution trait mapping by using germplasm diversity panels and multi-parent genetic populations leading to precise gene discovery and diagnostic marker development. Furthermore, development and deployment of diagnostic markers have facilitated screening early generation populations as well as marker-assisted backcrossing breeding leading to development and commercialization of some molecular breeding products in groundnut. Several new genomics applications/technologies such as genomic selection, speed breeding, mid-density genotyping assay and genome editing are in pipeline. The integration of these new technologies hold great promise for developing climate-smart, high yielding and more nutritious groundnut varieties in the post-genome era.

The variation of the incidence angle over the year is an important parameter determined the performance of the module. The standard orientation of the module or a PV system, the perpendicular positioning of the sun to the module’s surface occurs twice a year. In outdoor exposed, angular losses of the module decrease the output of the PV or the system of PV. Although these losses are not always negligible, they are commonly not taken into account when correcting the electrical characteristics of the PV module or estimating the energy production of PV systems. This chapter is focused on the measurement of the angular response and spectral radiation (global and direct radiation) of solar cells based on two different silicon technologies, monocrystalline textured (m-Si) and non textured (mc-Si). The analysis of the source of deviation from the theoretical response, especially those due to the surface reflectance. As main contributions, the effects of glass encapsulation on the angular response of the modules are investigated by comparing the electrical parameter of the textured module to no textured and quantify electrical angular losses in this measurement area.

In this study, consumer type multicrystalline modules are investigated. To assess the long-term reliability of photovoltaic (PV) multicrystalline modules, extended thermal cycling and damp heat testing were performed. This study focused on four multicrystalline modules. Two modules were subjected to 85 °C/85% damp heat testing at 1000 h and 1300 h, respectively. The other two modules were subjected to thermal cycle test of 55 cycles and 66 cycles, respectively. After testing, all 4 solar panels were investigated with the help of visual inspection, thermography, electroluminescence and IV-curve measurements. The main degradations observed were corrosion, hot spot and delamination.

Solar modules are being built with nearly the same configuration for decades now. The front is covered with a tempered glass pane. The performance of a PV module can be increased by the texturation of the front side. One of the major requirements for front cover glasses is their high optical transmission. One option to boost transmission is texturing the front surface in a similar manner to crystalline solar cell. Another advantage of a textured glass is the fact that the reflected light beam at normal incidence has a second chance of being transmitted to the solar cell. Furthemore, the texturation of front cover glass might collect more dust and soiling than a flat glass surface. Due to this concern, the soiling effect of module covered with textured cover Alberino P glass after long-term exposed will investigated in this work. The modules presented in this work have the same characteristics in STC (i.e short circuit current, open circuit voltage and maximum power point). Electroluminescence, I-V and P-V characteristic are the method used to detect faults on the PV module. The results show a loss of PV performance with textured cover glass is l,72% higher than the reference module in other hand the increase of serie resistance is also observed in both modules

This paper presents on the one hand, an evaluation of the impact of partial shading on the performance parameters of two photovoltaic modules respectively in poly and mono. The current-voltage characteristic (I-V), the short-circuit current (Icc), the open-circuit voltage (Vco) and the maximum power (Pmax) were studied. In this work, the measurements were carried out under the standard conditions (STC) in order to make a comparative study of the performance parameters as a function of the illuminated surfaces and the transmittance of the partial shading of two technologies (mono and poly). The results have shown that the power losses under partial shading are much greater for silicon-monocrystalline than for polycrystalline for a transmittance of [0.2 to 1.2] and smaller for [0 to 0.2]. However, the open circuit voltage is not affected for both technologies. On the other hand, the reduction of the short-circuit current is much more important for the polycrystalline. Key words: Photovoltaic module, photovoltaic (PV) module performance parameter, shading.

A deep understanding of the genetic control of drought tolerance and iron deficiency tolerance is essential to hasten the process of developing improved varieties with higher tolerance through genomics-assisted breeding. In this context, an improved genetic map with 1205 loci was developed spanning 2598.3&thinsp, cM with an average 2.2&thinsp, cM distance between loci in the recombinant inbred line (TAG 24 &times, ICGV 86031) population using high-density 58K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) &ldquo, Axiom_Arachis&rdquo, array. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was performed using extensive phenotyping data generated for 20 drought tolerance- and two iron deficiency tolerance-related traits from eight seasons (2004&ndash, 2015) at two locations in India, one in Niger, and one in Senegal. The genome-wide QTL discovery analysis identified 19 major main-effect QTLs with 10.0&ndash, 33.9% phenotypic variation explained (PVE) for drought tolerance- and iron deficiency tolerance- related traits. Major main-effect QTLs were detected for haulm weight (20.1% PVE), SCMR (soil plant analytical development (SPAD) chlorophyll meter reading, 22.4% PVE), and visual chlorosis rate (33.9% PVE). Several important candidate genes encoding glycosyl hydrolases, malate dehydrogenases, microtubule-associated proteins, and transcription factors such as MADS-box, basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH), NAM, ATAF, and CUC (NAC), and myeloblastosis (MYB) were identified underlying these QTL regions. The putative function of these genes indicated their possible involvement in plant growth, development of seed and pod, and photosynthesis under drought or iron deficiency conditions in groundnut. These genomic regions and candidate genes, after validation, may be useful to develop molecular markers for deploying genomics-assisted breeding for enhancing groundnut yield under drought stress and iron-deficient soil conditions.

During its operation time, a photovoltaic (PV) array can be influenced by many factors that can reduce its performance. Consequently, the global yield of the array decreases, induced by photovoltaic faults and failures. It is then an essential matter for manufacturers and consumers, to know and apprehend these factors. In this paper, we investigate different faults affecting a photovoltaic system, from those detectable by visual inspection to those barely noticeable with an eye. To detect such faults, an overview of methodologies commonly used and new existing ones like the synchronized thermography is done.

The authors draw on key lessons learned from other emerging countries to explore possible and alternative solutions to housing Africa’s population. The chapter provides policy suggestions to the myriad stakeholders involved in Africa’s housing market. These include innovative ways to reduce the risk in housing finance transactions, in order to encourage the private sector to serve low-income households; the enhancement of tenure security and property rights; the use of low-cost and labor-intensive construction techniques; and the adoption of enabling strategies for slum upgrading and prevention.

Peanut aflatoxin contamination caused by Aspergillus flavus is a serious constraint for food safety and human health in Senegal. The present study aimed to identify sources of resistance for A. flavus colonization and aflatoxin contamination. Thus, seeds from 67 peanut genotypes were tested under laboratory conditions. Aqueous conidial suspension of an aflatoxinogenic strain of A. flavus was used for inoculation in Petri dishes containing ten seeds of each genotype, and data on incidence and severity were recorded. Total aflatoxin concentration in seeds was determined on 15th day after inoculation using mReader® method. Results showed a significant (p<0.001) variation of aflatoxin, incidence and severity among the tested peanut genotypes. Incidence ranged from 0 to 70% with a mean of 20.36 ± 0.8%. Out of the 67 genotypes, eight showed incidence less than 10%. Severity ranged from 0 to 44% with a mean value of 8.82 ± 0.45%. The genotype 12CS_104 showed aflatoxin concentration level in conformity with the European standard (4 ppb). Out of three clusters revealed by hierarchical classification based on disease incidence and severity, the cluster 1 contained 33 genotypes characterised by low incidence and severity values. These genotypes can be tested under field conditions to confirm their resistance to A flavus.

Slums and informal settlements continue to proliferate in cities and towns across Africa. The chapter summarizes the tenets of the twin-track approach to improving living conditions of existing slums and preventing the formation of new slums. Various mechanisms for housing provision to low-income households are explored with lessons learned from successful initiatives in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The chapter focuses on the underlying factors explaining high construction costs in Africa and possible solutions for lowering costs. A value chain analysis shows that the rising prices of building materials, large shares of imports, and inefficiencies in the construction process are the main factors that lead to the high costs of housing construction in Africa. The chapter emphasizes the need to consider the broader development objectives in the choice of solutions aimed at lowering construction costs, in order to increase housing affordability in Africa. Taking an industrial approach, using labor-intensive technologies including local technologies, improving efficiency and reducing waste, producing building materials locally, densifying, and increasing the availability of skills are viable avenues for reducing construction costs and increasing housing supply.

This chapter discusses some of the problems impeding the demand and supply of housing in Africa. Governance issues such as poor land governance and administration, corruption, inadequate housing policies and infrastructure development, as well as problems of housing affordability, are examined in this chapter.

Housing finance plays a vital role in the housing delivery value chain. This is due to the fact that finance is needed for both the demand and the supply of housing. On the demand side, the availability of and access to housing finance is a significant determinant in a household’s decision to acquire, build, or rent a house. Similarly, on the supply side, developers need financing to build the mass housing projects that are needed to address the continent’s housing deficit.

Owning a decent house is still an unattainable goal for many African households. The lack of affordable housing finance, high costs of urban land and weak tenure security, rising construction costs, and prevalence of slums are major challenges to efforts to alleviate the continent’s housing crisis. This chapter provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the continent’s housing market dynamics. In particular, the chapter shows the importance of the housing sector in African economies. It identifies the key constraints to the sector’s development, and the outlook for the market, as well as opportunities and bottlenecks in terms of governance.

This chapter focuses on the challenges and opportunities related to the provision of land and infrastructure for affordable housing. It drills down on three key challenges impeding the supply of affordable housing in Africa: poor land governance and weak management systems; the multiplicity of conflicting land tenure regimes; and the rapid growth of low-density, informal residential developments, leading to urban sprawl in peri-urban areas. The chapter also argues that the provision of basic infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure, not only shapes cities, but is also an important determinant of housing affordability, particularly for low-income families.

Yield under drought stress is a highly complex trait with large influence to even a minor fluctuation in the environmental conditions. Genomics-assisted breeding holds great promise for improving such complex traits more efficiently in less time, but requires markers associated with the trait of interest. In this context, a recombinant inbred line mapping population (TAG 24 × ICGV 86031) was used to identify markers associated with quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for yield and yield related traits at two important locations of West Africa under well watered and water stress conditions. Among the traits analyzed under WS condition, the harvest index (HI) and the haulm yield (HYLD) were positively correlated with the pod yield (PYLD) and showed intermediate broad sense heritability. QTL analysis using phenotyping and genotyping data resulted in identification of 52 QTLs. These QTLs had low phenotypic variance (

The objective of this paper is to improve understanding of the market for Islamic finance in Africa. Specifically the paper provides a mapping of Africa-based Islamic finance providers, quantifies the amount of foreign Islamic funding received by Africa and compares performance of African Islamic and conventional banks. We find that there are significant cross country variations in the way Islamic banking has been developed in Africa and in the type of services offered. Our empirical findings also support the superior efficiency of Islamic banks and suggest that Islamic banking could be beneficial for Africa.

Africa has registered growth rates of more than 5% annually over the past decade (2004–2014), with a third of African countries averaging 6.5% growth per year (African Development Bank et al., 2014). This current growth pattern has brought Africa to a turning point, if not a tipping point, in its development trajectory. A more globalized world economy has brought increasing functional and spatial specialization, as well as growing interdependence, and vulnerability of national economies to external shocks. Meanwhile, a process of de-industrialization in the developed world has been paralleled by an increasing competitiveness of developing countries in manufacturing. The changing structure of the global economy requires Africa to integrate in order to survive. Translating economic gains into sustainable and shared growth requires Africa to connect its markets, deepen Regional Integration (RI) and enhance national competitiveness (World Economic Forum et al., 2013). Embedding RI into Africa’s development agenda, whether in the form of preferential trading area or economic and monetary union, will move African economies to the next stage of competitiveness and integration in the global economy as befits the continent’s rise.

The authors of this book recognize sizeable gaps between Africa’s highest- and lowest-ranked economies in terms of both implementing Regional Integration (RI) and reaping the benefits of RI. As Ancharaz et al. (2011) note, efforts by countries to pursue regional integration generally face the following three key challenges

Overview Chapter: Understanding Africa's Regional Trade Mthuli Nucbe, Issa Faye and Audrey Verdier-Chouchane PART I: INTRA-AFRICAN TRADE PERFORMANCE AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION 1. Competitiveness and Integration through Trade in CEMAC Countries: Comparative Advantage and Contribution to the Trade Balance Jospeh Parfait Owoundi 2. Economic integration, Trade Facilitation and Agricultural Exports Performance in ECOWAS Sub-Region Wumi Olayiwola, Evans Osabuohien, Henry Okodua and Oluyomi Ola-David 3. The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Export Growth and Import Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa Lanre Kassim PART II: MEASURING TRADE POTENTIAL: THE GRAVITY MODEL APPROACH 4. Market Integration in the ECCAS Sub-Region Desire Avom and Mouhamed Mbouandi Njikam 5. Regional Integration and Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1993-2010: An Augmented Gravity Model Edris Seid PART III: INDUSTRIALIZATION STRATEGY AND THE ISSUE OF DEINDUSTRIALIZATION 6. Malawi's Trade Policies, Market Structure, and Manufacturing Performance, 1967-2002 Hopestone Kayiska Chavula 7. Impact of South-South and North-South Trade on Industrialization in Africa Henri Atangana Ondoa and Tabi Henri Ngoa PART IV: IMPACT OF CURRENCY UNION ON TRADE 8. Impact of Monetary Unions on Trade: The Case of WAEMU Ibrahima Camara 9. Trade Agreements and Flows in ECOWAS: Is a Single Currency the Determining Factor? Benjamin Ndong and Sokhana Diarra Mboup 10. A DSGE Model of Trade and Risk-sharing Effects of Currency Union on Economic Integration of the CFA Zone Thierry Kame Babilla Concluding Chapter: Enhancing Intra-African Trade through Regional Integration Mthuli Ncube, Issa Faye and Audrey Verdier-Chouchane

Agricultural sector in Africa has increasingly been the recipient of significant amount of attention from investors, in the form of large scale agribusiness projects, and the concomitant demand for land. Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) such as the African Development Bank (through its private sector department) and the World Bank Group (through IFC and MIGA) have been providing financing for many projects in the sector. In fact, DFIs provided about USD 12 billion globally between 1998 and 2008, with the AfDB accounting for most of the DFI financing of projects in Africa. This paper analyses the additionality – that is, bringing development-relevant qualities to projects that cannot be contributed by commercial lenders. We pay particular attention to land governance, given the fact that land is the most important factor of production in agribusiness projects, and the considerable amount of controversy surrounding it. The high level of DFI financing for private sector projects presents both a challenge and opportunity. The institutions need to justify that their investments in profit-oriented private sector operations are consistent with their poverty reduction mandates. Fortunately, there is ample opportunity to demonstrate additionality by bringing features that maximize development outcomes of projects. This paper contributes to the debate on large agribusiness projects and land concessions by drawing from the actual experiences of the AfDB in the field to demonstrate how DFIs can maximize development outcomes of projects without compromising commercial viability.

Background Polyploidy can result in genetic bottlenecks, especially for species of monophyletic origin. Cultivated peanut is an allotetraploid harbouring limited genetic diversity, likely resulting from the combined effects of its single origin and domestication. Peanut wild relatives represent an important source of novel alleles that could be used to broaden the genetic basis of the cultigen. Using an advanced backcross population developed with a synthetic amphidiploid as donor of wild alleles, under two water regimes, we conducted a detailed QTL study for several traits involved in peanut productivity and adaptation as well as domestication. Results A total of 95 QTLs were mapped in the two water treatments. About half of the QTL positive effects were associated with alleles of the wild parent and several QTLs involved in yield components were specific to the water-limited treatment. QTLs detected for the same trait mapped to non-homeologous genomic regions, suggesting differential control in subgenomes as a consequence of polyploidization. The noteworthy clustering of QTLs for traits involved in seed and pod size and in plant and pod morphology suggests, as in many crops, that a small number of loci have contributed to peanut domestication. Conclusion In our study, we have identified QTLs that differentiated cultivated peanut from its wild relatives as well as wild alleles that contributed positive variation to several traits involved in peanut productivity and adaptation. These findings offer novel opportunities for peanut improvement using wild relatives.

Chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) are powerful QTL mapping populations that have been used to elucidate the molecular basis of interesting traits of wild species. Cultivated peanut is an allotetraploid with limited genetic diversity. Capturing the genetic diversity from peanut wild relatives is an important objective in many peanut breeding programs. In this study, we used a marker-assisted backcrossing strategy to produce a population of 122 CSSLs from the cross between the wild synthetic allotetraploid (A. ipaënsis×A. duranensis)(4x) and the cultivated Fleur11 variety. The 122 CSSLs offered a broad coverage of the peanut genome, with target wild chromosome segments averaging 39.2 cM in length. As a demonstration of the utility of these lines, four traits were evaluated in a subset of 80 CSSLs. A total of 28 lines showed significant differences from Fleur11. The line×trait significant associations were assigned to 42 QTLs: 14 for plant growth habit, 15 for height of the main stem, 12 for plant spread and one for flower color. Among the 42 QTLs, 37 were assigned to genomic regions and three QTL positions were considered putative. One important finding arising from this QTL analysis is that peanut growth habit is a complex trait that is governed by several QTLs with different effects. The CSSL population developed in this study has proved efficient for deciphering the molecular basis of trait variations and will be useful to the peanut scientific community for future QTL mapping studies.

This paper discusses the potential role that SWFs could play in African economies, both as recipient countries and home countries. We use new hand collected data to document the landscape of African SWFs as well as SWFs interventions on the continent. Our analysis shows that African SWFs are small, suffer from poor governance structures and are mainly focusing on stabilizing local economies. This suggests that their potential role as long term institutional investors to foster economic growth is likely to be limited if current practices are maintained. Conversely, foreign SWFs are increasingly interested in Africa and are poised to play a bigger role in supporting the continent’s growth if Africa uses the right strategies to attract their resources. Overall, the paper identifies opportunities that Africa offers for SWFs as well as challenges that need to be addressed in order to enhance SWFs role in supporting Africa’s development.

The environment in which African financial systems operate has changed dramatically over the past years. The global financial system has undergone a major transformation after the recent financial crisis, with the center of economic and financial power shifting from developed to several emerging countries, including China, India, and Brazil. Additionally, the crisis has led to regulatory reform discussions among developed and emerging countries, with repercussions on financial sector regulation in Africa. Finally, technology has changed the economics of retail banking, revealing its potential to increase access to financial services dramatically, but also posing new regulatory challenges. Financing Africa: Through the Crisis and Beyond takes a fresh look at Africa’s financial systems in light of these recent changes. Benefiting from better data and a wide array of experiences across the continent, the book looks at the challenges of expanding the outreach of financial systems, lengthening financial contracts, and safeguarding financial systems. The authors identify three priority areas for policy action: the positive role of innovation and competition; a stronger focus on nontraditional financial service providers; and more emphasis on addressing demand-side constraints. Recognizing that all financial sector policy is local, the authors carefully distinguish between different country groupings, differentiating between low- and middle-income and small and larger economies among others, with a special focus on resource-based economies and post-conflict countries. And unlike other publications on this topic, this book includes analysis of the North African countries. A joint collaboration between the African Development Bank, BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), and the World Bank, this book is a valuable asset to practitioners, development partners, and policy makers concerned about a more inclusive and effective financial system.

Purpose – This chapter discusses the potential role that Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) could play to enhance development in African economies, both as recipient and home countries. Methodology – We use hand collected data on the universe of Africa's SWFs, their sizes and transparency, and reporting scores to provide a landscape of these funds. We also focus on a sample of investments in Africa made both by African and foreign SWFs to describe the type of interventions these vehicles have been making on the continent. Findings – Our analysis shows that African SWFs are small, suffer from poor governance, and are mainly focused on stabilizing local economies. This suggests that their potential role as long-term institutional investors to foster economic growth is likely to be limited if current practices are maintained. On the other hand, foreign SWFs are increasingly interested in Africa and are poised to play a bigger role in supporting the continent's growth if the right strategies are implemented. Social implications – The chapter identifies opportunities that Africa offers to SWFs as well as the challenges that need to be addressed in order to enhance SWFs' role in supporting the continent's development. Originality/value of paper – This chapter provides the first comprehensive landscape of African SWFs while also describing their interventions. It also uses an original data set to describe the geographic and sector distributions of foreign SWFs investments in Africa.

Background Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is widely used as a food and cash crop around the world. It is considered to be an allotetraploid (2n = 4x = 40) originated from a single hybridization event between two wild diploids. The most probable hypothesis gave A. duranensis as the wild donor of the A genome and A. ipaënsis as the wild donor of the B genome. A low level of molecular polymorphism is found in cultivated germplasm and up to date few genetic linkage maps have been published. The utilization of wild germplasm in breeding programs has received little attention due to the reproductive barriers between wild and cultivated species and to the technical difficulties encountered in making large number of crosses. We report here the development of a SSR based genetic map and the analysis of genome-wide segment introgressions into the background of a cultivated variety through the utilization of a synthetic amphidiploid between A. duranensis and A. ipaënsis. Results Two hundred ninety eight (298) loci were mapped in 21 linkage groups (LGs), spanning a total map distance of 1843.7 cM with an average distance of 6.1 cM between adjacent markers. The level of polymorphism observed between the parent of the amphidiploid and the cultivated variety is consistent with A. duranensis and A. ipaënsis being the most probable donor of the A and B genomes respectively. The synteny analysis between the A and B genomes revealed an overall good collinearity of the homeologous LGs. The comparison with the diploid and tetraploid maps shed new light on the evolutionary forces that contributed to the divergence of the A and B genome species and raised the question of the classification of the B genome species. Structural modifications such as chromosomal segment inversions and a major translocation event prior to the tetraploidisation of the cultivated species were revealed. Marker assisted selection of BC1F1 and then BC2F1 lines carrying the desirable donor segment with the best possible return to the background of the cultivated variety provided a set of lines offering an optimal distribution of the wild introgressions. Conclusion The genetic map developed, allowed the synteny analysis of the A and B genomes, the comparison with diploid and tetraploid maps and the analysis of the introgression segments from the wild synthetic into the background of a cultivated variety. The material we have produced in this study should facilitate the development of advanced backcross and CSSL breeding populations for the improvement of cultivated peanut.