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on Africa |
| By: | Matthias Basedau (GIGA Institute of African Affairs); Alexander De Juan (University of Tübingen) |
| Abstract: | Given the widespread focus on socioeconomic factors, it comes as no surprise that religion is neglected in most theoretical explanations of African civil conflicts. While scholarly interest is increasing in light of the civil wars in Sudan, Nigeria, and northern Uganda, no systematic empirical analysis has been undertaken to date. Hence, this paper aims to provide a preliminary assessment of the role of religions in sub-Saharan civil conflicts. Quantitative and qualitative analysis based on a newly compiled database including 28 violent conflicts show that religion plays a role more frequently than is usually assumed and that the effects of religions are principally ambiguous. Religious actors and institutions have escalating effects in many cases, yet more often they become active for peace. Religious identities and ideas seem to have a particular impact on conflict. Even though religion seems secondary when compared to classical “risk factors,” the findings demonstrate that religious factors have to be taken seriously when analyzing civil conflicts in Africa. |
| Keywords: | Religion, Africa, ambivalence, civil war, violent conflict |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:70&r=afr |
| By: | John Serieux (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Economics, University of Manitoba) |
| Abstract: | Sub-Saharan Africa?s improving growth record in the first decade of the twenty-first century gives some hope that the potential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals will be enhanced by the improved economic conditions of the disadvantaged citizens of these countries. However, growth alone, even if it were much higher, would not be sufficient to ensure the achievement of the MDGs. The resources required for achieving them are beyond the capacity of most of these countries at present, and in the immediate future. Thus, for the region, the MDGs will be achievable only with substantial external resource inflows. In the immediate term, these resource inflows might also help to relieve the savings and foreign exchange constraints faced by most of these countries. However, movement to a higher growth and human development trajectory and eventual progress beyond such heavy dependence on external assistance require that these countries continue to develop their capacity for domestic resource mobilization. This is an area where progress is decidedly wanting for much of the region. Since 1980, Africa has had the weakest domestic resource mobilization record of any region (see Table 1 of the Appendix). On average, foreign savings have been necessary for funding more than 35 per cent of the region?s already low investment levels (see Table 2 of the Appendix). And, more to the point, these foreign resource inflows have come largely in the form of official development assistance rather than private capital flows. Given this record, if the region does not significantly improve domestic resource mobilization over the next decade, increased resource inflows pose a serious risk of entrenching (or institutionalizing) aid dependency?a situation in which high levels of external assistance perpetuate or exacerbate low savings rates. In this situation, countries lose the capacity to mobilize the resources necessary for generating even moderate growth in the absence of such aid. (...) |
| Keywords: | Financial Liberalization, Domestic Resource Mobilization in Africa: an Assessment |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:wpaper:45&r=afr |
| By: | Matthias Basedau (GIGA Institute of African Affairs); Alexander Stroh (GIGA Institute of African Affairs) |
| Abstract: | The institutionalization of political parties is said to be important for democratic development, but its measurement has remained a neglected area of research. We understand the institutionalization of political organizations as progress in four dimensions: roots in society, level of organization, autonomy, and coherence. On this basis we construct an Index of the Institutionalization of Parties (IIP), which we apply to 28 African political parties. The IIP uses extensive GIGA survey and fieldwork data. Initial results reveal a more differentiated degree of institutionalization than is commonly assumed. In addition to illustrating overall deficits in party institutionalization, the IIP highlights an astonishing variance between individual parties and—to a lesser extent—between national aggregates. Further research on party institutionalization remains necessary, particularly regarding its causes and consequences. |
| Keywords: | Political parties, sub-Saharan Africa, institutionalization, stability, legitimacy |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:69&r=afr |
| By: | Afeikhena Jerome |
| Abstract: | Despite an impressive level of privatization activity across Africa and the upsurge in research on the operating performance of privatized firms in both developed and developing economies, our empirical knowledge of the privatization programme in Africa is limited. This study appraises the post-privatization performance of some privatized enterprises in Nigeria. The specific indicators examined are profitability, productive efficiency, employment, capital investment, output, prices and taxes. The study measures the change in any given indicator of performance by comparing its average value five years before and five years after privatization. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is also deployed to assess changes in the level of technical efficiency in the selected enterprises. The results, albeit mixed, show significant increases in these indicators. Privatization is also associated with increase in technical efficiency in the affected enterprises. Reduction of politically motivated resource allocation has unquestionably been the principal benefit of privatization in Nigeria. |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aer:rpaper:rp_175&r=afr |
| By: | Ramani K.V.; Mavalankar Dileep; Tirupati Devanath; Vijaya Sherry Chand P.G. |
| Abstract: | The spread of HIV/AIDS is not merely a problem of public health; it is also an economic, political, and social challenge that threatens to hinder decades of progress in different parts of Gujarat. There is an urgent need to significantly scale-up public health interventions that work to make a meaningful impact. While NGOs and community based organizations have a critical role to play in implementing these interventions amongst the various population groups, the government must shoulder the overall responsibility for planning, coordinating, mobilizing, and facilitating the various HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services in the state. Generally, the departments of HIV/AIDS are dominated by doctor-managers who lack training in management. This working paper was developed with objective of enhancing the skills of the program implementers. In this paper, in first three chapters we describe the overall situation of HIV/AIDS globally and nationally. Major challenges in managing sentinel surveillance, behavior surveillance, targeted interventions and its subcomponents have been described in chapter four. Issues related to integration of HIV/AIDS activities with reproductive health has also been discussed in the chapter. In chapter five, we present a few case studies from Gujarat State AIDS Control Society. These cases focus on the managerial issues in the following areas: Project Management, Blood Bank Management, VCTC/ICTC Management, Behavioral Surveillance and MIS for Targeted Interventions. These case studies bring out the ground level realities and can help participants develop insights for better management of the HIV/AIDS programme. |
| Date: | 2008–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2008-03-06&r=afr |
| By: | Sebastian Elischer (Jacobs University Bremen) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the role of ethnicity in shaping the character of Kenya’s political parties and its party system since 1992. Drawing on a constructivist conception of ethnicity, it uses a framework of comparison derived from Donald Horowitz and distinguishes between three party types: the mono-ethnic party, the multi-ethnic alliance type and the multi-ethnic integrative type. It shows that although Kenyan parties have increasingly incorporated diverse communities, they have consistently failed to bridge the country’s dominant ethnic cleavages. Consequently, all of Kenya’s significant parties represent ethnic coalitions of convenience and commitment and, thus, ethnic parties. The paper further states that the country’s post-2007 political environment is a by-product of the omnipresence of this party type. |
| Keywords: | Social cleavages, ethnicity, political party identification, Kenya |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:68&r=afr |
| By: | Sackey |
| Abstract: | This study examines the determinants of school attendance and attainment in Ghana with a view to deriving implications for policy direction. Using micro-level data from the Ghana living standards surveys, our gender disaggregated probit models on current schoolattendance and attainment show that parental education and household resources are significant determinants of schooling. The effect of household resources on current schoolattendance is higher for daughters than it is for sons. It appears that for male and female children the impact of household resources on school attendance has reduced, statistically speaking. Father’s schooling effects on the education of female children decreased between 1992 and 1999. Mother’s schooling effects on school attendance of daughtersin 1992 were not significantly different from those realized in 1999. However, the effects of mother’s schooling levels on school attendance of male children appear to have reduced. Other significant determinants of children’s schooling are the age of children, school infrastructure, religion and urban residency. The paper concludes that education matters and has an intergenerational impact. Arguably, sustainable poverty reduction approaches cannot ignore the role of education and implications for employment, earnings and social development. Hence, gender sensitive policies to ensure educational equity are vital. |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aer:rpaper:rp_174&r=afr |
| By: | Mohamed Abdelbasset Chemingui; Chokri Thabet |
| Abstract: | The study tries to answer the following questions: Will exposure to world agricultural prices generate more poverty or less? To what extent will households be affected by changes in agricultural trade polices? Do multilateral agricultural liberalization matter more than bilateral changes? Results of simulations using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model linked to household survey data suggest that trade liberalization has only modest effects on the level of GDP, but it has a substantial effect in reducing poverty. Moreover, the combined effects of global and domestic liberalization are more pro-poor thant the effect of domestic liberalization alone. As a net importer of agricultural commodities, Tunisia may be expected to experience terms-of-trade losses from higher world agricultural prices. However, given Tunisia's significant agricultural import protection policies, it is expected that the agricultural sector will lose from trade liberalization that removes this protection. |
| Keywords: | Tunisia, agriculture, trade liberalization, general equilibrium model, micro-simulation, poverty |
| JEL: | F1 I3 Q1 C68 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:mpiacr:2008-03&r=afr |
| By: | Shombe, Nicolaus Herman |
| Abstract: | This paper, investigates causal relationships among agriculture, manufacturing and export in Tanzania by using time series data for the period between 1970 and 2005. The empirical results show in both sectors there is Granger causality where agriculture causes both exports and manufacturing. Exports also cause both agricultural GDP and manufacturing GDP and any two variables out of three jointly cause the third one. There is also some evidence that manufacturing does not cause export and agriculture. Regarding cointegration, pairwise agricultural GDP and export are cointegrated, export and manufacture are cointegrated. Agriculture and manufacture are cointegrated but they are lag sensitive. However, three variables, manufacturing, export and agriculture both together are cointegrated showing that they share long run relation and this has important economic implications. |
| Keywords: | Causality, Agricultural and manufacturing GDP, Export, Tanzania, Gross domestic product, Agriculture, Manufacturing industries |
| JEL: | C12 C32 C5 F14 F40 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper136&r=afr |
| By: | Chisala, Chibwe |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the SMEs performance in Zambia and attempts to identify some practical lessons that Zambia can learn from Southeast Asian countries (with reference to Malaysia) in order to facilitate industrial development through unlocking the potential of its SMEs sector. Malaysia and Zambia were at the same level of economic development as evidenced by similar per capita incomes but Zambia has remained behind economically and its manufacturing sector has stagnated as if both countries did not have similar initial endowments. It therefore, becomes imperative that Zambia learns from such countries on how they managed to take-off economically with a focus on SME development. Training (education), research & development, market availability and technological advancement through establishment of industrial linkages coupled with cluster formation were some of the outstanding strategies identified that Zambia could use as a “key†to unlock its SMEs’ potential as it strives to meet the UN MDGs in particular halving its poverty levels by 2015 and also realizing its vision of becoming a middle income earner by 2030. |
| Keywords: | Development, SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), MNCs (Multi-National Corporations), Zambia, Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Small and medium-scale enterprises, International business enterprises |
| JEL: | L60 O19 R20 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper134&r=afr |
| By: | Nevine Mokhtar Eid (Faculty of Management Technology, The German University in Cairo) |
| Abstract: | In the Markowitz (1952) mean-variance model as well as the Capital Asset Pricing Model of Sharpe (1964) and Lintner (1965) agents make their investment decisions based solely on the expected return and variance. On the other hand, human capital theory does not consider uncertainty in its return function except recently initiated by Harmon et al. (2001) who distinguish between the level and the years of education and incorporate uncertainty in Mincer’s Model (1974). This study has twofold objectives: First, estimate the risk-return trade-off of the public higher education capital stock in Egypt to indirectly evaluate the performance of its current financing system, and second, investigate the inter-linkage between real investment (human) and financial investment (lost opportunity or access to funds), then draw the channel through which they can affect the economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Human capital investment, financial capital investment, capital asset pricing model |
| JEL: | G11 G11 H21 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:guc:wpaper:8&r=afr |