African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement最新文献

As digitization and national governance are widely recognized for access to external finance, this article examines the combined effects of digitization, in particular information and communication technologies (ICTs) diffusion in terms of access, skills, and use, and the quality of governance on international capital flows (foreign direct investment [FDI] and remittances) in 41 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Using the Generalized Method of Moments, the study demonstrates that stronger political and institutional governance is associated with higher FDI and remittances. Moreover, improved access to, skills in, and use of ICT contribute to increased FDI and remittances. The effectiveness of political and institutional governance mechanisms in attracting FDI is further enhanced when they are accompanied by increased use of and access to ICT. Similarly, the positive impact of good political governance on remittances is reinforced by improved access to ICT. Overall, the results underline that as ICT becomes more widely used in SSA countries, improving governance quality and digital development capacity can generate a synergistic effect that attracts higher volumes of FDI and remittances to these economies.

Despite receiving a significant amount of foreign aid, the economies of the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are characterized by a high unemployment rate, poor health status, and high levels of poverty. Based on the above background, this study examined the impact of foreign aid on the three pillars of sustainable development (social, economic, and environmental). The influence of colonial power on the effectiveness of foreign aid was also considered. The study covered 36 SSA countries for the period 2006–2021 and utilized the two-step system GMM for the analysis. The study found that foreign aid has a significant positive impact on social and environmental sustainability, but a significant negative effect on economic sustainability. It indicates the need for increased aid flow to the social and environmental sectors. The study also found that the United Kingdom and other colonial powers have a significant positive influence on the foreign aid-sustainable development nexus, while France as a colonial power exhibited a negative influence. It implies that France's aid to SSA is not for a genuine purpose. The study recommends policies that will attract more foreign aid to the social and environmental sectors, as well as mandatory scrutiny of all aid agencies to identify genuine ones.

L'objectif de cet article est d'analyser l'incidence des inadéquations horizontale et verticale sur la rémunération des travailleurs au Cameroun. L'analyse s'appuie sur des données transversales issues de la troisième Enquête sur l'Emploi et le Secteur Informel (EESI 2021), réalisée par l'Institut National de la Statistique du Cameroun. Afin de corriger les biais d'endogénéité potentiels liés à l'inadéquation éducation-emploi, nous employons la méthode de Double Moindres Carrés Ordinaires à variables instrumentales (IV-2SLS) par l'approche fonction contrôle. Les principaux résultats révèlent que l'inadéquation éducation-emploi réduit significativement la rémunération sur le marché du travail, avec une pénalité salariale plus prononcée pour l'inadéquation horizontale que pour l'inadéquation verticale. Par ailleurs, ces inadéquations réduisent davantage la rémunération des travailleurs en contrat à durée déterminée (CDD) que celle des travailleurs en contrat à durée indéterminée (CDI). L'analyse sectorielle montre que les travailleurs du secteur privé subissent une pénalité plus élevée par rapport à ceux du secteur public. Enfin, les hommes apparaissent plus pénalisés que les femmes par ces inadéquations. Ces résultats recommandent une révision des curricula éducatifs pour y intégrer des compétences transversales mieux adaptées aux besoins du marché du travail, ainsi qu'un renforcement des politiques actives d'emploi afin d'optimiser l'appariement entre l'offre et la demande de travail.

West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) initiated a tax transition program in 2006 to substitute trade taxes with domestic taxes. This paper assesses the impact of this tax reform on WAEMU countries' fiscal balance and total revenues, using difference-in-difference methods. The results showed that the tax transition effect on the structural fiscal balance is marginal. Despite the presence of hard-to-tax sectors such as the informal and agricultural sectors, the reform has had a positive impact on tax revenues. This effect is permanent and grows stronger over time. To enhance the effectiveness of the program, the paper suggests to modernize tax administrations in WAEMU countries, to develop digital tools for domestic revenue collection and design policies to reduce the size of the informal sector. Furthermore, for the other Regional Economic Communities and African countries, the results show that fiscal transition could be an effective tool to counter the decline in border tax revenues linked to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Cette étude évalue l'impact des mesures de lutte contre la COVID-19 sur la résilience de la croissance économique en Afrique subsaharienne à partir des données du Fond Monétaire international et de l'Oxford COVID-19 Suivi des réponses gouvernementales. Utilisant un échantillon de 45 pays d'Afrique subsaharienne, nous avons élaboré deux indices un indice de résistance au choc et un indice de reprise post-COVID. Ces indices, ajustés quotidiennement, ont servi pour les estimations économétriques basées sur le modèle N-SIRD estimé avec la méthode des moindres carrés ordinaires et les moindres carrés généralisés. Les résultats montrent que certaines mesures (restrictions sur les rassemblements, quarantaines, allègement de la dette, contrôle des voyages) ont favorisé la reprise économique, tandis que d'autres (confinement strict, fermeture des écoles et des lieux de travail) ont freiné cette dynamique. L’étude propose une nouvelle échelle de résilience à l'intention des décideurs afin de mieux orienter les politiques économiques en période de crise. En enrichissant la littérature sur la résilience économique en Afrique subsaharienne, cette étude fournit des perspectives utiles pour la gestion des futures crises pandémiques en soulignant l'importance d'une coordination efficace entre politiques sanitaires et économiques pour préserver la stabilité économique d'ensemble.

There have been concerns about the impact gender inequality and board composition could have on the performance of firms, especially in emerging economies. Effective board composition is an essential factor in modern organisations. Thus, this study examines whether female inclusion in company boards impacts the performance of publicly traded firms in Nigeria from 2013 to 2022. The study employed data from firms trading on the Nigerian Exchange Group from 2013 to 2022, the Fixed Effects model for analysis and two-stage least squares for robustness checks. The empirical findings show that female inclusion in corporate boards positively impacts firm performance in Nigeria. The study also explores board experience and age diversity to address the issue of cognitive as well as demographic diversity. The impact of female inclusion in corporate boards is significant when the directors have experience in board matters and possess a minimum of a bachelor's degree or comparable professional qualifications. After addressing the likelihood of endogeneity problems associated with governance variables, the results from the robustness checks remain the same. The findings imply that firms should promote board gender diversity as well as engage experienced and educated female directors in board-related matters to enhance good governance and firm performance.

This study investigated the effects of the free movement of persons on cross-border trade in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), using Zimbabwe as the case study. Adopting an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model on data from 1990 to 2021, findings reveal that (a) free movement of persons, both in terms of the SADC's protocol and the volume of the actual movement of persons, has a statistically significant short-run negative and long-run positive impact on cross border trade in Zimbabwe; and (b) governance quality, financial access, gross savings and net inflows of foreign direct investment have a statistically significant short-run negative and long-run positive influence on cross-border trade in Zimbabwe within the SADC region. Policy-wise, the Zimbabwean government and the SADC region should strengthen their commitment to the SADC's free movement of persons protocol and abolish regulatory and customs procedures limiting cross-border trade.

Social media has witnessed a significant surge over the past decade as a platform for diverse interactions across various domains, including politics and religion. However, the effects of social media in Africa remain underexplored. This paper analysed the impact of online political and religious activism on the civic engagement of social media users in seven sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. We examined the propensity for civic engagement of netizens, which encompasses their inclination to vote and volunteer. Using impact analysis methods and data from the Household and individual information and communication technologies' access and usage survey 2017–2018, the results show that political and religious engagement on social media does not influence netizens' propensity to vote. As for the propensity to volunteer, only online political engagement matters. In sum, our findings indicate that although online engagement can create a sense of participation, only political activism translates into concrete civic actions (i.e., volunteering). Policymakers should bridge digital participation with offline civic engagement by promoting civic education, formalising online opinion leaders and advancing e-government to boost transparency and trust. Our results also show that male and youth netizens with political interest are most likely to volunteer. These results reveal that social media alone is insufficient to challenge real-life norms in SSA countries.

The welfare of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is pivotal for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the agricultural sector playing a vital role. Many SSA nations increasingly rely on agricultural foreign direct investment (AFDI) to enhance agricultural development and welfare. However, the impact of AFDI on welfare remains controversial and poorly understood. This study employs panel data and moments quantile regression to examine AFDI's effect across 45 SSA countries from 1990 to 2022. Results indicate a significant positive effect on the Human Development Index (HDI) as the welfare indicator, with a one-unit rise in AFDI linked to a 0.002%−0.008% increase in HDI. When the HDI is decomposed into income, education, and life expectancy, a one-unit increase in AFDI correlates with increased income levels ($0.001) and life expectancy (0.002 years). Further analysis identifies a threshold of $5.77 million of AFDI beyond which its positive impact on HDI declines. Findings suggest that sustained and consistent AFDI enhances sustainable development and overall welfare in the SSA.