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on Africa |
| By: | Mikhail Miklyaev (Department of Economics Queens University, Canada and Cambridge Resources International Inc.); Richard Barichello (Food and Resource Economics, University of British Columbia); Katarzyna Pankowska (Independent Consultant) |
| Abstract: | Maize and wheat are the most important staple crops grown and consumed domestically in Ethiopia. With Ethiopia being the third-largest producer of maize in Africa, maize yields are relatively high compared with those of other East African producers but low compared to those other major maize producers in Africa and Asia. Domestically produced wheat is generally grown on smallholder farms, with majority being reserved for on-farm use. The biggest current challenge in terms of improved maize and wheat seeds in Ethiopia is the scaling-up of production and discrimination of high yielding hybrid maize verities and rust-resistant wheat varieties. Other major challenges to increasing the quantity of maize and wheat marketed in Ethiopia is losses due to poor post-harvest management and storage conditions. Using the cost-benefit approach of the integrated investment appraisal, this project aims to increase the availability of improved maize varieties, particularly of high-yield hybrids; improved storage facilities for cooperatives and unions to reduce postharvest losses; professionalization training, capacity building, and business-plan development for cooperatives and Farmers’ Cooperative Unions. This is done by integrating the financial, economic, stakeholder, and risk outcomes of the Ethiopian cereal value chain. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, production, improved seeds, maize value chain |
| JEL: | D61 Q2 Q13 |
| Date: | 2021–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:dpaper:4580&r= |
| By: | Isaac K. Ofori (University of Insubria, Varese, Italy); Pamela E. Ofori (University of Insubria, Varese, Italy); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | Motivated by the momentous rise in ICT diffusion, the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, and the expected rebound of foreign direct investment inflow to Africa from 2022, this study examines the joint effects of industrialisation and ICT diffusion on resource mobilisation in Africa. To this end, we use data on 42 African countries for the period 1996 – 2020 for the analysis. First, we provide evidence robust to several specifications from the dynamic system GMM to show that although unconditionally both industrialisation and ICT diffusion enhance (i) goods and services tax (GST), and (ii) profits, corporate and income tax (PCIT) mobilisation efforts in Africa, the effects of the former are rather remarkable in the presence of the latter. Particularly, the results show that, while ICTs amplify the effect of industrialisation on GST, only ICT usage and ICT skills matter for PCIT. Second, the study unveils ICT thresholds for complementary policies. Accordingly, industrialisation and ICTs are necessary and sufficient conditions for tax revenue mobilisation only below some ICT thresholds. Above these ICT thresholds, complementary policies are needed to maintain the overall positive incidence on tax revenue mobilisation. Policy recommendations are provided in the end. |
| Keywords: | AfCFTA; Africa; ICT access; ICT diffusion; Industrialisation; Tax; Revenue |
| JEL: | C33 F6 H2 H71 O33 O55 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:21/058&r= |
| By: | Schotte, Simone (UNU-WIDER); Danquah, Michael (UNU-WIDER); Osei, Robert (University of Ghana); Sen, Kunal (University of Manchester) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we provide causal evidence of the immediate and near-term impact of stringent COVID-19 lockdown policies on employment outcomes, using Ghana as a case study. We take advantage of a specific policy setting, in which strict stay-at-home orders were issued and enforced in two spatially delimited areas, bringing Ghana's major metropolitan centres to a standstill, while in the rest of the country less stringent regulations were in place. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that the three-week lockdown had a large and significant immediate negative impact on employment in the treated districts, particularly among workers in informal self-employment. While the gap in employment between the treated and control districts had narrowed four months after the lockdown was lifted, we detect a persistent nationwide decline in both earnings and employment, jeopardizing particularly the livelihoods of small business owners mainly operating in the informal economy. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, lockdown, employment, informal economy, Ghana |
| JEL: | I18 J46 J63 O55 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14692&r= |