Political Geography: Africa / Topic: Foreign Aid

1. Fragile States and Aid Allocation for Sub-Saharan African Countries: An Empirical Research

Author:: Zeynep Arıöz and Hacer Soykan Adaoğlu
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: State fragility has received increasing attention in recent decades as a result of the nexus between development and international stability. This study investigates the empirical drivers of state fragility in sub-Saharan Africa from 2007 to 2019. We shed light on the explanatory variables of government effectiveness, political stability, per-capita GDP, grow GDP%, International Monetary Fund loans, and official development assistance. Using panel data analysis and a 39-country sample, our study finds that government efficiency and political stability, in contrast to foreign aid, has a significant effect on reducing fragility in sub-Saharan Africa. In light of these findings, the article proposes delivering foreign aid in ways that strengthen state capacity.
Topic:: Foreign Aid, Econometrics, International Institutions, and Fragility
Political Geography:: Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

2. The Mattei Plan for Africa: A Turning Point for Italy’s Development Cooperation Policy?

Author:: Daniele Fattibene
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: At the end of January 2024, Italy hosted an Africa summit during which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni outlined the vision and first projects of the so-called “Mattei Plan”, an ambitious project announced officially at the end of 2023[1] that aims to shape Italy’s strategy for Africa in the years to come.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Italy

3. Coming to Grips with Poverty in Africa

Author:: Mark Wentling
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Reducing poverty has been at the heart of U.S. foreign assistance in dozens of low-income countries for more than a half-century. Despite U.S. foreign policy objectives, much work, and hundreds of billions of assistance dollars expended, the poorest of the poor have not advanced. While some low-income countries have made some small progress, after decades of aid most are still in the bottom ranks of absolute poverty. All the countries in the Least Developed Country (LDC) category have more poor people than ever before. Thirty-seven of forty-seven of these LDC countries are in Africa. Although a handful of countries have graduated from LDC status, this disturbing ranking remains basically unchanged since the LDC list was established by the UN General Assembly in 1971. This unchanging list of extremely poor countries tells us that a better understanding of poverty is needed, especially in Africa, to make U.S assistance programs more effective. While Asian countries have made remarkable progress over the past 50 years in reducing the number of poor, the absolute number in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to grow. People in SSA are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than in South Asia, the next poorest region in the world. The World Bank reported there were 284 million Africans living in extreme poverty in 1990; this number had risen to 433 million in 2018 and continues to rise. The percentage of the population living in poverty in SSA is slowly decreasing, but this decline is overcome by population growth. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed tens of millions of people below the poverty line of $1.90 per day. Climate change, rising crime, inflation, and violent conflict are forcing many more millions below this line. Governments that are unable to provide basic services and struggle to cope with high levels of national debt compound the problem. The 2030 UN targets for eradicating poverty will not be met.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Africa

4. Who Lends to Africa and How? Introducing the Africa Debt Database

Author:: David Mihalyi and Christoph Trebesch
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
Abstract:: Africa’s sovereign debt markets are not well understood, partly due to a lack of data. This paper introduces the Africa Debt Database (ADD), the most granular and comprehensive dataset on external borrowing by African governments thus far. Our project moves beyond existing aggregate datasets and instead releases information on individual loans and bonds, in particular on the financial terms of each instrument. Taken together, we cover nearly 7000 loans and bonds between 2000 and 2020, with a total volume of 644 billion USD. Using this data, we study Africa’s record lending boom of the 2010s in detail. The debt boom was mainly driven by large sovereign bond issuances in London and New York, as well as growing lending by Chinese state-owned banks. The micro data also reveal a large variation in lending terms across countries, time, and creditors. Sovereign external bonds have interest rates of 6 percent, on average, Chinese banks charge 2-4 percent, and multilateral organizations just 1 percent. Strikingly, many governments in Africa simultaneously borrow large amounts from both private and official creditors, at vastly different rates. The large differences in debt servicing costs are indicative of a cross-creditor subsidy, as cheap concessional loans can be used to pay the high interest to private or Chinese creditors.
Topic:: Economics, Foreign Aid, Credit, and Influence
Political Geography:: Africa, China, and Asia

5. International Dimensions of Authoritarian Persistence in the MENA Region: Revisiting US Foreign Aid to Egypt in the post-2011 Arab Uprisings Era

Author:: Eman Ratrout and Nur Köprülü
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:: International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:: The majority of studies that examine political liberalization and democratization in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region concentrate on internal factors such as Islamic or patriarchal culture, oil rents, socio-economic structures and patrimonialism. This article argues instead that external factors under the cloak of aid represent one of the main dynamics impeding democratic transformation in the region, and precisely supports authoritarian regime consolidation. In this regard, Egypt can be described as a case of authoritarian stability in the post-2011 Arab Uprisings era in which politics and stability rather than democratization and/ or development agenda have become the main motive behind donor decisions hitherto. In this article, Egypt has been selected as a case study to illuminate how the increased hopes and dividends of democratic transition from the Arab Uprisings can swiftly turn into upholding authoritarian rule.
Topic:: Foreign Aid, Hegemony, Authoritarianism, and Arab Spring
Political Geography:: Africa, Egypt, and MENA

6. Does Project-Level Foreign Aid Increase Access to Improved Water Sources? Evidence from Household Panel Data in Uganda

Author:: Lynda Pickbourn, Raymond Caraher, and Léonce Ndikumana
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:: This paper combines geocoded subnational data on the location of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) aid projects in Uganda with nationally representative household-level panel survey data to evaluate the impact of WASH aid on access to water and on the burden of water collection. Specifically, it examines whether proximity to aid-funded WASH projects improves household access to improved water sources and reduces the time burden of water collection. Our results suggest that while aid-funded WASH projects increase household access to improved sources of water, households may also see the time burden of water collection increase, as they may need to travel longer distances and also experience longer wait times due to congestion at water service points. This is an indication that the supply of improved water sources is still insufficient relative to demand as measured by the population density.
Topic:: Foreign Aid, Water, Data, and WASH Projects
Political Geography:: Uganda and Africa

7. Renewable energy in Africa is about more than climate change: Aid needed for both clean energy and local capacity

Author:: Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen and Ole Winckler Andersen
Publication Date:: 03-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Development assistance for new renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa is increasingly being used to mobilise additional private capital. Recipient countries do not always share the priorities of donors. Realism and long-term support are key. RECOMMENDATIONS: Continue funding, but also acknowledge different interests and objectives, in order to move new renewable energy to scale. Balance the support for market development with support to government entities. Support longer-term capacity-building to ensure energy sector sustainability in recipient countries. Adopt flexible approaches and ensure independent advice to governments and institutions.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Foreign Aid, and Renewable Energy
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, Denmark, and Sub-Saharan Africa

8. Public development aid should refocus on agriculture and education in Africa

Author:: Louis Caudron
Publication Date:: 03-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
Abstract:: On 18 December 2020, the European Commission welcomed the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Member States allocating €79.5 billion to a new Neighbourhood, Development Cooperation and International Cooperation Instrument (NDCI) for the period 2021- 2027. Since its creation, the European Union has been a major player in public aid granted by rich countries to developing countries. The European Development Fund (EDF) was launched by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and for decades provided aid to the former colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The eleventh EDF, covering the period 2014- 2020 with a budget of €30.5 billion, will be replaced by the NDICI (Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument). The Union and its Member States are the world's largest donor of official development assistance. Their contribution of €74.4 billion in 2018 represents more than half of the OECD countries’ Official Development Assistance ($150 billion in 2018).
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Education, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Europe

9. A Comprehensive Evaluation on Korea’s ODA to Rwanda’s Agriculture Sector and Its implications for Strategic Approaches

Author:: Young Ho Park, Minji Jeong, and Soo Hyun Moon
Publication Date:: 01-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:: There has been a growing consensus in the national and international aid architecture that sporadic or scattered aid modality should be avoided. This study conducted a comprehensive cluster evaluation on Korea’s agricultural ODA to Rwanda between 2013 and 2017, with two newly devised indexes: Cluster Performance Index (CPI) and Resource Allocation Index (RAI). Every Korean agricultural ODA project was categorized into five clusters and numerically evaluated against criteria widely used in the evaluation of development projects: relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. Our cluster evaluation reveals that projects are mostly planned appropriately, but in some clusters, large amounts of the budget have been invested in poorly planned projects. Regarding efficiency, there was considerable room for improvement in all clusters. Particularly, in the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) category, all clusters scored below average. Concerning performance evaluation, all clusters scored relatively high in effectiveness, specifically in goal achievement. Lastly, in terms of sustainability, risk management was found to be relatively inadequate in all clusters. Based on the lessons from the aforementioned observations and analysis results, this study suggests ODA quality can be improved by optimizing budget allocation, improving monitoring efficiency, creating synergistic effects through cluster linkage, and developing agricultural value chain program.
Topic:: Agriculture, Foreign Aid, Economy, and Value Chains
Political Geography:: Africa, Asia, Korea, and Rwanda

10. Great Britain and Africa: Boris Johnson's Strategic Reversals

Author:: François Gaulme
Publication Date:: 05-2021
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI)
Abstract:: In 2020-2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson undertook to fundamentally change the operational mode and strategy of relations between the United Kingdom and the African continent bequeathed by his predecessors since 1997. Great Britain and Africa : Boris Johnson's Strategic Reversals He first put an end to the autonomy and power of the great Department for International Development (DfID), by merging it with the Foreign Office. Deciding to make the granting of aid political, he also reduced its amount on the grounds of the recession hitting the country but against British legislation itself. His strategy for external deployment, adopted in March 2021 and based primarily on an “Indo-Pacific tilt”, has marginalised the relationship with Africa to which Theresa May had wanted to give new impetus in the perspective of the Brexit in 2018. While taking up her concept of “Global Britain”, her successor now seems to want to limit ties with Africa to business relations, highly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as minimal participation in security efforts on the continent. This note analyses such reversals in a historical perspective of the end of a relational cycle. It concludes that Boris Johnson’s very personal policy towards Africa is too reductive not to be amended. In particular on aid and fundamental rights, it neglects the complexity of British positions towards this continent. By reaffirming the strength of the strategic relationship with the United States, it will also have to adapt to the new African policy of the Biden administration.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Development, Foreign Aid, and Boris Johnson
Political Geography:: Britain, Africa, and Europe

11. Redesigning U.S. Assistance to Africa in the Post-Pandemic Era

Author:: Mark Wentling
Publication Date:: 11-2020
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: It is my opinion that the interest of the United States is best served in most African countries by improving the basic welfare of their people. The effectiveness of U.S. aid in Africa can be enhanced by focusing on the least developed countries. Helping address basic human needs, notably in the areas of education and health, should be top priority, especially the education of girls. Increasing agricultural production to improve nutritional health also deserves greater attention. Assistance funding needs to be stable and independent of political and diplomatic considerations. The composition of U.S. overseas missions and cumbersome bureaucratic processes must be revised to permit the effective and timely implementation of this new strategy. These changes are necessary to raise hopes for a better future for millions of Africans and to strengthen the role of the U.S. in Africa.
Topic:: Education, Health, Foreign Aid, Pandemic, and Girls
Political Geography:: Africa, North America, and United States of America

12. The Use of Aid to Counter China's "Djibouti Strategy" in the South Pacific

Author:: John Lee
Publication Date:: 03-2019
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Hudson Institute
Abstract:: China has gradually militarized its facilities in the horn of Africa (Djibouti) under the pretense of anti-piracy operations and development aid since 2017, which has forced the U.S., France, and Japan to accept a permanent Chinese military presence in the same 14,400 square-mile African territory, where China is now holding live-fire exercises. Dubbed the “Djibouti strategy,” Beijing is now executing this tactic across the South Pacific, one of the most aid-dependent regions of the world. China, one of the highest contributors to Official Development Assistant (ODA) in the South Pacific, uses that tool at first under the guise of aid while actually employing it to shape the islands’ infrastructure to its own strategic military advantage. China is currently building infrastructure capable of dual economic and military use in Fiji, the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, and other Pacific islands. These projects support China’s aim to break through the First and Second Island Chains, a series of pro-U.S. countries that limit Chinese naval access to the Philippine Sea and Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, U.S. ODA is deployed inefficiently and inconsistently through 19 separate agencies. The design, delivery, and administration of U.S. development assistance must be reformed. ODA is a national security issue, not just a humanitarian one. The U.S. defense community needs to embrace the strategic potential of ODA and its capacity to strengthen democracies and counter malign influence abroad.
Topic:: International Relations, Foreign Aid, Infrastructure, Alliance, and Soft Power
Political Geography:: Africa, China, Asia, Djibouti, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, United States of America, Fiji, and South Pacific

13. The Art of Summitry

Author:: Judd Devermont
Publication Date:: 09-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: It has recently become fashionable to host a regional summit with African leaders. The Arab states, China, the European Union, France, India, Russia, and Turkey all established high-profile diplomatic forums with African counterparts. Japan has been one of the pacesetters, inviting African governments, as well as multilateral institutions, to attend TICAD since 1993. TICAD’s seventh iteration, which was staged in Yokohama from August 28- 30, 2019, welcomed 42 African presidents, vice presidents, and prime ministers and witnessed the signing of 110 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with African countries and private-sector companies.1,2 The United States chaired one such event, the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, in August 2014. While it represented a milestone in U.S.-African diplomatic engagement, the United States has not attempted anything on the same scale since. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Commerce with Bloomberg Philanthropies chaired a second U.S.-Africa Business Forum. President Trump met with eight sub-Saharan African leaders on the margins of the UN General Assembly in 2017 and separately invited Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari and Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta to the White House in 2018. If the U.S. government decides to resume the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, it has the potential to deepen ties between the United States and African counterparts, as well as promote trade and investment and advance signature initiatives.
Topic:: Development, Foreign Aid, Leadership, and Humanitarian Intervention
Political Geography:: Africa, Japan, Asia, North America, and United States of America

14. Europe Must Play a Part in Filling the Power Vacuum in the Sahel

Author:: Rasmus Alenius Boserup and Luis Martinez
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Experiencing the consequences of an unstable Sahel, the EU and its member states will sooner or later be forced to fill the security and stability void left behind by the weakness of the states in the Sahel and the lack of willingness of North and East Africa’s regional powers to become involved.
Topic:: Humanitarian Aid, International Affairs, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

15. Africa and the Politics of Possibility

Author:: Louis S. Segesvary
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: According to the IMF, the 2016 GDP per capita estimate for Eritrea was only $771 per annum; for Ethiopia $739; for Gambia $435; and for Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa's most populous country with major petroleum reserves, it was $2,930, or around $244 a month. According to a comprehensive report prepared by the African Development Bank Group, the number of impoverished people in sub-Saharan Africa had doubled from 1981 to 1998, with the number of people living on less than US $1 per day in the region, "reaching 290 million in 1998, which is over 46% of the total population." According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, in 2014/2015 some 153 million individuals in sub-Saharan Africa, about 26 percent of the population or one out of four individuals above 15 years of age, was "hungry but did not eat or went without eating for a whole day because there was not enough money or other resources for food." [...]a case can be made that all this aid has contributed to fostering a culture of dependency in which foreign aid grants become a form of entitlements that governments rely on to maintain a status quo, as opposed to attracting the type of private sector investments that grow economies.
Topic:: Development, Migration, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Europe

16. Networked security between “restraint” and “responsibility”? Germany’s security policy towards Africa

Author:: Ulf Engel
Publication Date:: 10-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Ulf Engel assesses the recent evolution of German security policy towards and engagement in Africa which should serve as a useful comparative model for Canada. Notably, in 2014 the German government adopted a comprehensive and networked approach through its Africa Policy Guidelines which is something completely lacking in Canada.
Topic:: Security, International Cooperation, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, Canada, Germany, and North America

17. Journal of Public and International Affairs 2014

Author:: Daphne McCurdy, Chikara Onda, Aaron Aitken, Lucia Adriana Baltazar Vazquez, John Paul Bumpus, John Speed Meyers, Pierina Ana Sanchez, Yolaine Frossard de Saugy, Melanie Harris, Steve Moilanen, Stephen Pritchard, Nicolas Collin dit de Montesson, and Naomi Crowther
Publication Date:: 05-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:: School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:: From pressing foreign policy issues such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea and homicide rates in Honduras to contentious domestic policy debates such as the rights of Mexican immigrants in the United States and the construction of the Keystone pipeline, the topics in this year’s journal are wide-ranging in both functional and geographic focus. However, they all share a strong commitment to seeking solutions to the world’s most serious challenges through sound policy.
Topic:: Crime, Government, Oil, Poverty, Sovereignty, Bilateral Relations, Territorial Disputes, Foreign Aid, Immigration, Governance, Law, Cybersecurity, and Grand Strategy
Political Geography:: Africa, China, Iran, Canada, Philippines, Mexico, Honduras, United States of America, and South China Sea

18. 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

19. Social Accountability and Public Service Delivery in Rural Africa

Publication Date:: 01-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Social accountability as a tool for development planning is gaining foothold in international donor circles. It is concerned with the responsibility and responsiveness of state authorities, as well as the ability of citizens to make claims and hold those who exercise power to account for their actions.
Topic:: Civil Society, Non-Governmental Organization, Foreign Aid, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa

20. 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

21. Family Planning and Linkages with U.S. Health and Development Goals

Author:: Janet Fleischman and Alisha Kramer
Publication Date:: 04-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: For decades, the United States has been the global leader in supporting voluntary family planning services around the world. The benefits of family planning are numerous, not only for women's health, but also for increasing child survival, nutrition, education, and economic development, as well as preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. For these reasons, family planning is a core component of sustainable development.
Topic:: Health, Foreign Aid, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:: Africa and United States

22. Beyond Haiti: Enhancing Latin American Military and Police Contributions to UN Peacekeeping

Author:: Bianca Selway
Publication Date:: 04-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: International Peace Institute
Abstract:: With fifteen UN peacekeeping missions already in operation and another in the Central African Republic on the horizon, UN peacekeeping continues to be in high demand. Today, DPKO deploys more than 83,000 troops, 13,000 police, and 2,000 observers, contributed voluntarily by member states. A majority of these are provided by African and South Asian member states, which together provide 74 percent of the UN's uniformed personnel. Latin America has a longstanding history of participating in UN peacekeeping, stretching back more than fifty years to some of the earliest peacekeeping operations. At present, Latin America contributes almost 7 percent of all UN troops and nearly 2 percent of UN police. Two Latin American states occupy spots in the group of top twenty uniformed contributors: Uruguay with a total of 2,164 uniformed personnel and Brazil with 1,755. Latin American contributions are predominantly military contributions (as opposed to police) to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), with support to missions in sub-Saharan Africa amounting to less than 2 percent of the total uniformed deployments to the region.
Topic:: International Cooperation, United Nations, Foreign Aid, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: Africa, South Asia, Brazil, United Nations, and Latin America

23. Brazil's growing relevance to peace and security in Africa

Author:: Adriana Erthal Abdenur and Danilo Marcondes de Souza Neto
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:: There is growing interest in the role of rising powers in African politics and development, as South-South cooperation with Africa expands. Although recent research on this trend has examined Brazil's increasing economic and political relevance in Africa, relatively little has been written on the country's involvement in peace and security on the continent. This report helps to address this gap by focusing on Brazil's role in African security, especially over the past decade – a period that brought about a surge in Brazil-Africa ties and, simultaneously, the development of the African Peace and Security Architecture. We find that Brazil's involvement encompasses a wide range of state and non-state actors, and that it has been motivated not only by economic interests, but also by a greater prioritisation of Africa and the South Atlantic by Brazil's foreign and defence policies. Topics covered in the report include Brazil's role in peacekeeping and peacebuilding, arms exports, military cooperation, concerns with the spread of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, positions on major crises, and institution-building efforts. These initiatives reflect not only Brazil's quest to become a global player, but also its efforts to redefine its strategic focus to encompass the South Atlantic.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, International Security, Bilateral Relations, Foreign Aid, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: Africa, Brazil, and South America

24. Turning the Tide on Ebola: Scaling up public health campaigns before it's too late

Author:: Debbie Hillier
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is totally unprecedented. The accelerating number of cases, the poor health infrastructure in affected countries, the short supply of skills, knowledge and personnel, and the fear surrounding this disease are providing a huge challenge to affected governments and the international community as they battle to bring the epidemic under control.
Topic:: International Relations, Security, Health, Humanitarian Aid, Foreign Aid, Health Care Policy, and Ebola
Political Geography:: Africa and West Africa

25. Improving Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health in Ghana

Author:: Katherine E. Bliss and Cathryn Streifel
Publication Date:: 11-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: In June 2014, a small team from the CSIS Global Health Policy Center traveled to Ghana to examine U.S. bilateral support for maternal, neonatal, and child health (MNCH). The purpose of the trip was to plan a return visit with a delegation of U.S. congressional staff in August 2014. Ghana's mixed progress toward meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 and 5 related to maternal and child health; its strong relationship on immunizations with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and its longstanding partnership on health with the United States were all reasons we decided to examine the country's MNCH situation. By late July, the acceleration of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa led us to postpone the trip until emergency preparations are not a major focus of the Ghanaian government, the United States, and other partners. Considering the fruitful meetings we had in June, we have captured here some of our initial impressions, observations, and recommendations.
Topic:: Health, Infectious Diseases, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, United States, and Ghana

26. The Political Economy of Bad Data: Evidence from African Survey Administrative Statistics

Author:: Amanda Glassman and Justin Sandefur
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Across multiple African countries, discrepancies between administrative data and independent household surveys suggest official statistics systematically exaggerate development progress. We provide evidence for two distinct explanations of these discrepancies. First, governments misreport to foreign donors, as in the case of a results-based aid program rewarding reported vaccination rates. Second, national governments are themselves misled by frontline service providers, as in the case of primary education, where official enrollment numbers diverged from survey estimates after funding shifted from user fees to per pupil government grants. Both syndromes highlight the need for incentive compatibility between data systems and funding rules.
Topic:: Development, Foreign Aid, Foreign Direct Investment, Governance, and Developing World
Political Geography:: Africa

27. Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2014

Author:: Nanna Hvidt and Hans Mouritzen (eds.)
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Danish Foreign Policy and the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2013 were marked by the continuing economic and political diffusion of power on the global stage – a development that generates dynamism and new opportunities in the globalised world, but also challenges the position of Europe. The Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs describes the political and economic developments in the world – which have led to a far-reaching reorganisation of Danish diplomatic representations abroad – and analyses the most important Danish foreign policy priorities of 2013. The article emphasizes trends in the EU, in international security, and regarding the Arctic and the transatlantic dimensions, as well as developments in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and finally global development trends.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Economics, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Asia

28. Education in Emergencies: The Case of the Dadaab Refugee Camps

Author:: Hayley Mackinnon
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Between 1991 and 2009, more than 2.5 million Somali citizens fled their homeland to Ethiopia, Djibouti and, most notably, Kenya, following the collapse of the Somalian government of Siad Barre. This led to violent clashes between various factional clan groups, and fighting to control land and resources ensued. This resulted in the displacement, starvation and slaughter of thousands of civilians, leading to a crisis that prompted international intervention during the 1990s.
Topic:: Development and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, United Nations, and Ethiopia

29. Social Accountability and Public Service Delivery in Rural Africa

Author:: Esbern Friis-Hansen
Publication Date:: 01-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Social accountability as a tool for development planning is gaining foothold in international donor circles. It is concerned with the responsibility and responsiveness of state authorities, as well as the ability of citizens to make claims and hold those who exercise power to account for their actions.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa

30. Pathway to National Dialogue in Sudan

Author:: Jon Temin and Princeton N. Lyman, Ph.D.
Publication Date:: 08-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Sudan urgently needs to embark on a national dialogue and reform process that is led by Sudanese and supported by the international community. The process should be broadly inclusive, involving elements of the current regime, Islamists, and all armed and unarmed opposition groups. Any meaningful process will be lengthy, likely requiring years to complete. If a genuine, inclusive process is underway, elections in 2015 may need to be delayed. The African Union High-Level Implementation Panel has a critical role to play in advocating for and guiding such a process.
Topic:: Development, Economics, International Cooperation, Foreign Aid, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:: Africa and Sudan

31. New Meeting Note: Security and Development in the Sahel-Sahara

Author:: Mireille Affa'a-Mindzie
Publication Date:: 10-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Peace Institute
Abstract:: After the severe twin crises that nearly brought Mali to its knees in January 2012, the country is gradually recovering from their debilitating consequences. In August 2013, Mali successfully elected its new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, thus putting an end to an eighteen-month-long transitional government that was put in place following the March 2012 coup. Even though the violence has abated and renewed hope seems to be in the air, the structural causes of the Malian conflict are still stubbornly present and their consequences are still being felt by neighboring Sahel countries that suffer from similar underlying ills. The situation in Mali and other concerned states in the region generated a renewed interest in the Sahel-Sahara region and in efforts to stabilize this region. This prompted the International Peace Institute, the Executive Secretariat of the Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel-Saharan Areas of Niger (SDS Sahel Niger), and the Centre for Strategies and Security for the Sahel Sahara (Centre 4S) to convene an international seminar on security and development in the Sahel-Sahara on February 15 and 16, 2013, in Niamey, Niger.
Topic:: Security, Civil Society, Development, Economics, Peace Studies, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

32. The New Transparency in Development Economics: Lessons from the Millennium Villages Controversy

Author:: Michael Clemens and Gabriel Demombynes
Publication Date:: 09-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The Millennium Villages Project is a high profile, multi-country development project that has aimed to serve as a model for ending rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The project became the subject of controversy when the methodological basis of early claims of success was questioned. The lively ensuing debate offers lessons on three recent mini-revolutions that have swept the field of development economics: the rising standards of evidence for measuring impact, the “open data” movement, and the growing role of the blogosphere in research debates.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

33. Is Anyone Listening? Does US Foreign Assistance Target People's Top Priorities?

Author:: Benjamin Leo
Publication Date:: 12-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The United States government has made repeated declarations over the last decade to align its assistance programs behind developing countries' priorities. By utilizing public attitude surveys for 42 African and Latin American countries, this paper examines how well the US has implemented this guiding principle. Building upon the Quality of Official Development Assistance Assessment (QuODA) approach, I identify what people cite most frequently as the 'most pressing problems' facing their nations and then measure the percentage of US assistance commitments that are directed towards addressing them. By focusing on public surveys over time, this analysis attempts to provide a more nuanced and targeted examination of whether US portfolios are addressing what people care the most about. As reference points, I compare US alignment trends with the two regional multilateral development banks (MDBs) – the African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Overall, this analysis suggests that US assistance may be only modestly aligned with what people in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America cite as their nation's most pressing problems. By comparison, the African Development Bank – which is majority-led by regional member nations – performs significantly better than the United States. Like the United States, however, the Inter-American Development Bank demonstrates a low relative level of support for people's top concerns.
Topic:: Security, Crime, Development, Economics, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, United States, America, and Latin America

34. His Excellency John Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana

Author:: John Mahama
Publication Date:: 09-2013
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:: This World Leaders Forum program features an address by His Excellency John Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, titled Reflections on the Challenges and Prospects of Democratic Consolidation in Africa, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topic:: Democratization, Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, Foreign Direct Investment, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa and Ghana

35. Journal of Public and International Affairs 2013

Author:: Greg Rosalsky, Sarah Schleck, Nathaniel D. F. Allen, Ezra Levin, Alex Penwill, Farzan Sabet, Daniel Tam-Claiborne, Albert Trithart, Mark Walker, Ben Grubb, and Gloria Twesigye
Publication Date:: 05-2013
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:: School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:: The nine articles in this volume were chosen from over 150 submissions through a blind-selection process in Princeton. After individually reading a large number of submissions, attending editors first voted for their favorite papers via secret ballot, and we then facilitated an open debate to winnow down these choices to the cream of the crop. In the intervening months before publication, editors in Princeton from relevant policy areas worked with the authors to fact-check their work and fine-tune their arguments. While their geographic foci and policy subjects are multifarious, all the authors in this edition share a passion for changing the world through better policy. Whether it is women’s health issues in Tanzania, banking regulation in the European Union, diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear ambitions, or immigration policy in the United States, the authors implore global policymakers to change course in order to remedy contemporary problems in public affairs. This dedication to making the world a better place through public policy, in addition to demonstrating first-rate scholarship, make us proud to showcase these articles.
Topic:: Health, Nuclear Weapons, Politics, Foreign Aid, Governance, Nuclear Power, Democracy, Economy, Arms Trade, and Microcredit
Political Geography:: Africa, China, Iran, Tanzania, Honduras, Mali, Niger, and United States of America

36. Investment Facilitation in Transitional and Fragile States

Author:: Jake Cusack and Matt Tilleard
Publication Date:: 12-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: This paper outlines a new tool for policymakers to deploy to encourage private-sector development in developing nations. Specifically it argues that in fragile states there are systemic failures that cause an intermediation gap between sources of capital and entrepreneurs seeking investment. This gap prevents investment by raising transaction costs and exacerbating information asymmetry. We present a case study of this gap as observed in our work in South Sudan. Then we propose a model of investment facilitation that bridges the intermediation gap. The model is based on donor funding of a neutral nongovernment facilitator to identify attractive investment opportunities, link them to capital, and facilitate transactions.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, Fragile/Failed State, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

37. Democratic Trajectories in Africa: Unravelling the Impact of Foreign Aid

Author:: Danielle Resnick
Publication Date:: 10-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: When, why and how has foreign aid facilitated, or hindered, democracy in recipient countries? Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, this policy brief examines the impact of foreign aid on supporting transitions from one-party to multi-party regimes, preventing democratic breakdown and the erosion of civil liberties, enhancing vertical and horizontal accountability, and enabling competitive political party systems. Particular attention is given to the trade-offs and complementarities between different types of foreign aid, namely democracy assistance and economic development aid. Select policy recommendations are offered to improve aid effectiveness at bolstering democratic trajectories within the region.
Topic:: Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Economics, Human Rights, Political Economy, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

38. Strengthening U.S. Investments in Women's Global Health

Author:: Janet Fleischman and Alisha Kramer
Publication Date:: 05-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: U.S. policymakers and private-sector partners increasingly appreciate the importance of targeted U.S. investments in women's health to achieve global health outcomes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.With budgetary constraints worsening, progress in women's health will require maximizing investments by engaging new partners, identifying program synergies, and aligning with countries' national priorities to meet women's needs. Such strategic coordination—involving maternal newborn and child health, voluntary family planning, and HIV and AIDS services—presents new opportunities to expand the impact of U.S. investments.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Health, Humanitarian Aid, Foreign Aid, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:: Africa and United States

39. Africa: open for business The potential, challenges and risks

Publication Date:: 02-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Economist Intelligence Unit
Abstract:: Africa is drawing increasing attention, not only from the perspective of businesses based in China and Europe, but also from operators in Africa itself. In particular, closer economic ties between Africa and China have been covered extensively by the media recently—with fairly mixed reviews. This paper highlights the potential, challenges and risks for doing business in Africa over the next few years.
Topic:: Development, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa, China, and Europe

40. Cooperating with China in Africa

Publication Date:: 02-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: OECD donors, international organisations and non-governmental organisations are increasingly cooperating with China in Africa. This policy brief offers recommendations for policy-makers on how to lay the groundwork for such cooperation. It also stresses that the involvement of African partners is critical in fully realizing the benefits such cooperation can provide for sustainable development.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Development, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa and China

41. Burundi: A Deepening Corruption Crisis

Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: Despite the establishment of anti-corruption agencies, Burundi is facing a deepening corruption crisis that threatens to jeopardise a peace that is based on development and economic growth bolstered by the state and driven by foreign investment. The “neopatrimonialist” practices of the party in office since 2005 has relegated Burundi to the lowest governance rankings, reduced its appeal to foreign investors, damaged relations with donors; and contributed to social discontent. More worrying still, neopatrimonialism is undermining the credibility of post-conflict institutions, relations between former Tutsi and new Hutu elites and cohesion within the ruling party, whose leaders are regularly involved in corruption scandals. In order to improve public governance, the Burundian authorities should “walk the talk” and take bold steps to curtail corruption. Civil society should actively pursue its watchdog role and organise mass mobilisation against corruption and donors should prioritise good governance.
Topic:: Corruption, Development, Foreign Aid, Foreign Direct Investment, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa

42. Innovative Financing in Early Recovery: The Liberia Health Sector Pool Fund

Author:: Amanda Glassman, Jacob Hughes, and Walter Gwenigale
Publication Date:: 02-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: In post-conflict Liberia, the National Health Plan set out a process for transitioning from emergency to sustainability under government leadership. The Liberia Health Sector Pool Fund, which consists of DfID, Irish Aid, UNICEF, and UNHCR, was established to fund this plan and mitigate this transition by increasing institutional capacity, reducing the transaction costs associated with managing multiple donor projects, and fostering the leadership of the Liberian Health Ministry by allocating funds to national priorities. In this paper, we discuss the design of the health pool fund mechanism, assess its functioning, compare the pooled fund to other aid mechanisms used in Liberia, and look into the enabling conditions, opportunities, and challenges of the pool fund.
Topic:: Development, Health, United Nations, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Liberia

43. Covering Elections: The Challenges of Training the Watchdogs

Author:: Rosemary Armao
Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:: An unparalleled opportunity for media developers to boost democracy is at hand in the Middle East and North Africa, where once repressed media and civil society groups are forming in the wake of popular uprisings that toppled or are threatening regimes. New constitutions are being drafted, new forms of government debated, and new representatives selected, all against a backdrop of new citizen empowerment and tension among differing parties if not, as in the case of Egypt, outright violence. In addition, new media and technology have radically changed both the political debate in societies and how that debate is covered compared to the past.
Topic:: Democratization, Government, Science and Technology, Mass Media, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Egypt

44. Supporting Private Business Growth in African Fragile States: A Guiding Framework for the World Bank Group in South Sudan and Other Nations

Author:: Vijaya Ramachandran, Benjamin Leo, and Ross Thuotte
Publication Date:: 04-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The World Bank Group faces significant operational changes over the near to medium term. More than half of poor countries are projected to graduate from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) concessional assistance over the next 15 years. As a result, IDA's country client base is projected to become dominated by African fragile states. To its credit, the World Bank Group recognizes these coming changes and the unique needs and constraints present in fragile environments. It has publicly expressed a plan to develop an organization-wide strategy tailored specifically for fragile and conflict-affected situations.
Topic:: Development, Foreign Aid, Fragile/Failed State, and World Bank
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

45. Hoping to Win, Expected to Lose: Theory and Lessons on Microenterprise Development

Author:: Dean Karlan, Ryan Knight, and Christopher Udry
Publication Date:: 11-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: We show how financial and managerial constraints impede experimentation and thus limit learning about the profitability of investments. Imperfect information about one's own type, but willingness to experiment to learn one's type, leads to short-run negative expected returns to investments, with some outliers succeeding. We find in an experiment that entrepreneurs invest randomized grants of cash and adopt advice from randomized grants of consulting services, but both lead to lower profits on average. In the long run, they revert back to their prior scale of operations. In a meta-analysis, results from 19 other experiments find mixed support for this theory.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Markets, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa

46. No Longer Poor: Ghana's New Income Status and Implications of Graduation from IDA

Author:: Todd Moss and Stephanie Majerowicz
Publication Date:: 07-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Ghana's largest and most important creditor for the past three decades has been the International Development Association (IDA), the soft loan window of the World Bank. That will soon come to an end. The combination of Ghana's rapid economic growth and the recent GDP rebasing exercise means that Ghana suddenly finds itself above the income limit for IDA eligibility. Formal graduation is imminent and comes with significant implications for access to concessional finance, debt, and relations with other creditors. This paper considers the specific questions related to Ghana's relationship with the World Bank, as well as the broader questions about the country's new middle-income status.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa

47. Saving Mothers, Giving Life: Attainable or Aspirational?

Author:: Janet Fleischman
Publication Date:: 06-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Each day, nearly 800 women die around the world from complications in pregnancy or childbirth. That's one woman losing her life, every 100 seconds, every day. And while, from 1990 to 2010, global maternal mortality rates declined by roughly 47%, from about 546,000 to 287,000, the regional disparities are enormous: 85% of all maternal deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia—and more than half of these occur in sub-Saharan Africa. These deaths are largely preventable with interventions and training to address complications such as hemorrhage, infection, and obstructed labor, and more broadly with increased access to reproductive health services.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Health, International Affairs, Foreign Aid, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:: Africa, United States, and South Asia

48. How Can the World Bank Group Improve Its Private Sector Projects in African Fragile States?

Author:: Vijaya Ramachandran, Benjamin Leo, and Ross Thuotte
Publication Date:: 04-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: In recent years, the World Bank Group has made increasingly strong and explicit commitments to fragile and conflict-affected states, putting them at the top of the development policy agenda. These commitments are promising, but give rise to significant operational challenges for the various arms of the World Bank Group, including the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The bank also faces steady pressure from shareholders to scale up involvement in fragile states while also improving absorptive capacity and project effectiveness.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Markets, Foreign Aid, and World Bank
Political Geography:: Africa

49. Making Aid Effective: An Anti-Corruption Agenda

Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Transparency International
Abstract:: Aid flows provide developing countries with an important source of financing that can be used to help build schools, staff hospitals, construct roads and provide clean water. In 2010, aid totalled more than US$ 128 billion, one-fifth of which went to Africa.Yet aid, also known as official development assistance (ODA), has not always been effective at achieving results with the inputs provided. Corruption and mismanagement result from low levels of transparency, accountability and integrity by donor and partner countries.
Topic:: Corruption, Development, Humanitarian Aid, Foreign Aid, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa

50. The European Development Fund: Perspectives and the Changing Landscape of EU-ACP Relations

Author:: Karolina Werner
Publication Date:: 12-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The European Union is the world's biggest humanitarian and development aid donor. In 2010 alone, the EU committed more than €11 billion to external aid. Africa was the largest recipient with 38% of official development aid, 33% of which was specifically dedicated to sub-Saharan Africa.
Topic:: Development and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Caribbean

51. Polish Development Cooperation: A Turning Point

Author:: Patryk Kugiel
Publication Date:: 08-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The current Polish Development Cooperation system has been under gradual construction since 2004. Fortunately, recent reforms have raised the probability it eventually will evolve as a strong and important tool for Poland's external relations. Moreover, these positive changes are taking place at a very crucial moment in history when unprecedented turmoil in the Arab world has exposed the weaknesses of the European development policy and while Poland is holding the presidency of the EU Council. The convergence of these factors further strengthens the need for a swift finalization of improvements in its development cooperation system if Poland wants to play a more critical role internationally and prove its usefulness in assisting other countries to meet their political and economic aspirations. A development policy that is better-resourced and more balanced (geographically and thematically) would provide Poland with a credible tool of soft power and would strengthen the brand of Polish solidarity.
Topic:: Democratization, Development, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Arabia

52. Making Peace When Disaster Strikes: Sri Lanka, Aceh and the 2004 Tsunami

Author:: Howard B. Schaffer
Publication Date:: 12-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:: On the day after Christmas 2004, a powerful 9.0 magnitude earthquake under the Indian Ocean off of northern Sumatra sent massive waves crashing against the coastlines of countries as far away as Kenya and Madagascar. This tsunami killed or left missing some 226,000 people and displaced an estimated 1.7 million more in fourteen Asian and African countries.1 Damage to property—infrastructure, residences, government buildings, and commercial establishments—was enormous. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives were the most seriously affected. Dramatically filmed on the cameras and cell phones of local inhabitants and the many western tourists caught up in the catastrophe, the tsunami attracted instant and extensive worldwide attention and sympathetic response. Foreign governments, international agencies, and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) alike quickly undertook what became a global effort to assist local authorities to rescue and rehabilitate the victims and begin rebuilding the extensive stricken areas.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Humanitarian Aid, Peace Studies, Poverty, Natural Disasters, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Kenya, Africa, India, Asia, and Sri Lanka

53. A missed opportunity: Mining for sustainable development

Author:: France Bourgouin
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Donors and NGOs are missing an opportunity: they should be helping to turn large-scale commercial mining activities into sustainable development for poor countries that are rich in minerals. Instead of shying away, they should engage their development expertise and technical assistance and join forces with mining companies and local governments. This would help increase the spill-over of economic gains into local societies in a just and sustainable manner.
Topic:: Development, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

54. Budget support lessons from post-conflict support to Mozambique

Author:: Lars Buur
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Mirroring an international trend, the new Danish development strategy has support to fragile states as one of its five priority areas. In line with this commitment, and as a relative novelty, the development strategy emphasizes the need to take risks and operate in risky environments. This is clearly important, not only for fragile state engagement and post-conflict reconstruction efforts, but for aid delivery more generally. Nonetheless, this also potentially creates a double-bind situation when risk-taking clashes with the consequences of risk-taking, particularly when tax payers' hard-earned revenue is at stake and politicians become nervous about negative media coverage and bureaucrats fear for their careers. In such a situation, risk-taking is politically and bureaucratically fraught. Development aid in general, and aid to fragile states in particular, is indeed a risky business, circumscribed by processes of rent-seeking, corruption, primitive accumulation and political favouritism; besides the more mundane – but no less risky – policy, planning and implementation failures where “white elephants” can easily be nurtured. Fragile states come in many shapes and supporting them requires considerable flexibility, independence, responsiveness, and local and political knowledge in order to seize the moment of golden opportunity.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Democratization, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

55. Sensitivity of Loan Size to Lending Rates

Author:: Samuel Kobina Annim
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper examines the combined effect of interest rates and poverty levels of microfinance clients on loan size. Cross section data on 2,691 clients and non-clients households from Ghana is used to test the hypothesis of loan price inelasticity. Quantile regression and variants of least squares methods that explore endogeneity are employed. We find the expected inverse relationship only for the 20th to 40th quantile range. The semi-elasticity of loan amount responsiveness to a unit change in interest rate is more than proportionate and significant for the poorest group only. Market segmentation based on poverty level is suggested in targeting and sustaining microfinance clients.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Markets, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

56. Why and how least developed countries can receive more FDI to meet their development goals

Author:: Ken Davies
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: The 48 least-developed countries (LDCs), most of them in sub-Saharan Africa and a few in Asia, need foreign direct investment (FDI) to help meet their development targets. The FDI they now receive, although inadequate, is enough to demonstrate that investors see potential in them. It is therefore realistic for LDCs to seek more FDI, but they need to enhance their investment environments to attract it in the much greater quantities required. Donors can help by targeting official development assistance (ODA) on investment in human capital and supporting governance improvements. Meanwhile, LDCs should establish effective investment promotion agencies (IPAs).
Topic:: Development, Economics, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa and Asia

57. Decolonization by Europeanization? The Early EEC and the Transformation of French-African Relations

Author:: Martin Rempe
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:: “Françafrique”, “Francophonie”, “l'état franco-africain” and “Mafiafrique” – all these terms are commonly used if one comes to talk about French-African relations after the severing of colonial ties in 1960. Even though they bear slightly different meanings, they share the notion of a very close, stable, and continuous if not to say colonially-styled relationship. According to the relevant literature, the European Economic Community (EEC) acted thereby as a stabilizing instrument. Against this backdrop, the paper tries to present new perspectives on the complex relationship between the EEC, France and its former African colonies associated to the community since 1958. The paper explores to what extent France's belonging to the EEC triggered Europeanization processes that directly affected French-African relations and eventually acted in favor of decolonization of metropolitan France. I will argue that in the course of the 1960s, emulation of community procedures as well as supranational legal coercion to a certain extent transformed French development co-operation and trade relations with the Francophone African states and in the end fostered France's regional reconfiguration towards Europe.
Topic:: Development, Post Colonialism, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and France

58. Constraints to Domestic Enterprise Financing in Post-Conflict Liberia

Author:: John Gorlorwulu
Publication Date:: 07-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Countries emerging from protracted and devastating conflicts are often seen as needing significant external intervention in their financial markets to rebuild their private sector and promote quick and effective economic recovery. Despite enormous challenges, the provision of credit or the implementation of various lending schemes often dominate efforts to promote domestic private-sector recovery in the immediate aftermath of conflict. This approach raises a number of questions: First, how effective are loan programs in the development of domestic enterprises in the immediate aftermath of conflicts? Second, can loan programs work without significant improvements in the business climate? How sensitive is the design of lending programs to the success of domestic enterprise development projects following devastating conflicts? This paper explores the experience of the Liberian Enterprise Development Finance Company, which was established in 2007 to provide medium-and long-term credit to small and medium domestic enterprises. In addition to shedding light on the challenges such an enterprise faces in a post conflict environment, the paper explores whether the strategies employed are effective and if there are opportunities for effecting remedial changes that could improve the outcomes of such a program in post-conflict environments generally.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Development, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa and Liberia

59. Conflict in the Niger Delta

Author:: Chris Newsom
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Neither Nigeria nor foreign donors are investing enough to end violent conflict in the Niger Delta. While Nigerian officials opt to buy short-term cease-fires, such as the 2009 amnesty process, other governments spend too little in money and manpower to grow local civil society, engage core conflict issues, or adequately understand the region's problems. All parties likewise fail to focus on deeper trends when planning their anticonflict strategies. This causes them to undervalue the potential costs of ongoing violence, as well as the importance of a peaceful Niger Delta to Nigeria's economic development and global energy security. A tragedy of the commons results. The situation in the delta remains fragile and will likely return either to intermittent conflict or full-blown insurgency within six to eighteen months if a "business as usual" approach is taken to interventions. The amnesty process opened a door for stabilization but did not reduce the long-term potential for violence or deal with root conflict issues. Governance is both at the heart of the conflict and the best place to seek solutions. To best help catalyze peace in the region, donors should invest heavily in democratization and learn lessons from a decade of setbacks and poor investment choices. International support for governance reform in the delta must start at the grass roots. The key is to lay a foundation to support and argue for better government practices higher up. Civil society is already having some success promoting accountability at the community level. Obstacles are high and progress is slow, making longer commitments from donors a must. Reformers in the Niger Delta also have operated too much in isolation. Local and international actors need a multilateral strategy allowing them to combine levers and use each other's momentum. They must ground this strategy in deeper analysis of the region's problems and a unified theory of change. Donors should also complement their support of governance reform in the delta with funding for innovative local development work. Ideas and best practices should be sought from other countries, with flexibility for keying in to promising government initiatives.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Civil Society, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

60. The European Union Training Mission in Somalia: Lessons Learnt for EU Security Sector Reform

Author:: Kseniya Oksamytna
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: The European Union's mission to contribute to the training of the Somali Security Forces is the first military training mission launched by the EU. Deployed in April 2010, EUTM is nearing the end of its mandate: the training of the recruits will be completed by mid-July 2011. The mission was carried out in close coordination with the US, the African Union and the Ugandan army, and contributed to the EU's visibility in East Africa. However, given the overall feebleness of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its inability to implement reform, the political effectiveness of the mission is doubtful. In the current context, EUTM should not be extended beyond its original mandate. The EU and other donors should instead support more functional local administrations and make future assistance to the TFG contingent upon tangible progress towards completing transitional tasks, a normalization of political life, and restoring the provision of public services.
Topic:: Security and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Uganda, Africa, United States, Europe, Somalia, and East Africa

61. Regional Development Banks (ABCs of the IFIs Brief)

Author:: Jenny Ottenhoff
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The regional development banks (RDBs) are multilateral financial institutions that provide financial and technical assistance for development in low- and middle-income countries within their regions. Finance is allocated through low-interest loans and grants for a range of development sectors such as health and education, infrastructure, public administration, financial and private-sector development, agriculture, and environmental and natural resource management. The term RDB usually refers to four institutions:
Topic:: Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Asia

62. The ABCs of the General Capital Increase (ABCs of IFIs Brief)

Author:: Todd Moss, Sarah Jane Staats, and Julia Barmeier
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The international financial institutions dramatically increased their lending in 2008–09 to help developing countries cope with the global financial crisis and support economic recovery. Today, these organizations are seeking billions of dollars in new funding. The IMF, which only a few years ago was losing clients and shedding staff, expanded by $750 billion in 2009. The World Bank and the four regional development banks for Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America have asked to increase their capital base by 30 to 200 percent. A general capital increase (GCI) for these development banks is an unusual request. A simultaneous GCI request is a oncein- a-generation occurrence.
Topic:: Development, Foreign Aid, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Ethiopia

63. Leadership Selection at the International Financial Institutions

Author:: Jenny Ottenhoff
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The International Financial Institutions (IFIs) are multilateral agencies. The term typically refers to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provides financing and policy advice to member nations experiencing economic difficulties, and the multilateral development banks (MDBs), which provide financing and technical support for development projects and economic reform in low- and middle-income countries. The term MDB is usually understood to mean the World Bank and four smaller regional development banks: African Development Bank (AfDB). Asian Development Bank (ADB). European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Topic:: Development, Economics, International Monetary Fund, Foreign Aid, and World Bank
Political Geography:: Africa, America, Europe, and Asia

64. Aid Coordination and Alignment: Myth or reality? The case of the ECOWAS regional agriculture policy

Author:: Jean-Denis Crola and Saya Saulière
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Agriculture, along with livestock farming and fishing, is one of the fundamental components of West African economies. Together they constitute over 35% of the Gross National Product and contribute over 15% of export revenues. They provide income to more than 60% of the working population, over half of whom are women working in production, processing or trade.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa

65. The Impact of Global Crises, Trade Finance and Aid on Export Flows: A Developing Country Perspective

Author:: Jose Brambila-Macias, Isabella Massa, and Matthew J. Salois
Publication Date:: 11-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: In this paper, we use a mixed-effects trade gravity model on a sample of 83 developing countries over the period 1990-2007 to assess the impact of trade finance and foreign aid on bilateral export flows. In addition to traditional variables, we also include a banking crises variable and a global economic downturns variable among the regressors. Differences across developing regions are taken into account. Our results suggest that: (i) trade finance has a positive and significant impact on bilateral export flows in all developing regions except Latin America; (ii) foreign aid matters in all regions; (iii) global economic downturns exert a negative and significant impact on export flows in all developing countries, and especially in Latin American and Sub-Saharan African economies; (iv) banking crises appear to have no significant impact in most developing regions.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Foreign Aid, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa and Latin America

66. Growth without Economic Transformation: Economic Impacts of Ghana's Political Settlement

Author:: Lindsay Whitfield
Publication Date:: 12-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Since the Fourth Republic was inaugurated in 1993, politics in Ghana has been increasingly characterized by competitive clientelism. Ruling coalitions are characterized by a high degree of vulnerability in power due to a strong opposition party, by strong lower-level factions within the ruling coalition due to their importance in winning elections, and by a high degree of fragmentation among the ruling elite. These characteristics, combined with a weak domestic capitalist class and high inflows of foreign aid, have led the ruling elites across political parties to pursue and implement policies that have a short time horizon, that do not significantly shift the allocation of resources towards building productive sectors, and which are often plagued by problems of enforcement. The results have led to growth without economic transformation. In particular, the country has witnessed recurrent macroeconomic instability, a haphazard process of privatization of state-owned enterprises, and no serious attempt to build up productive sectors outside of cocoa and gold.
Topic:: Democratization, Development, Economics, Politics, Social Stratification, Foreign Aid, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa and Ghana

67. Controlling conflict resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Author:: Ruben de Koning
Publication Date:: 07-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:: The political economy of mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is central to sustaining the conflict in the east of the country. Transforming it is a priority in order to alleviate the conflict and suffering that it fuels. In an attempt to ensure that conflict minerals—minerals sourced from militia controlled mines—do not enter the legal supply chain, industrial actors, the Congolese Government and outside donors have established schemes to trace minerals such as cassiterite and coltan back to the mines of origin.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, Corruption, Political Economy, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

68. Peace-Building without External Assistance: Lessons from Somaliland

Author:: Nicholas Eubank
Publication Date:: 01-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Since its secession from Somalia in 1991, the east-African nation of Somaliland has become one of the most democratic governments in eastern Africa. Yet Somaliland has never been recognized by the international community. This paper examines how this lack of recognition—and the consequent ineligibility for foreign financial assistance—has shaped Somaliland's political development. It finds evidence that Somaliland's ineligibility for foreign aid facilitated the development of accountable political institutions and contributed to the willingness of Somalilanders to engage constructively in the state-building process.
Topic:: Development and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Somalia

69. When Does Rigorous Impact Evaluation Make a Difference? The Case of the Millennium Villages

Author:: Michael Clemens and Gabriel Demombynes
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: When is the rigorous impact evaluation of development projects a luxury, and when a necessity? We study one high-profile case: the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), an experimental and intensive package intervention to spark sustained local economic development in rural Africa. We illustrate the benefits of rigorous impact evaluation in this setting by showing that estimates of the project's effects depend heavily on the evaluation method. Comparing trends at the MVP intervention sites in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria to trends in the surrounding areas yields much more modest estimates of the project's effects than the before-versus-after comparisons published thus far by the MVP. Neither approach constitutes a rigorous impact evaluation of the MVP, which is impossible to perform due to weaknesses in the evaluation design of the project's initial phase. These weaknesses include the subjective choice of intervention sites, the subjective choice of comparison sites, the lack of baseline data on comparison sites, the small sample size, and the short time horizon. We describe how the next wave of the intervention could be designed to allow proper evaluation of the MVP's impact at little additional cost.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

70. Much Ado about Nothing? On the European Union's fight against corruption in developing countries under Aticles 9(3) and 97 of the Cotonou Agreement

Author:: Morten Broberg
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: The Cotonou Agreement is the European Union's most important legal measure in the field of development assistance covering 79 developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP countries). It empowers the European Union to sanction 'serious cases of corruption' where this corruption is related to economic and sectoral policies and programmes to which the European Union is a significant financial partner. During the negotiations leading to the adoption of the Cotonou Agreement the ACP countries strongly objected to the inclusion of the possibility of sanctioning corruption. In practice the European Union has only sanctioned one single case of corruption under the provision, however. Whereas this does not necessarily mean that the sanctioning clause is without an impact, the fact that sanctions have been imposed in only one situation is a strong indication that its impact is rather limited. It is suggested that more effective means of preventing corruption are considered.
Topic:: Corruption, Development, Humanitarian Aid, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Caribbean

71. Not Just Aid: How Making Government Work Can Transform Africa

Author:: Tony Blair
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Country ownership has become the new watchword in development. The problem for traditional donors is that ownership is too often code for convincing developing country governments to adopt the donors' agenda as their own: a way of securing influence without imposing conditionality. What is really needed is genuine country leadership. As President Obama said when he announced the United States' new development policy at the UN Millennium Development Goals summit in New York in September, “We will partner with countries that are willing to take the lead. Because the days when your development was dictated in foreign capitals must come to an end.”
Topic:: Development, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, United States, New York, and United Nations

72. Think Long Term: How Global AIDS Donors Can Strengthen the Health Workforce in Africa

Author:: Nandini Oomman and Christina Droggitis
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: For the past decade, global AIDS donors—including the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEFPAR), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund), and the World Bank's Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program for Africa (the MAP)—have responded to HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa as an emergency. Financial and programmatic efforts have been quick, vertical, and HIV-specific. To achieve ambitious HIV/AIDS targets, AIDS donors mobilized health workers from weak and understaffed national health workforces. The shortages were the result of weak data for effective planning, inadequate capacity to train and pay health workers, and fragmentation and poor coordination across the health workforce life-cycle. Ten years and billions of dollars later, the problem still persists. The time has passed for short-term fixes to health workforce shortages. As the largest source of global health resources, AIDS donors must begin to address the long-term problems underlying the shortages and the effects of their efforts on the health workforce more broadly.
Topic:: Development, Globalization, Health, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

73. Tanzania's Land Law Reform: The Implementation Challenge

Author:: Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: A new wave of land reforms has passed Sub-Saharan African countries in recent years. Tanzania got its reform in 1999. Though expectations to outcomes are high, not much is known about how reforms affect local governance of land. This working paper provides an overview of implementation projects carried out in Mainland Tanzania and describes experiences gathered so far. It focuses on establishment of formal institutions for land administration and dispute settlement in rural areas. The implementation process is described as slow and uneven. With a few exceptions, implementation has been project-driven, largely controlled by donors and implementing agencies. At the same time the responsible ministry retains some control through its know-how, which is shared with other stakeholders in bits and pieces only. The paper concludes that more resources, more commitment and a freer flow of information is required if reform objectives are to be achieved. Independent research is urgently needed.
Topic:: Development and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Tanzania

74. The Future of Bilateral Aid in Africa: Size, Flow, Conditionalities and Relative Importance in Countries Budget

Author:: Kristina Svensson
Publication Date:: 04-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:: The publication addresses the growing frustration with lack of aid effectiveness that has set in motion a slow but visible transformation of the way in which development cooperation is being pursued, as embodied in the Millennium Declaration, the Paris Declaration of 2005 on Aid Effectiveness, and the International Health Partnership. Donors' programs are increasingly result- based, with greater emphasis on national to achieve its goal of assisting newly ownership and leadership, real donor harmonization and alignment with the development strategies of partner governments. There is also increased focus within the donor community on the interactions between economic and democratic development. As a result, development actors have become more enlightened about the importance of accountable, representative and transparent government institutions. At the same time, organizations that promote democracy have learned that a government's failure to deliver visible results can undermine democratic reforms
Topic:: Development, Bilateral Relations, Foreign Aid, Reform, and Democracy
Political Geography:: Africa

75. Foreign Aid And The Real Exchange Rate In The West African Economic And Monetary Union

Author:: Eberechukwu Uneze
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:: This paper examines the relationship between foreign aid and the real exchange rate to determine how the competitiveness of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) is affected by foreign aid.
Topic:: Economics, Foreign Aid, Exchange Rates, Competition, and West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)
Political Geography:: Africa and West Africa

76. A Copper-Bottomed Crisis? The Impact of the Global Economic Meltdown on Zambia

Author:: Duncan Green
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: At the time of independence in 1964 Zambia was a middle-income country and appeared set to develop into a prosperous nation. However, the combination of a tumultuous world economy and fiscal mismanagement led to rapid economic decline, which continued unabated into the 1980s and 1990s. Average economic growth from 1990-1999 was the lowest in the region and unemployment and inflation soared, resulting in per capita incomes 50 per cent less in 1999 than they had been 25 years earlier.
Topic:: Economics, Post Colonialism, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

77. Investing in Poor Farmers Pays: Rethinking how to invest in agriculture

Author:: Emily Alpert and Melinda Smale
Publication Date:: 06-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In July 2008, world food prices reached their highest peak since the early 1970s. Food stocked on grocery store shelves was out of reach. Riots ensued. Millions were afflicted. Another 100 million people were pushed into the ranks of the hungry, raising the total to nearly one billion worldwide. And these numbers could climb again as food prices remain high, and continue to rise in many local markets.
Topic:: Agriculture, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa and Asia

78. Strategies for Growth and Poverty Reduction: Has Tanzania's Second PRSP Influenced Implementation?

Author:: Dennis Rweyemamu
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Tanzania's current growth and poverty reduction strategies are contained in its second PRSP. This document, and the processes leading to its formulation, has helped to mobilize donor funds. However, the content of the PRSP is largely irrelevant for implementation, and has contributed little to better inter-sectoral linkages and synergies both of which were its main purposes. The immediate reasons for this irrelevancy include a participatory planning process not aligned with the domestic political process and with no budget constraints which led to a shopping list of un-prioritized initiatives; an implementation machinery around the budget process which in practice does not ensure that resources are allocated in line with the document's priorities; and limited understanding and/ or acceptance across the spectrum of government institutions and political leadership that the PRSP is the overall strategic guiding document.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Tanzania

79. Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Australia's role in supporting the transition

Author:: Joel Negin and Jolyon Ford
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:: Zimbabwe's long night is by no means over. Nearly a year after the violent and disputed March 2008 elections, and months after the September signing of a 'Global Political Agreement' with the ruling ZANU-PF party, the main faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) agreed in February to take part in a coalition government in which its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, became Prime Minister. The state apparatus in Zimbabwe is currently shared uneasily by reformers and reactionaries with each of the MDC and ZANU-PF having half of the cabinet seats. Hardline ZANU-PF elements remain in government and control the security services, and a quiet but intense power struggle continues.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Development, Foreign Aid, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa, Australia, and Zimbabwe

80. Band Aids and Beyond: Tackling disasters in Ethiopia 25 years after the famine

Author:: Nick Martlew
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In 1984, one million Ethiopians died during a catastrophic famine. The government at the time hid the scale of hunger until a shocking BBC television report ignited a massive relief effort, supported by the Band Aid movement. Though this was too late for too many, thousands of lives were saved.
Topic:: Foreign Aid, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

81. Institutional development or direct support to the poor

Author:: Neil Webster
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: There are two fundamentally different understandings of how to bring about development. One argues that through the right policies it is possible to create an enabling environment for the development of people and societies. The other emphasises that development can only take place if those who are supposed to benefit from it, insist on it themselves. In the second understanding development cannot be created from above or from outside. So-called cash transfer programmes having spread from Latin America to Africa and Asia are based on this understanding as they transfer money to poor people on certain conditions. The question is to what extent these programmes contribute to development.
Topic:: Development, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Asia, and Latin America

82. The Mozambican PRSP Initiative: Moorings, usage and future

Author:: Lars Buur and Obede Suarte Baloi
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This paper analyses the seemingly uncontroversial public life of the PRSP approach in Mozambique and suggests that it embodies much of the Frelimo government's thinking about development since independence, though obviously 'packaged' to fit international donor discourses as they continually change. The PRSP is therefore not an outright 'imposition' on the Frelimo government or necessarily a 'challenge' to its sovereignty, as it is often argued. In general we argue that the PRSP became over time a broad 'consensus document' because it came to potentially incorporate 'all' stakeholders needs and wishes. We argue that after the political turbulence of the 1980s and 1990s with privatisation and structural adjustments, the PRSP allowed for different elite groups to find common ground with regard to ideological and party-preserving concerns, as social and market-economic trade-offs could now be legitimately accommodated.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

83. Development Assistance, Institution Building, and Social Cohesion after Civil War: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Liberia

Author:: Macartan Humphreys, James Fearon, and Jeremy M. Weinstein
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Can brief, foreign-funded efforts to build local institutions have positive effects on local patterns of governance, cooperation, and well-being? Prior research suggests that such small-scale, externally driven interventions are unlikely to substantially alter patterns of social interaction in a community, and that the ability of a community to act collectively is the result of a slow and necessarily indigenous process. We address this question using a randomized field experiment to assess the effects of a community-driven reconstruction (CDR) project carried out by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in northern Liberia. The project attempted to build democratic, community-level institutions for making and implementing decisions about local public goods. We find powerful evidence that the program was successful in increasing social cohesion, some evidence that it reinforced democratic political attitudes and increased confidence in local decision-making procedures, but only weak evidence that material well-being was positively affected. There is essentially no evidence of adverse effects. *Jeremy Weinstein is on leave from the Center for Global Development.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Civil Society, Civil War, Development, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Liberia

84. Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Australia's role in supporting the transition

Author:: Joel Negin and Jolyon Ford
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:: What should Australia do to assist Zimbabwe's re-emergence? In March 2009, Australia became the first major donor country to provide assistance to the new power-sharing government in Zimbabwe. Given the pervading influence of hardline elements, many doubt the merits and viability of the 'inclusive government'. Ought Australia continue its support, accepting the risk of buttressing Mugabe and his regime? Or should Australia stand back and maintain pressure for a more acceptable government – at the risk of contributing to theinclusive government's failure?
Topic:: Bilateral Relations and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Australia/Pacific, and Zimbabwe

85. Is corruption contagious? An econometric analysis

Author:: Gbewopo Attila
Publication Date:: 09-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: In this paper, I analyze how corruption in one country may be affected by its neighbors' corruption. It seeks to explain why corruption is perpetuating in large geographical areas populated by developing countries despite anticorruption efforts made in the single country.
Topic:: Corruption, Development, Third World, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS