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on Africa |
| By: | Probst,Benedict Sebastian; Holcroft,Richard; Huenteler,Joern Thorsten; Balabanyan,Ani; Tipping,Andrew; Robinson,Peter |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a classification of investor risks and surveys 51 private investors and financiers in the power sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper aims for a better understanding of what can be done to attract private solutions to fill the investment gap. It finds that the average investor assigns more weight to power sector policy and regulatory framework risks than to the wider sector and country context risks. And, despite many challenges, investors perceive three segments as ready for private solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa: power generation, off-grid electrification, and mini-grids. Investors see lower readiness in distribution, transmission, and retail. The paper finds that the average investor is forward-looking, as neither the track record of the power sector nor the firm?s personal track record is as important as the growth potential in the market. The paper uses the findings to reality-check data-based measures of regulatory readiness, namely the Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy and Power Sector Reform Index and analyzes which elements correlate best with investor sentiment to optimize and streamline these indexes accordingly. The results provide important lessons for governments and development partners to devise appropriate de-risking instruments tailored to the risks that matter most to investors. |
| Date: | 2020–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9299&r=all |
| By: | David K. Evans (Center for Global Development); Fei Yuan (Harvard Graduate School of Education); Deon Filmer (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Pay levels for public sector workers—and especially teachers—are a constant source of controversy. In many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, protests and strikes suggest that pay is low, while simple comparisons to average national income per capita suggest that it is high. This study presents data on teacher pay from 15 African countries, along with five comparator countries from other regions. The results suggest that in several (seven) countries, teachers’ monthly salaries are lower than other formal sector workers with comparable levels of education and experience. However, in all of those countries, teachers report working significantly fewer hours than other workers, so that their hourly wage is higher. Teachers who report fewer hours are no more likely to report holding a second job, although teachers overall are nearly two times more likely to hold a second job than other workers. With higher national incomes, the absolute value of teacher salaries rises, but they fall as a percentage of income per capita. The study explores variation across types of teacher contracts, the association between teacher pay and student performance, and the association between teacher pay premia and other aspects of economies. |
| Keywords: | Education; teachers; public sector; teacher pay |
| JEL: | I20 I25 J31 O12 |
| Date: | 2020–08–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:538&r=all |
| By: | Joan Mbagwu (Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | The concept of urbanization in global development is a new approach which is currently sweeping through developing countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Mali) like a wild fire. However, with the huge efforts and speed at which urbanization is being pursued, many governments of these countries appear overwhelmed and unable to cope with its challenges as they are not able to provide enough basic infrastructures and services for the growth urban population. Nigeria is one of the countries struggling to cope with the challenges of urbanization especially in the areas of security of lives and property. The desire to write this article was motivated by the current inadequacy in urban policy implementation in relation to security in Nigeria. Relevant literature and archival retrieval of historical documents were reviewed. This article discussed important features of urbanization challenges in Nigeria like: rapid population growth and changing demographic structure; poverty and unemployment; difficulties in accessing housing delivery inputs; and lack of adequate capacity on the part of government. Finally, it examined the implications of these challenges in relation to the issue of insecurity in urban areas and maintained that urban policies in developing cities if properly implemented and managed should bring about a reduction of the lingering and persistent insecurity challenges and promote economic and social development. |
| Keywords: | urbanization, violence, government policies, human rights, development |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:kpaper:009jm&r=all |
| By: | Boukraine, Wissem |
| Abstract: | The fact that inflation is still on the rise, despite measures undertaken by the Tunisian central bank, prompts questions as to whether or not inflation dynamics has changed, exhibiting higher levels of persistence and volatility. This paper employs the smooth transition autoregressive model (STAR) to analyze Tunisian inflation dynamics on monthly data over the last three decades. We distinguish three periods based on monetary reforms. The non-linearity tests suggest that the ESTAR specification describes better the behavior of inflation. Our results suggest changes in persistence and important shifts in volatility, which confirm the effectiveness of the monetary reforms to a certain extent given the past political instability and the democratic transition in Tunisia. |
| Keywords: | Inflation, persistence, volatility, Smooth Transition Autoregressive, Tunisia |
| JEL: | C1 E31 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101886&r=all |