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102. Poverty and Social Violence in Africa: Nigeria as Case Study
- Author:
- Hakeem Onapajo and Ufo Okeke Uzodike
- Publication Date:
- 10-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- African Heritage Institution (AfriHeritage)
- Abstract:
- As with most societies around the world, violence has been a common feature of many African societies. While political violence, especially those targeted at the state and involving armed groups, has gained popularity in public discourses, social violence is one form of violence that is not necessarily against the state. Often driven by few (if any) political objectives, social violence is increasingly becoming a regular occurrence in many states across Africa and other parts of the world. Unfortunately, because of the complex nature of its causal antecedents, social violence attracts less attention from scholars and policy makers. Based on the long-standing arguments that poverty and violence have a significant relationship, this paper focuses on, and demonstrates, the connection between the increasingly high poverty rates and armed social violence in Africa including urban violence and organized crimes such as kidnapping and drug trafficking. The paper presents a set of recommendations to ameliorate poverty and manage the incidence of armed social violence in Africa.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Development, Politics, Poverty, Armed Forces, Conflict, and Social Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria
103. Enter and exit: everyday state practices at Somaliland’s Hargeisa Egal International Airport
- Author:
- Tobias Gandrup
- Publication Date:
- 08-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The airport of Hargeisa, the capital of the officially unrecognized Republic of Somaliland, has been refurbished and upgraded over the past years in order to live up to international standards for security, immigration control and handling. In a new DIIS working paper, Tobias Gandrup (University of Antwerp) describes the contested role of the airport since colonial times and the collapse of the Somali state in 1991. By analysing the everyday practices of the airport as a way of 'performing the state', controlling entry and exit, Gandrup shows how the international standards act as external drivers for the formation of a new state in Somaliland. In this way, the licensed airport also provides a degree of international recognition to Somaliland.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Fragile States, Economy, Conflict, Peacebuilding, and Airports
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somaliland
104. On taxes and suspicion: ambivalences of rule and the politically possible in contemporary Hargeisa, Somaliland
- Author:
- Jorge Antonio Campos
- Publication Date:
- 08-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- In a new DIIS Working Paper, “On taxes and suspicion: ambivalences of rule and the politically possible in contemporary Hargeisa, Somaliland”, J. Antonio Campos from the University of Chicago explores the world of tax-collectors and fiscal officers in Hargeisa, the capital of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Somaliland. Based on extensive fieldwork, Campos interprets the interaction between bureaucrats and citizens in terms of “suspicion”, an elaborate feeling of ambivalence among tax officials. Interestingly, therefore, tax collection in Somaliland can be understood as operating without the recourse to state force. Tax officials come out rather as agents of a common collective project of the new state, thus representing the hope of a political future without coercion. The WP is part of a new series from the GOVSEA research program (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa).
- Topic:
- Development, Fragile States, Economy, Conflict, Tax Systems, and Fiscal Policy
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somaliland
105. Corridors of trade and power: economy and state formation in Somali East Africa
- Author:
- Tobias Hagmann and Finn Stepputat
- Publication Date:
- 09-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Despite ongoing conflicts, Somalia’s economy has evolved considerably since the disintegration of the central state in 1991. However, our knowledge and understanding of how transnational Somali economic life is organised and how it influences political dynamics remains limited. As part of the research programme “Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa” (GOVSEA) this working paper provides an overview of the existing literature on the subject. This paper presents a summary analysis of key features of the Somali economy and proposes a periodisation of the evolution of Somali business between 1991 and today: from the heavily informalised economy of the 1980s, the violent markets of the early 1990s and the subsequent ‘duty-free shop’ period, to the emergence of a more regulated economy with a significant development of multi-clan shareholder companies since the mid-2000s. In doing so, this paper offers numerous empirical and analytical insights into the relationship between trade, violence and regulation. With ongoing and future research on this topic in mind, we suggest a series of research questions and conceptualise the nexus between everyday economic activities and state formation dynamics. Finally, we propose a ‘corridor approach’, focussing on transnational corridors of trade and transport that traverse Somali East Africa, as a way of grasping the complex and dynamic interactions between state formation and everyday economic activity.
- Topic:
- Development, Migration, Non State Actors, Economy, State Formation, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somaliland
106. Regional Trade For Inclusive Development In West Africa
- Author:
- Chukwuka Onyekwena and Tirimisiyu F. Oloko
- Publication Date:
- 11-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
- Abstract:
- This study examines the potential of regional trade in facilitating the achievement of inclusive development in the West African region. It employs descriptive analysis to examine the nature, composition and dimension of ECOWAS trade within the group and with the rest of the world, vis–vis three other Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). From the preliminary study, it can be observed that the growth rate of West African economies is increasing, but the rising economic growth does not translate to improvement in inclusive development, as there was no significant reduction in poverty levels in the region. Further evidence reveals that extra-regional trade of the region is increasing at a very high rate, and also at a disproportionate rate with intra-regional trade, compared with SADC. This indicates the existence of opportunity to boost regional trade for inclusive development through conversion of part of the extra-regional trade into regional trade.
- Topic:
- Development, Trade, Regional Economy, and Inclusion
- Political Geography:
- West Africa and Africa
107. Ethiopians’ Views of Democratic Government: Fear, Ignorance, or Unique Understanding of Democracy?
- Author:
- Robert Mattes and Mulu Teka
- Publication Date:
- 05-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Afrobarometer
- Abstract:
- As part of Afrobarometer's Round 5 surveys in 35 African countries, its partner ABCON PLC Consulting House interviewed 2,400 adult Ethiopians in August 2013. Analysis of the collected data raised significant questions about the comparability of Ethiopia results with those from other surveyed countries, particularly with regard to attitudes toward democracy. These questions are laid out and explored in this working paper. In light of these questions, Afrobarometer has not included Ethiopia results in multi-country analyses. We advise caution in any attempt to compare responses to democracy-related questions from Ethiopia with those from other African countries. Analysts are advised to use the Ethiopia data set only in a stand-alone setting or to limit their comparative analysis to items that are not focused on democracy.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, Public Opinion, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Ethiopia
108. Paving the Way for Investment in Geothermal Power Deployment in Developing Countries
- Author:
- Thomas Adisorn
- Publication Date:
- 05-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- Geothermal power represents a unique source of electricity, for instance due to its low-carbon and base-load character. Some developing countries have a great potential for deploying geothermal power and, thus, for providing climate-friendly electricity to their economies and people. However, in order to reap the benefits of geothermal power substantial barriers must be overcome. By having screened the relevant literature, important hurdles to geothermal power deployment were defined: financing barriers, institutional barriers and uncertainty, lack of human resources, information barriers and social opposition. Through desk research carried out for Indonesia and Kenya, both of which are frontrunners in terms of installed geothermal power capacity, this study identifies options that contribute to overcoming aforementioned barriers. Hence, it offers recommendations primarily to developing countries in order to realize geothermal power production and, thus, to contribute to climate change mitigation.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and Renewable Energy
- Political Geography:
- Kenya, Africa, Indonesia, and Asia-Pacific
109. Local Content Frameworks in the African Oil and Gas Sector: Lessons from Angola and Chad
- Author:
- Elijah Dickens Mushemeza and John Okiira
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
- Abstract:
- This paper seeks to identify the main characteristics and outcomes of local content frameworks (LCFs) in African oil and gas producing countries. This research is based on the hypothesis that the more specifi c the /CFs, the Eetter the outcomes. 7he study adopts a comparative case study approach based on experiences in seven African countries (Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda) with aim of understanding the broader context and trends. To achieve this objective, a reJional cataloJue of /CFs and practices is developed in order to fi ll the NnoZledJe gap about local content experiences in Africa. The cases of Angola and Chad are explored in greater detail in order to identify additional factors that may shape the outcomes of LCFs. 7he research reveals tZo main fi ndinJs. First, all seven countries in the study have implemented LCFs to promote local employment, skills development and national industry participation. However, only Angola, Ghana and Nigeria have developed specifi c local content policy, leJislation and contracts for the oil and Jas sector. 6econd, there appears to Ee a direct correlation EetZeen specifi city of /CFs and the outcomes achieved. Countries Zith more specifi c /CFs such as AnJola and 1iJeria tend to produce Eetter outcomes Zhile those Zith less specifi c frameZorNs ETuatorial Guinea, Tanzania and Uganda, for example) produce weaker outcomes.
- Topic:
- Development, Oil, Natural Resources, Gas, and Policymaking
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Angola, and Chad
110. Innovation and Action in Funding Girls\' Education
- Author:
- Xanthe Ackerman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Many more girls are going to school than ever before, thanks in large part to the Education for All movement (EFA),14 the Millennium Development Goals and international and national programs that have increased access to school for all children. Legislation to make primary education free of charge in many African and Asian countries has greatly contributed to the decrease in the number of primary-school-age girls who are out of school, even as the population of schoolage children has continued to increase. At the primary level, the share of girls in the out-of-school population dropped from 58 percent in 2000 to 53 percent in 2012.15
- Topic:
- Development
- Political Geography:
- Africa
111. Curbing Violence in Nigeria (III): Revisiting the Niger Delta
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Violence in the Niger Delta may soon increase unless the Nigerian government acts quickly and decisively to address long-simmering grievances. With the costly Presidential Amnesty Program for ex-insurgents due to end in a few months, there are increasingly bitter complaints in the region that chronic poverty and catastrophic oil pollution, which fuelled the earlier rebellion, remain largely unaddressed. Since Goodluck Jonathan, the first president from the Delta, lost re-election in March, some activists have resumed agitation for greater resource control and self-determination, and a number of ex-militant leaders are threatening to resume fighting (“return to the creeks”). While the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East is the paramount security challenge, President Muhammadu Buhari rightly identifies the Delta as a priority. He needs to act firmly but carefully to wind down the amnesty program gradually, revamp development and environmental programs, facilitate passage of the long-stalled Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and improve security and rule of law across the region.
- Topic:
- Security, Political Violence, Development, Environment, Oil, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria
112. Capital Flight from Africa and Development Inequality: Domestic and Global Dimensions
- Author:
- Léonce Ndikumana
- Publication Date:
- 03-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)
- Abstract:
- Over the past decades African economies have exhibited two stunning paradoxes: growth acceleration coexisting with stubbornly high poverty rates; increasing capital flight along with widening development financing gaps. There has been no attempt to link the two in the literature. This paper attempts to fill the gap; it suggests that the implications of capital flight for the inequality-growth-poverty nexus may be the key. Specifically, the paper proposes to shift attention to conceptual and empirical analysis of the implications of capital flight for inequality along income lines and inequality in development both within African countries and between Africa and advanced economies. The evidence presented in the paper indicates that Africa may be more unequal along human development dimensions than along income, and points to the possibility that capital flight may be one of the factors behind the observed limited poverty reduction gains from growth and persistent development gap between African countries and advanced economies.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, Politics, History, Economies, Inequality, Finance, Microeconomics, Capital Flight, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Africa
113. Gordian knot: A panoramic perspective on stemming illicit financial flows from Africa
- Author:
- Melvin Ayogu
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)
- Abstract:
- Pushing this strand of research brings a certain feeling of trepidation. It comes from recognizing that by openly elaborating on how to catch or deter a criminal, you thereby confer an undue advantage on the criminal through forewarning. Obtaining a head start in the race to prevail, they (criminals) are able to consider and possibly devise an effective circumvention strategy. But if the criminal must not see it coming then, what aspects of how to stop a thief shall we and shall we not reveal or discuss openly amongst all? There are no easy answers to the conundrum. For instance, one has to consider the signaling value of openly engaging in discussions on how to stop criminal activities and then, balance that benefit against the paradox of empowerment. The balancing act is important because some aspects of the preventive remedies can unintentionally enable the very thing which society is striving to prevent.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, Politics, History, Inequality, Finance, Microeconomics, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Africa
114. Political Risks Facing African Democracies: Evidence from Afrobarometer
- Author:
- Michael Bratton and E. Gyimah-Boadi
- Publication Date:
- 05-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Afrobarometer
- Abstract:
- Where are African countries headed politically? How resilient are Africa’s governments, regimes, and states? What are the characteristics of political risk? This paper is motivated by a desire to discover whether it is possible to identify early-warning indicators of risk to African political systems. We suggest that Afrobarometer survey data may be used to systematically track trends in mass political support – such as approval for incumbent governments, satisfaction with political regime performance, and the popular legitimacy of state institutions. Where trends in dimensions of popular disapproval turn sharply upward, we infer increasing political risk. The paper is anchored empirically with 15 years’ worth of public opinion data for selected African countries and offers interpretations of what these observations might mean. The analysis is both retrospective – connecting empirical trends to known episodes of instability in Mali, Kenya, and Zimbabwe – and prospective – raising red flags for countries like Ghana, among others, once considered stable but currently facing new political strains.
- Topic:
- Development, Politics, Public Opinion, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Africa
115. Building Inclusive Smallholder Agriculture Finance
- Author:
- Simon Striegel
- Publication Date:
- 11-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- Despite the increasing liberalization and penetration of rural financial markets in the global South, small-scale agricultural producers’ scarce access to formal financial services still constitutes a fundamental roadblock to improving financial inclusion and, thus, rural livelihoods. High transaction costs combined with covariant risks, a lack of financial literacy and the prevalence of moral hazard in agicultural lending impair the profitability and, hence, the availability of smallholder agricultural finance. Based on the theoretical concept of New Institutional Economics and underpinned by empirical evidence from small-scale coffee producers and financial institutions in Tanzania, this paper identifies major challenges of smallholder finance in the country and possible pathways through which financial inclusion can be elevated. The assessment of Tanzania’s smallholder-based coffee sector and financial system reveals that while organizational development among small-scale producers is clearly insufficient, inclusive rural financial systems, above all, depend on cohesive, well-governed and - managed producer organizations which qualify and act as intermediation points between small-scale producers and financial institutions.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, Finance, Rural, and Farming
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Tanzania
116. How should Uganda grow?
- Author:
- Ricardo Hausmann, Brad Cunningham, John Matovu, Rosie Osire, and Kelly Wyett
- Publication Date:
- 01-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- ncome per capita in Uganda has doubled in the last 20 years. This remarkable performance has been buoyed by significant aid flows and large external imbalances. Economic growth has been concentrated in non-tradable activities leading to growing external imbalances and a growing gap between rural and urban incomes. Future growth will depend on achieving sufficient export dynamism. In addition, growth faces a number of other challenges: low urbanization rate, rapid rural population growth and high dependency ratios. However, both the dependency ratio and fertility rates have begun to decline recently. Rural areas are also severely overcrowded with low-productivity subsistence agriculture as a pervasive form of production. Commercial agriculture has great possibilities to increase output, but as the sector improves its access to capital, inputs and technology it will shed jobs rather than create them. These challenges combined tell us that future growth in Uganda will require a rapid rate of export growth and economic diversification. The country faces the prospect of an oil boom of uncertain size and timing. It could represent an important stepping stone to achieve external sustainability, expanded income and infrastructure and a greater internal market. However, as with all oil booms, the challenges include avoiding the Dutch disease, managing the inevitable volatility in oil incomes and avoiding inefficient specialization in oil. Policies that set targets for the non-oil deficit could help manage some of these effects, but a conscious strategy to diversify would still be needed. The best strategy is therefore to use the additional oil revenue and accompanying investments to promote a diversification strategy that is sustainable. To determine how to encourage such a transformation, we draw on a new line of research that demonstrates how development seldom implies producing more of the same. Instead, as countries grow, they tend to move into new industries, while they also increase productivity in existing sectors. In this report, we analyze what those new industries might be for Uganda. To do so, we first look to those products which balance the desire to increase the diversification and complexity of production, while not over-stretching existing capabilities. These include mostly agricultural inputs, such as agrochemicals and food processing. In addition, Uganda should concurrently develop more complex industries, such as construction materials, that are reasonably within reach of current capabilities and will be in great demand in the context of an oil boom. Here, the fact that Uganda is landlocked and faces high import costs will provide natural protection to the expanding demand in Uganda and neighboring countries. We conclude with a discussion of the government policies that will support Uganda in developing new tradable industries.
- Topic:
- Development, Humanitarian Aid, Science and Technology, and Economic Growth
- Political Geography:
- Uganda and Africa
117. Natural Resources and Capital Flight: A Role for Policy?
- Author:
- Lemma W. Senbet, Gregoire Rota-Graziosi, and Rabah Arezki
- Publication Date:
- 09-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)
- Abstract:
- This paper investigates the relationship between natural resources and capital flight in the form of tax avoidance from multinational corporations. In particular, it focuses on the spillover effects in terms of tax revenue mobilization and stock market development from the thin capitalization rule, a policy instrument aimed at limiting firm tax avoidance through setting limits on a firm’s foreign indebtedness. We exploit the plausibly exogenous within-country variations of data on oil discoveries for a panel of 117 countries during the period 1970–2012. We find evidence that oil discoveries significantly enhance both tax revenue mobilization and stock market development, but only when a thin capitalization rule is in place. We argue that these findings can be explained through the limiting role of a thin capitalization rule in multinational companies’ use of financial transactions among their affiliates or tax havens to transfer part of the profit. The thin capitalization rule may thus not only help limit the erosion of the domestic tax base but may also entice multinational corporations to resort to using and developing the domestic financial system.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Financial Markets, Economic Growth, Capital Flows, and Capital Flight
- Political Geography:
- Africa
118. Development as Diffusion: Manufacturing Productivity and Sub-Saharan Africa's Missing Middle
- Author:
- Vijaya Ramachandran, Alan Gelb, and Christian J. Meyer
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- We consider economic development of Sub-Saharan Africa from the perspective of slow convergence of productivity, both across sectors and across firms within sectors. Why have "productivity enclaves", islands of high productivity in a sea of smaller low-productivity firms, not diffused more rapidly? We summarize and analyze three sets of factors: First, the poor business climate, which constrains the allocation of production factors between sectors and firms. Second, the complex political economy of business-government relations in Africa's small economies. Third, the distribution of firm capabilities. The roots of these factors lie in Africa's geography and its distinctive history, including the legacy of its colonial period on state formation and market structure.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Industrial Policy, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- Africa
119. Foreign investments in Uganda's oil sector: linkages and issues for the local economy
- Author:
- Anne Mette Kjær
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The Ugandan economy resembles many other economies in sub-Saharan Africa in that it has a large subsistence sector, relies on a few primary commodities for export and depends on aid to finance its public services. Oil and minerals have so far not been important to the economy. However, this might change as an estimated 3.5 billion barrel oil reservoir has been discovered in Uganda's Western and Northwestern Albertine Graben. Minerals have also been found and are being sold off as concessions. If oil revenues start to be mobilized as currently planned (2016-17), significant changes in not only government finance but also in the governments' relationships with donors and in state–society relations are likely to occur. The consequences for local communities and the environment are also likely to be significant.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Oil, Natural Resources, Foreign Aid, Fragile/Failed State, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Uganda and Africa
120. From enclave to linkage economies? A review of the literature on linkages between extractive multinational corporations and local industry in Africa
- Author:
- Michael W. Hansen
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- If African developing countries are to benefit fully from the current boom in foreign direct investment (FDI) in extractives (i.e. mining and oil/gas), it is essential that the foreign investors foster linkages to the local economy. Traditionally, extractive FDI in Africa has been seen as the enclave economy par excellence, moving in with fully integrated value chains, extracting resources and exporting them as commodities having virtually no linkages to the local economy. However, new opportunities for promoting linkages are offered by changing business strategies of local African enterprises as well as foreign multinational corporations (MNCs). MNCs in extractives are increasingly seeking local linkages as part of their efficiency, risk, and asset-seeking strategies, and linkage programmes are becoming integral elements in many MNCs' corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. At the same time, local African enterprises are eager to, and increasingly capable of, linking up to the foreign investors in order to expand their activities and acquire technology, skills and market access. The changing strategies of MNCs and the improving capabilities of African enterprises offer new opportunities for governments and donors to mobilize extractive FDI for development goals. This paper seeks to take stock of what we know about the state of and driving forces of linkage formation in South Sahel Africa extractives based on a review of the extant literature. The paper argues that while MNCs and local enterprises by themselves will indeed produce linkages, the scope, depth and development impacts of linkages eventually depend on government intervention. Resource-rich African countries' governments are aware of this and linkage promotion is increasingly becoming a key element in their industrialization strategies. A main point of the paper is that the choice between different linkage policies and approaches should be informed by a firm understanding of the workings of the private sector as well as the political and institutional capacity of host governments to adopt and implement linkage policies and approaches.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Markets, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Africa