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on Africa |
| By: | Smale, Melinda; Moursi, Mourad; Birol, Ekin; De Groote, Hugo |
| Keywords: | Agrobiodiversit, Farmers, Hybrid seed production, maize, Smallholders, Women, Zambia, West Africa, Africa south of Sahara, Africa |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:harvwp:12&r=afr |
| By: | Mohajan, Haradhan |
| Abstract: | The economy of Kenya has been continued to be the largest in the East African region and third largest in Sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa and Nigeria respectively. At present Kenya is one of the most highly literate countries in sub-Saharan Africa. But more than 60% people of Kenya live below the poverty line. Rapid increases in inflation could reduce economic growth and worsen the poverty levels of the citizens of Kenya. In Kenya economic development is dependent on agricultural improvement. Kenya is the largest food and agricultural products importer in east Africa. About 82% of the total land in Kenya is classified as arid and semi-arid. Agricultural products depend on proper rainfall. Staple food of Kenya is maize, which accounted about 65% of total staple food caloric intake and 36% of total food caloric intake. The cash income of the rural people of Kenya comes from the selling of agricultural products. At present the government of the country is trying to reduce poverty. An attempt has been taken here to discuss the food and economic situation and the development of these sectors of the country. |
| Keywords: | Food security, Maize, Agriculture, Inflation, Health, Economic development, Climate change. |
| JEL: | I32 |
| Date: | 2013–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:51072&r=afr |
| By: | Thorsten Beck; Robert Cull |
| Abstract: | This chapter takes stock of the current state of banking systems across Sub-Saharan Africa and discusses recent developments including innovations that might help Africa leapfrog more traditional banking models. Using an array of different data, we document that African banking systems are shallow but stable. African banks are well capitalized and over-liquid, but lend less to the private sector than banks in non-African developing countries. African enterprises and households are less likely to use financial services than their peers in other developing countries. We also describe a number of financial innovations across the continent that can help overcome different barriers to financial inclusion and have helped to expand the bankable and the banked population. |
| Keywords: | Sub-Saharan Africa; Banking; Financial Inclusion; Financial Innovation |
| JEL: | G2 G3 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2013-16&r=afr |
| By: | Larson, Donald F.; Gurara, Daniel Zerfu |
| Abstract: | In Africa, farmers have been reluctant to take up new varieties of staple crops developed to boost smallholder yields and rural incomes. Low fertilizer use is often mentioned as a proximate cause, but some believe the problem originates with incomplete input markets. As a remedy, African governments have introduced technology adoption programs with fertilizer subsidies as a core component. Still, the links between market performance and choices about using fertilizer are poorly articulated in empirical studies and policy discussions, making it difficult to judge whether the programs are expected to generate lasting benefits or to simply offset high fertilizer prices. This paper develops a conceptual model to show how choices made by agents supplying input services combine with household livelihood settings to generate heterogeneous decisions about fertilizer use. An applied model is estimated with data from a panel survey in rural Ethiopia. The results suggest that adverse market conditions limit the adoption of fertilizer-based technologies, especially among resource-poor households. Farmers appear to respond to market signals in the aggregate and this provides a pathway for subsidies to stimulate demand. However, the research suggests that lowering transaction costs, through investments in infrastructure and market institutions, can generate deeper effects by expanding the technologies available to farmers across all pricing outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics&Policies,Climate Change and Agriculture,Markets and Market Access,Fertilizers,Economic Theory&Research |
| Date: | 2013–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6681&r=afr |
| By: | Georges KONE (IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement); Richard Lalou (IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement); Martine Audibert (CERDI - Centre d'études et de recherches sur le developpement international - CNRS : UMR6587 - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I); Hervé LAFARGE (University Paris Dauphine - University Paris Dauphine - University Paris Dauphine); Stéphanie Dos Santos (IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement); Jean-Yves Le Hesran (IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to evaluate the relative influence of neighbourhood and individual practices of care utilization in Dakar (Senegal). The data from a research program on urban malaria, made in Dakar, Senegal between 2008 and 2009. The sample was based on a two-stage sampling. A questionnaire survey covered 2952 households, of which we have selected those that have at least one case of fever (n = 1272) with one of their children under ten years two weeks before the passage of investigators. The analytical model of the use of health services developed by R. Andersen has been adapted for our conceptual framework. Our results showed's like many West African cities, self-medication is a common practice among all households in Dakar, especially the poorest. The non-use of health services is positively associated with individual characteristics such as education level, the level of social network and the level of health literacy of the mother / guardian of the sick child (p |
| Keywords: | dakar;malaria;access to health care;Poverty;neighborhoods;equity |
| Date: | 2013–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00878946&r=afr |
| By: | Paolo Falco; Luke Haywood |
| Abstract: | The self-employed constitute a large proportion of the workforce in developing countries and the sector is growing. Different accounts exist as to the causes of this development, with pull factors such as high returns to capital contrasted with push factors such as barriers to more desirable salaried jobs. Using data from Ghana, we investigate the changing structure of earnings in self-employment relative to salaried work. We decompose earnings in a two-sector labour market allowing for flexible patterns of sorting on unobservables by means of a correlated random coefficient model estimated by IV-GMM. A unique panel dataset provides us with suitable instruments to tackle the endogeneity of sector choice and capital accumulation. We show that returns to productive characteristics in SE have increased significantly over the period 2004-11 and the sector has attracted workers with higher skills. We conclude that pull factors have significantly strengthened, pointing against the grim view of self-employment as an occupation of last resort. |
| Keywords: | : self-employment, semiparametric models, comparative advantage, segmentation, African labour markets |
| JEL: | O15 J24 J42 C14 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1334&r=afr |
| By: | Winful, Ernest C.; (JNR), David Sarpong; Agbodohu, William |
| Abstract: | Like all good theories, market efficiency has major limitations, even though it continues to be the source of important and enduring insights. This is a conceptual framework on global financial crisis and Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). Despite the theory’s undoubted limitations, the claim that it is responsible for the current worldwide crisis seems wildly exaggerated. This paper discusses many of those claims. It was identified that many of these claims were without merit and what developing economies need to consider and worry about is how they can strategize well to insulate themselves from the effects of global financial crisis whenever they arise and even capitalize on it to reap maximum benefits from the situation. Since African stock markets are seen to be providing investors in the developed economies the benefits of portfolio diversification, Ghana should be thinking of what they can benefit from the crisis which we refer to as an opportunity in this paper. Leaders in emerging economies should not sit aloof and believe that the adverse impact is certainly going to affect their economy but they should rather focus on minimizing the effects and taking advantage of the distortions in the developed economies. |
| Keywords: | Economic Downturn; Efficient Market Hypothesis; Stock Market; Ghana |
| JEL: | G1 |
| Date: | 2013–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:51054&r=afr |
| By: | Moummi Ahmed (African Development Bank) |
| Date: | 2013–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:444&r=afr |
| By: | Douzounet Mallaye; Yogo Urbain Thierry |
| Date: | 2013–09–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:982&r=afr |
| By: | Florence Arestoff (PSL, Université Paris-Dauphine, LEDa, UMR DIAL); Baptiste Venet (PSL, Université Paris-Dauphine, LEDa, UMR DIAL) |
| Abstract: | (english) In Madagascar, Orange introduced its mobile banking services in September 2010. Mobile-banking (m-banking) is a system that allows users to conduct a number of financial transactions through a mobile phone. The existing body of literature suggests that the use of m-banking services may have a positive impact on individual savings, affect money transfer behavior and/or encourage financial inclusion. In 2012, we conducted a survey of 598 randomly selected Orange clients in Antananarivo. We use the matching methodology to assess the impacts of m-banking on clients' financial behavior. The results show that the use of m-banking services increases the number of national remittances sent and received. It is in line with the conclusions of the existing literature devoted to M-Pesa in Kenya. Yet we find that using of m-banking services has no significant impact on the sums saved by users or the sums of remittances sent and received, which appears to contradict the users' perceptions. This result may, however, be explained by a learning-by-doing process: users need to first learn to trust the e-money system before making any significant changes to their financial behavior. _________________________________ (français) En septembre 2010, l’opérateur Orange a introduit les services de banque mobile appelés Orange Money à Madagascar. Ils permettent d’effectuer des opérations de dépôt et de retrait d’argent, de transferts nationaux et de paiements de marchandises. Selon la littérature existante, l’utilisation de ces services engendrerait une augmentation de l’épargne individuelle, pourrait modifier les comportements de transferts et/ou favoriser la bancarisation des plus pauvres. Afin d’analyser les conséquences du m-banking sur les comportements financiers des populations concernées à Madagascar, nous procédons à une étude d’impact reposant sur des données originales. En mars 2012, nous avons réalisé une enquête auprès de 196 clients Orange utilisateurs réguliers des services Orange money et 402 clients Orange non utilisateurs de ces services. Afin de comparer rigoureusement les comportements financiers de ces deux groupes, nous apparions les individus sur la base de leurs scores de propension respectifs. Nos résultats montrent alors que l’utilisation des services Orange Money conduit à accroître significativement la fréquence des transferts envoyés et reçus. Ce résultat est corroboré par l’approche subjective puisque 55% des utilisateurs Orange Money déclarent que ce service les a encouragés à effectuer des transferts plus fréquemment. En revanche, nous montrons qu’Orange Money n’a d’impact significatif ni sur les montants épargnés ni sur les montants transférés (à l’envoi comme à la réception), ce qui tend à contredire le sentiment des utilisateurs. La temporalité des effets des services de m-banking apparaît alors. Les modifications de montants transférés et épargnés s’inscrivent probablement davantage dans la durée alors que la fréquence des transferts serait plus rapidement affectée eu égard au moindre coût et à la facilité d’utilisation d’Orange Money. |
| Keywords: | Mobile banking, Financial behavior, Low Income countries, Matching methodology, Banque mobile, Matching, Comportements financiers, Pays en développement. |
| JEL: | G2 G21 O16 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201309&r=afr |
| By: | Nga Ndjobo, Patrick Marie; Abessolo, Yves André |
| Abstract: | This article renders an analysis of the impact of education on labour supply behaviour, particularly in terms of participation decision and the level of employment and unemployment of the active population in the labour market in Cameroon, through the nested logit model. Using data obtained from the database of ECAM III carried out in 2007, we find that individuals who constitute the labour supply being faced with four alternatives (domestic activities, the informal, the public and the private formal sectors) choose to work in the sectors which best values their education. Thus, for these individuals, it is more likely to choose to practice in the sectors associated with lower levels of education than other sectors. Also, these individuals have the tendency of orientating their choices primarily to sectors in which the average level of education is at most equivalent to theirs. Therefore, signals sent by job-seekers to employers, requesting access demand to certain sectors instead of others are obviously determine by their various levels of education. Moreover, participation in a sector of the job market in Cameroon is a decreasing function of average charged income and average worked hours that are established. |
| Keywords: | education, labor supply, nested multinomial logit, public formal, private formal and informal sectors, ECAMIII, Cameroon |
| JEL: | C35 C51 D1 I2 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–11–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:51158&r=afr |
| By: | Nasr, Sahar; Rostom, Ahmed |
| Abstract: | Recent economic and political developments have highlighted a challenge shared across the Arab region of generating employment, promoting inclusive growth, and improving competitiveness. In the short run, weakened macroeconomic fundamentals in the developing economies of the Middle East and North Africa are a key challenge. The region's main challenge is to achieve sustainable growth that delivers the quantity and quality of jobs needed. An inclusive and competitive private sector has proven to be one of the most effective and long-term solutions for this challenge. This paper provides an analytical framework to diagnose and identify key challenges to the growth of small and medium enterprises that is supported by a quantitative model based on the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys database. The findings reconfirm that the route to a sustained role for small and medium enterprises in job creation requires improving the credibility of reforms, the effectiveness of policies, and equitable enforcement. Although one size fits all is infeasible for Arab countries, it is important to design policies across sectors to create productive employment and promote economic growth. Supporting innovation and enhancing access to finance are central to the development agenda for small and medium enterprises. And creating an enabling environment and setting up accountable institutions are key to ensure equal opportunity and inclusive growth. |
| Keywords: | Access to Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Markets,Microfinance,Labor Policies |
| Date: | 2013–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6682&r=afr |