Fixing African Economies

Fixing African Economies PDF Author: Lucie Colvin Phillips
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ISBN: 9781588261489
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
The authors report on the link between research and public policy in a range of African countries, seeking to effect more productive, more equitable development strategies.

Fixing African Economies

Fixing African Economies PDF Author: Lucie Colvin Phillips
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ISBN: 9781588261489
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
The authors report on the link between research and public policy in a range of African countries, seeking to effect more productive, more equitable development strategies.

Regional Economic Integration in West Africa

Regional Economic Integration in West Africa PDF Author: Diery Seck
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3319012827
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
​This book presents a number of key studies pertaining to the most pressing challenges of economic regional integration in West Africa. The issues of monetary coordination, foreign exchange volatility, taxation, savings and macroeconomic convergence are investigated from a regional perspective. The characteristics of West Africa’s trade policy are reviewed and assessed in comparison to that of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The extent to which regional integration can tackle the challenge of unemployment is the focus of studies on labour markets. Development of the private sector and coordination of regional cross-border transportation are examined through the lens of economic collaboration between Arab and African countries. The book provides fresh new answers to persistent development questions and sheds new light on long-held views that are either incomplete or no longer true. It also opens new perspectives on the search for sustainable avenues for Africa’s development. In this regard, it may contribute to the emergence of a new paradigm on Africa’s development process and its science-based, policy-oriented implementation.

Our Continent, Our Future

Our Continent, Our Future PDF Author: P. Thandika Mkandawire
Publisher: IDRC
ISBN: 155250204X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Our Continent, Our Future presents the emerging African perspective on this complex issue. The authors use as background their own extensive experience and a collection of 30 individual studies, 25 of which were from African economists, to summarize this African perspective and articulate a path for the future. They underscore the need to be sensitive to each country's unique history and current condition. They argue for a broader policy agenda and for a much more active role for the state within what is largely a market economy. Finally, they stress that Africa must, and can, compete in an increasingly globalized world and, perhaps most importantly, that Africans must assume the leading role in defining the continent's development agenda.

The External Sector of Africa's Economy

The External Sector of Africa's Economy PDF Author: Diery Seck
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783319979144
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The book examines various aspects of Africa's external economy by focusing on regional monetary arrangements and how they are affected by devaluation episodes. It investigates the relationship between current account balances, trade balances and trade openness with respect to regional integration and regional growth patterns, discusses obstacles to a successful regional integration and paths to structural transformation, and studies the impact of economic partnership on inclusive development. The book addresses researchers and policymakers interested in development economies and African economic development.

Africa's Lions

Africa's Lions PDF Author: Haroon Bhorat
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815729502
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 133

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Book Description
Examining the economic forces that will shape Africa's future. Africa’s Lions examines the economic growth experiences of six fast growing and/or economically dominant African countries. Expert African researchers offer unique perspectives into the challenges and issues in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa. Despite a growing body of research on African economies, very little has focused on the relationship between economic growth and employment outcomes at the detailed country level. A lack of empirical data has deprived policymakers of a robust evidence base on which to make informed decisions. By harnessing country-level household, firm, and national accounts data together with existing analytical country research—the authors have attempted to bridge this gap. The growth of the global working-age population to 2030 will be driven primarily by Africa, which means that the relationship between growth and employment should be understood within the context of each country’s projected demographic challenge and the associated implications for employment growth. A better understanding of the structure of each country’s workforce and the resulting implications for human capital development, the vulnerably employed, and the working poor, will be critical to informing the development policy agenda. As a group, the six countries profiled in Africa’s Lions will largely shape the continent's future. Each country chapter focuses on the complex interactions between economic growth and employment outcomes, within the individual Africa’s Lions context.

Marginal Gains

Marginal Gains PDF Author: Jane I. Guyer
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226311159
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
In America, almost all the money in circulation passes through financial institutions every day. But in Nigeria's "cash and carry" system, 90 percent of the currency never comes back to a bank after it's issued. What happens when two such radically different economies meet and mingle, as they have for centuries in Atlantic Africa? The answer is a rich diversity of economic practices responsive to both local and global circumstances. In Marginal Gains, Jane I. Guyer explores and explains these often bewildering practices, including trade with coastal capitalism and across indigenous currency zones, and within the modern popular economy. Drawing on a wide range of evidence, Guyer demonstrates that the region shares a coherent, if loosely knit, commercial culture. She shows how that culture actually works in daily practice, addressing both its differing scales of value and the many settings in which it operates, from crisis conditions to ordinary household budgets. The result is a landmark study that reveals not just how popular economic systems work in Africa, but possibly elsewhere in the Third World.

Financing Africa

Financing Africa PDF Author: Samuel Munzele Maimbo
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821387979
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
Financing Africa takes stock of Africa's financial systems in light of recent changes in the global financial system --including the greater risk aversion of international investors, a shift in economic and financial powers towards emerging markets and the regulatory reform debate - and the increasing role of technology. Using a wider and more detailed array of data than previous publications, we observe a trend towards financial deepening, more stability and more inclusion leading up to the crisis; serious challenges, however, continue, including limited access to financial services, focus on short-term contracts and hidden fragility, related to weak regulatory frameworks, undue government interference and governance deficiencies. Our policy analysis therefore focuses on (i) expanding outreach, (ii) fostering long-term finance and (iii) improving regulation and supervision. We identify the positive role of innovation and competition, a stronger focus on non-traditional financial service providers, and more emphasis on demand-side constraints as priority areas for policy actions. Specifically, competition from new players outside the banking system, including telecomm companies can increase outreach with technological innovation that changes the economics of retail finance. Moving beyond national stock exchanges that are not sustainable in most African countries towards regional solutions and over-the-counter trades can help foster long-term finance, as can addressing governance challenges in contractual savings institutions, including life insurance companies and pension funds. Finally, there is a need to look beyond supply-side constraints towards users of financial services, focusing more on financial literacy of households and firms, but also consumer protection. In formulating policy messages, we carefully distinguish between different country groupings, differentiating -- among others -- between low- and middle-income and small and larger economies, with a special focus on resource-based economies and post-conflict countries. This book reaches out to both policy makers concerned about a more inclusive and effective financial system and other stakeholders, including practitioners and development partners. With this book we aim to contribute to the on-going financial sector debate on Africa, with the ultimate goal of faster economic development and poverty reduction.

Economics of South African Townships

Economics of South African Townships PDF Author: Sandeep Mahajan
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464803021
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
Countries everywhere are divided within into two distinct spatial realms: one urban, one rural. Classic models of development predict faster growth in the urban sector, causing rapid migration from rural areas to cities, lifting average incomes in both places. The situation in South Africa throws up an unconventional challenge. The country has symptoms of a spatial realm that is not not rural, not fully urban, lying somewhat in limbo. This is the realm of the country’s townships and informal settlements (T&IS). In many ways, the townships and especially the informal settlements are similar to developing world slums, although never was a slum formed with as much central planning and purpose as were some of the larger South African townships. And yet, there is something distinct about the T&IS. For one thing, unlike most urban slums, most T&IS are geographically distant from urban economic centers. Exacerbated by the near absence of an affordable public transport system, this makes job seeking and other forms of economic integration prohibitively expensive. Motivated by their uniqueness and their special place in South African economic and social life, this study seeks to develop a systematic understanding of the structure of the township economy. What emerges is a rich information base on the migration patterns to T&IS, changes in their demographic profiles, their labor market characteristics, and their access to public and financial services. The study then look closely at Diepsloot, a large township in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Area, to bring out more vividly the economic realities and choices of township residents. Given the current dichotomous urban structure, modernizing the township economy and enabling its convergence with the much richer urban centers has the potential to unleash significant productivity gains. Breaking out of the current low-level equilibrium however will require a comprehensive and holistic policy agenda, with significant complementarities among the major policy reforms. While the study tells a rich and coherent story about development patterns in South African townships and points to some broad policy directions, its research and analysis will generally need to be deepened before being translated into direct policy action.

The Political Economy of Economic Growth in Africa, 1960–2000: Volume 1

The Political Economy of Economic Growth in Africa, 1960–2000: Volume 1 PDF Author: Benno J. Ndulu
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139468553
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description
The period from 1960 to 2000 was one of remarkable growth and transformation in the world economy. Why did most of Sub-Saharan Africa fail to develop over this period? Why did a few small African economies succeed spectacularly? The Political Economy of Economic Growth in Africa, 1960–2000 is by far the most ambitious and comprehensive assessment of Africa's post-independence economic performance to date. Volume 1 examines the impact of resource wealth and geographical remoteness on Africa's growth and develops a new dataset of governance regimes covering all of Sub-Saharan Africa. Separate chapters analyze the dominant patterns of governance observed over the period and their impact on growth, the ideological formation of the political elite, the roots of political violence and reform, and the lessons of the 1960–2000 period for contemporary growth strategy.

Ethno-erotic Economies

Ethno-erotic Economies PDF Author: George Paul Meiu
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022649120X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Ethno-erotic Economies explores a fascinating case of tourism focused on sex and culture in coastal Kenya, where young men deploy stereotypes of African warriors to help them establish transactional sexual relationships with European women. In bars and on beaches, young men deliberately cultivate their images as sexually potent African men to attract women, sometimes for a night, in other cases for long-term relationships. George Paul Meiu uses his deep familiarity with the communities these men come from to explore the long-term effects of markets of ethnic culture and sexuality on a wide range of aspects of life in rural Kenya, including kinship, ritual, gender, intimate affection, and conceptions of aging. What happens to these communities when young men return with such surprising wealth? And how do they use it to improve their social standing locally? By answering these questions, Ethno-erotic Economies offers a complex look at how intimacy and ethnicity come together to shape the pathways of global and local trade in the postcolonial world.