African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement最新文献

Recent studies support evidence that climate-related damages and risks negatively affect the performance of firms, banking institutions, and related financial entities. However, some authors highlight, on the contrary, the potential benefits of financial innovations induced by climate vulnerability on the financial stability of countries. Contributing to this debate, this research analyzes the effect of economies' vulnerability to climate change on financial stability in Sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, a database was constructed from three main sources: World Development Indicators (WDI) of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Notre Dame Global Adaptative Initiative (ND-GAIN). The study employs a panel structural vector autoregressive model (PSVAR) applied to a sample of 45 countries covering the period 2004–2023. The results show that an average degree (0.44) of climate vulnerability leads to a 0.25 weakening of the financial system in Sub-Saharan African economies, thereby confirming the theory of financial externalities. Thus, achieving the recommendations of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) may be unattainable in the long run. Incorporating climate risks and promoting green financial instruments within financial stability policies are therefore strongly recommended for countries in the region.

The article assesses the effects of fiscal policy on banking profitability, looking separately the effects of government securities and tax pressure on ROE and ROA. Applying the Pooled Mean Group in the WAEMU-panel countries from 1990 to 2021, this article provides two results: (i) government securities positively and significantly affect ROE/ROA up to a maximum threshold of 19.41% of GDP; and (ii) tax pressure negatively and significantly affects ROE/ROA up to a maximum threshold of 19.42%. Three implications emerge: (i) monetary authorities must prevent any contagion between public finances and banking crises by setting an indicative ceiling, adjusting the reserve requirement ratio upwards or resorting to restrictive open market operations; (ii) the cap reduces the crowding out of private credit through preferential refinancing lines for productive credit; (iii) government authorities must improve tax revenue mobilisation and adopt tax and regulatory incentives for private credit, such as targeted tax reductions or the creation of public guarantees.

Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in the implications of emerging barriers to women entrepreneurs due to their impact on the realisation of Sustainable Development Goals. Thus, this study examines the effects of funding mechanisms on women entrepreneurs' ability to employ other women in Africa. This study employs causal mediation analysis and Bayesian model averaging on World Bank Enterprise Survey data spanning 44 countries from 2006 to 2024, to quantify the effects of internal reserves, equity stakes, and bank lending on female hiring. The empirical findings reveal that reliance on internal funds and obstacles to bank finance significantly dampen women's ability to expand female employment. These disparities reflect discriminatory lending practices, pushing many women into entrepreneurship out of necessity rather than opportunity. However, firms with substantial female ownership are more likely to promote women into leadership roles, narrowing workplace gender gaps. Hence, to mitigate these inequalities and bolster women-led job creation, this study recommends targeted interventions that include start-up grants, loan guarantees, and gender-sensitive credit policies. In addition, enhancing women entrepreneurs' access to finance can empower them to hire and advance women, closing labour gender gaps, improving leadership roles, and accelerating Africa's inclusive progress toward the SDGs.

The rise of anti-globalization forces and the escalating impacts of environmental degradation have emerged as two dominant global forces that increasingly disrupt economic prosperity. Despite growing scholarly interest in this subject, no empirical study has examined the joint implications of these two forces on productive capacity. To address this gap, this study employs the interactive generalized method of moments to investigate the interactive impact of anti-globalization dynamics and environmental degradation on the productive capacity of 52 African countries between 2005 and 2022. Anti-globalization is examined through the associated risks across the economic, political, social, and financial dimensions of globalization. These risks are quantified by estimating standard errors from first-order autoregressive AR (1) processes for each globalization indicator. The study presents the following key findings: (i) an unconditional negative impact of environmental degradation on productive capacity, and (ii) a negative synergy between the interaction of anti-globalization and environmental degradation, indicating that anti-globalization amplifies the adverse effect of environmental degradation on productive capacity. In alignment with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the study recommends channeling investments toward productivity-enhancing sectors with strong green potential and strengthening engagement with global climate finance mechanisms to mitigate environmental risks while protecting the region's productive base.

This study examines the effects of aggregated (total) and disaggregated (direct, indirect, trade, corporate, and property) taxes on inclusive growth (IG). Motivated by the spatial spillover theory, we decomposed the effects of taxes on IG into direct, indirect (spatial spillover), and total effects to ascertain whether spatial spillover effects matter in the taxes and IG nexus. Applying the spatial Durbin model to the sample of 39 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the results show that indirect, trade, and corporate taxes positively and significantly influence IG. It is observed that across these taxes, the indirect effects from neighboring countries contributed a larger share of the total effect. The property taxes are negative and significant across all decompositions, yet the neighboring spatial effect is dominant. The results confirm the non-negligibility of spatial spillover effects. The study recommends that to maximize the positive effects of taxes on IG, countries should collaborate to develop harmonized regional tax policies that enhance efficiency, reduce tax evasion, and ensure equitable distribution of benefits across borders.

This paper employs a novel global uncertainty measure and a comprehensive financial development indicator to analyze the moderating role of financial development in the nexus between uncertainty and foreign direct investment (FDI). The analysis focuses on a sample of 36 sub-Saharan African countries and uses 5-year average data across the period 2003–2021. The two-step system generalized method of moments is used as the main empirical strategy, and fixed-effects regressions with Driscoll and Kraay standard errors are employed as an alternative to control for potential cross-sectional dependence. The findings indicate that the effect of global uncertainty on FDI inflows is inconsistent. Financial development has been identified as a key “pull factor” driving FDI. However, its synergy effect with global uncertainty acts as a deterrent for FDI activities. The marginal effects analysis indicates that this “crowding-out” effect is more pronounced in countries with more advanced financial development. As for policy implications, the study suggests differentiated and context-sensitive regulatory measures with varying levels of financial development.