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on Africa |
| By: | Giersing, Bo; Kunaka, Charles; Raballand, Gael |
| Abstract: | Based on a detailed empirical study, this paper argues that regional liberalization of trucking services has had an important effect on transport costs and tariffs for Zambia ' s economy. Zambia is a peculiar example in Southern Africa as it benefits from relatively low transport costs compared with other landlocked countries in Africa. This is mainly because of competition between Zambian and other regional, mainly South African, operators and because of South African investments in Zambia ' s trucking industry. As a result, the costs of operators registered in Zambia and South Africa are similar. The study also demonstrates that enhancing trucking interoperability in Southern Africa would significantly impact positively the Zambian trucking industry ' s competitiveness. The main measures to significantly increase trucking competitiveness in the region would more likely derive from reducing fuel costs in Zambia, improving border-post operations, and relaxing South African truck import rules. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy & Planning,Rural Roads & Transport,Roads & Highways,Common Carriers Industry,Transport and Trade Logistics |
| Date: | 2008–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4482&r=afr |
| By: | Ndikumana, Leonce (University of Massachusetts Amherst); Verick, Sher (UNECA) |
| Abstract: | While the recent increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) to African countries is a welcome development, the question remains as to the impact of these resource inflows on economic development. This study posits that a key channel of the impact of FDI on development is through its effects on domestic factor markets, especially domestic investment and employment. In this context, this study analyses the two-way linkages between FDI and domestic investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results suggest that firstly, FDI crowds in domestic investment, and secondly, countries will gain much from measures aimed at improving the domestic investment climate. Moreover, there are alternatives to resource endowments as a means of attracting foreign investment to non-resource rich countries. |
| Keywords: | FDI, private investment, public investment, Africa |
| JEL: | E22 F21 F23 O16 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3296&r=afr |
| By: | Porto, Guido; Brambilla, Irene; Balat, Jorge |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of export costs in the process of poverty reduction in rural Africa. The authors claim that the marketing costs that emerge when the commercialization of export crops requires intermediaries can lead to lower participation into export cropping and, thus, to higher poverty . They test the model using data from the Uganda National Household Survey. The findings show that: i) farmers living in villages with fewer outlets for sales of agricultural exports are likely to be poorer than farmers residing in marketendowed villages; ii) market availability leads to increased household participation in export cropping (coffee, tea, cotton, fruits); and iii) households engaged in export cropping are less likely to be poor than subsistence-based households. The authors conclude that the availability of markets for agricultural export crops helps realize the gains from trade. This result uncovers the role of complementary factors that provide market access and reduce marketing costs as key building blocks in the link between the gains from export opportunities and the poor. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy & Planning,Markets and Market Access,Rural Poverty Reduction,Crops & Crop Management Systems |
| Date: | 2008–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4488&r=afr |
| By: | Seo, S. Niggol |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a new analysis to measure climate change impacts on livestock management taking into account the interactions between crops and livestock. A micro-econometric analysis on the choice of agricultural system and on the conditional income for each system is used. The paper used African data collected from 9000 farmers across 11 countries in Africa. The results indicate that when climate is hot, farmers prefer mixed farms over specialized farms on either crops or livestock. When climate is wet, they often choose crops over livestock. Half a century later, livestock only farms are predicted to decrease by 2% under CCC, 5% under CCSR, and 7% under PCM. On the other hand, livestock farms with also crops are predicted to increase by 5% under CCC and CCSR, and 11% under PCM. Livestock only farm profit also falls by 40% under CCC, 250% under CCSR, and 600% under PCM. The profit of livestock farm with crops, however, increases by 17% under PCM. Under the CCC, expected farm income falls by 12%. On the other hand, farm income increases by 13% under the PCM scenario. The damage estimate (benefit estimate) on agriculture as a whole with the transition to the best system is lower (higher) than that without system switch. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change; Livestock; Joint Analysis; Micro-econometrics |
| JEL: | Q1 Q5 |
| Date: | 2008–01–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:6903&r=afr |
| By: | Anika Becher (GIGA Institute of African Affairs); Matthias Basedau (GIGA Institute of African Affairs) |
| Abstract: | Since the sweeping (re)introduction of multiparty systems in the early 1990s almost all sub-Saharan countries have introduced bans on ethnic or – in more general terms – particularistic parties. Such party bans have been neglected in research, and this paper engages in a preliminary analysis of their effects on democracy and peace. Theoretically, particularistic party bans can block particularisms from entering politics but also run the risk of forcing groups to resort to extra-legal or violent means. Neutral or context-dependent effects are also possible. Applying macro-qualitative comparison and bivariate statistics on the basis of a unique inventory of party bans and readily available indicators for the dependent variables, no simple connection can be detected. Rather, context conditions seem to be of superior explanatory power. We also find a systematic connection between party bans and variables that could be conceptualized as the causes of their implementation. |
| Keywords: | Sub-Saharan Africa, party bans, ethnicity, conflict, democracy |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:66&r=afr |