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on Africa |
| By: | Xiong, Bo; Beghin, John C. |
| Abstract: | We provide an ex-post econometric examination of the harmonization and tightening of the EU Maximum Residues Limit (MRL) on aflatoxins in 2002 and its impact on African exports of groundnut products. We show that the MRL set by the EU has no significant trade impact on groundnut exports from Africa across various methods of estimation. African domestic supply plays an important role in the determination of the volumes of trade and the propensity to trade. Our findings suggest that the trade potential of African groundnut exporters is more constrained by domestic supply issues rather than by limited market access. |
| Keywords: | food safety; market access; standards; aflatoxin; MRL; groundnut; Africa; EU |
| JEL: | F13 Q17 |
| Date: | 2010–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:31595&r=afr |
| By: | Simwaka, Kisu |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to estimate the trade potential expected from the SADC FTA. Specifically, the study investigates what the Southern African countries stand to gain by way of increases in intra-regional trade if all trade barriers are removed. In order to assess the trade potential compared to its current level, a gravity model has been estimated. Results show that the observed intra-regional trade is lower than its potential. The results suggest that there is trade potential in the sub-region. There is no question that an FTA will enhance the prospects for increasing intra-regional trade. The results are in agreement with findings by Evans (1997) who found that that the FTA is likely to lead to trade creation, and also African Development Bank (1993), whose results found that there is considerable potential for the non-Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries to switch supply from third countries to South Africa. The results, however, differ with findings by Chauvin (2002) and Cassim (2001) whose results indicated that SADC trade potentials are rather small, especially for South African exports. They also differ with Elbadawi (1997) whose results indicate that SADC did not have a significant effect on trade among its members. |
| Keywords: | Trade Potential; Gravity model; SADC |
| JEL: | F15 F13 F14 |
| Date: | 2010–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15894&r=afr |
| By: | Pieterse, Edgar |
| Abstract: | This paper explores one possible argument for how to respond to the epistemic troubles in the production of knowledge about urban Africa. The problem I have in mind is the preponderance of policy-oriented research on the development challenges and absence |
| Keywords: | African urbanism, everyday practices, social infrastructures, urban violence |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-42&r=afr |
| By: | Freund, Bill |
| Abstract: | In an introductory section, this paper considers briefly the achievements and problems of urban governance in post-apartheid South Africa through an assessment of three categories: administrative reform, developmental issues and conflicts over service del |
| Keywords: | urban studies, Durban, South Africa, local government, private-public |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-48&r=afr |
| By: | Simon, David |
| Abstract: | Cities-especially those with substantial poor populations-will face increasingly severe challenges in tackling the impacts of global environmental change (GEC). As economic dynamos and increasingly important population concentrations, cities both contribu |
| Keywords: | global environmental change, climate change, African cities, mitigation, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-51&r=afr |
| By: | Ogun, T. P. |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates the impact of infrastructural development on poverty reduction in Nigeria. Specifically, the relative effects of physical and social infrastructure on living standards or poverty indicators are examined, with a view to providing emp |
| Keywords: | African urbanism, everyday practices, social infrastructures, urban violence |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-43&r=afr |
| By: | Margaret Chitiga (Department of Economics, Pretoria University); Bernard Decaluwé (Department of Economics, Laval University); Ramos Mabugu (Financial and Fiscal Commission, South Africa); Hélène Maisonnave; Véronique Robichaud (Department of Economics, Laval University); Debra Shepherd (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Servaas van der Berg (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Dieter von Fintel (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports on a study to provide insights into the magnitude of the shocks associated with the recent global economic crisis in macroeconomic terms in South Africa, the country’s capacity to withstand or cushion these shocks, and the extent of fragility in terms of poverty levels and child wellbeing. The analysis combines macro-economic and micro-economic tools to assess the extent of the crisis’ impact on the country. The study finds that the poverty headcount ratio increases little in the moderate crisis scenario, but substantially under the severe scenario. However, under both scenarios there is a relatively successful return to close to the business as usual trend. It is important to note though that under both scenarios, more poverty sensitive measures (the poverty gap ratio and the poverty severity ratio) decline more, and remain in negative territory longer, showing that the major impact of the crisis is on the poorest, and that this impact is most difficult to overcome. |
| Keywords: | Economic crisis, Computable general equilibrium, Forecasting and simulation, Almost ideal demand system, Child poverty measurement, South Africa |
| JEL: | C31 C68 D31 E37 I32 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers112&r=afr |
| By: | Fabrizio Carmignani; Abdur Chowdhury (School of Economics, The University of Queensland) |
| Abstract: | We study the nexus between natural resources and growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and find that SSA is indeed special: resources dependence retards growth in SSA, but not elsewhere. The natural resources curse is thus specific to SSA. We then show that this specificity does not depend on the type of primary commodities on which SSA specializes. Instead, the SSA specificity appears to arise from the interaction between institutions and natural resources. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qld:uq2004:406&r=afr |
| By: | Bold, Tessa; Gauthier, Bernard; Svensson, Jakob; Wane, Waly |
| Abstract: | The Delivering Service Indicators seek to provide a set of indices for benchmarking service delivery performance in education and health in Africa in order to track progress in and across countries over time. It seeks to enhance effective and active monitoring of service delivery systems and to become an instrument of public accountability and good governance in Africa. The main perspective adopted by the Delivering Service Indicators index is one of citizens accessing services and facing potential shortcomings in those services available to them. The index is thus presented as a Service Delivery Report Card on education and health. However, unlike traditional citizen report cards, it assembles objective information from micro level surveys of service delivery units. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Governance Indicators,Public Sector Expenditure Policy,Population Policies,Education For All |
| Date: | 2010–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5327&r=afr |
| By: | Meagher, Kate |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how decentralization and informalization are reshaping urban governance in contemporary Africa. By exploring the interface between urban institutional failures and popular organizational solutions, the paper considers how informal gove |
| Keywords: | informal economy, urban governance, Nigeria, enterprise clusters, civil society |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-50&r=afr |
| By: | Nissanke, Machiko; Thorbecke, Erik |
| Abstract: | Despite the enormous potential of globalization in accelerating economic growth through greater integration into the world economy the impact of globalization on poverty reduction has been uneven. Asia has been the major beneficiary of globalization where high growth rates and its labor-intensive pattern contributed to a spectacular reduction in poverty. In contrast, the integration process in Latin America did not contribute to accelerating growth and employment and even led, in some instances, to an informalization of the labor force. In spite of opening up, the failure of sub-Saharan Africa to diversify and undergo structural transformation has led to the persistence of low growth and debilitating poverty. While the impact of globalization on poverty is context-specific, we argue that countries intent on benefitting from globalization need to adopt a pro-active stand in formulating regional and national strategies to enhance the potentially positive effects of globalization and moderate the negative effects. |
| Keywords: | Globalization, Poverty, Latin America, Asia, Africa |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:pb2010-03&r=afr |
| By: | Mina Baliamoune-Lutz |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an empirical analysis of the controversial relationship between financial system development and economic development. Using cointegration and VAR estimations on annual data from Africa, we examine the nature of the relationship between financial development and income. We find mixed results on both the short and the long-run relationships between the two variables. We find finance causing income, income causing finance, and bi-directional causality. The results indicate that neither the short-run effects nor the long-run relationship seem to linearly depend on the level of financial development or the stage of development. |
| JEL: | E44 O16 G20 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:icr:wpicer:09-2010&r=afr |
| By: | Landau, Loren B. |
| Abstract: | Accepting that successful 'development' is premised on a population's participation in a collective undertaking, we must understand urban residents' interactions and ambitions. In African cities being transformed by geographic and social mobility, it is u |
| Keywords: | migration, urbanization, African cities, social cohesion, integration, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-49&r=afr |
| By: | Nillesen, Eleonora; Verwim, Philip |
| Abstract: | This paper challenges the idea that farmers revert to subsistence farming when confronted with violence from civil war. Macro-economic evidence on economic legacies of civil war suggests that civil wars, while obviously disastrous in the short run, do not |
| Keywords: | Civil war, investment, post-traumatic growth |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-44&r=afr |
| By: | Simwaka, Kisu; Mkandawire, Leslie |
| Abstract: | The Malawi kwacha was floated in February 1994. Since then, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has periodically intervened in the foreign exchange market. This report analyses the effectiveness of foreign exchange market interventions by RBM. We used a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (GARCH; 1, 1) model to simultaneously estimate the effect of intervention on the mean and volatility of the kwacha. We also ran an equilibrium exchange rate model and use the equilibrium exchange rate criterion to compare results with those from the GARCH model. Using monthly exchange rates and official intervention data from January 1995 to June 2008, results from the GARCH model indicated that net sales of United States dollars by RBM depreciate, rather than appreciate, the kwacha. Empirically, this implies the RBM “leans against the wind”, i.e., the RBM intervenes to reduce, but not reverse, around-trend exchange rate depreciation. However, results from the GARCH model for the post-2003 period indicated that RBM intervention in the market stabilizes the kwacha. In general, results from both the GARCH model and the real equilibrium exchange rate criterion for the entire study period showed that RBM interventions have been associated with increased exchange rate volatility, except during the post-2003 period. The implication of this finding is that intervention can only have a temporary influence on the exchange rate, as it is difficult to find empirical evidence showing that intervention has a long-lasting, quantitatively significant effect. |
| Keywords: | foreign exchange market; official intervention; GARCH; equilibrium exchange rate |
| JEL: | E51 E58 E52 E50 |
| Date: | 2010–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23111&r=afr |
| By: | Mukwaya, Paul Isolo; Sengendo, Hannington; Lwasa, Shuaib |
| Abstract: | Urbanization is one of the critical global trends shaping the future of humanity. At the same time, it has been argued that full development requires an urbanized environment. This paper attempts to examine and characterize the major phases of urbanizatio |
| Keywords: | transitions, urbanization, planning, poverty, Uganda |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-45&r=afr |