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on Africa |
| By: | Laura E. McCann; Jeffrey D. Michler; Maybin Mwangala; Osaretin Olurotimi; Natalia Estrada Carmona |
| Abstract: | Population pressure is speeding the rate of deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa, increasing the cost of biomass cooking fuel, which over 80 percent of the population relies upon. Higher energy input costs for meal preparation command a larger portion of household spending which in turn induces families to focus their diet on quick cooking staples. We use a field experiment in Zambia to investigate the impact of solar cook stoves on meal preparation choices and expenditures on biomass fuel. Participants kept a detailed food diary recording every ingredient and fuel source used in preparing every dish at every meal for every day during the six weeks of the experiment. This produces a data set of 93, 606 ingredients used in the preparation of 30, 314 dishes. While treated households used the solar stoves to prepare around 40 percent of their dishes, the solar stove treatment did not significantly increase measures of nutritional diversity nor did treated households increase the number of dishes per meal or reduce the number of meals they skipped. However, treated households significantly reduced the amount of time and money spent on obtaining fuel for cooking. These results suggest that solar stoves, while not changing a household's dietary composition, does relax cooking fuel constraints, allowing households to prepare more meals by reducing the share of household expenditure that goes to meal preparation. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2410.02075 |
| By: | Kingsley K. Arthur (Kumasi, Ghana); Simplice A. Asongu (Johannesburg, South Africa); Peter Darko (Kumasi, Ghana); Marvin O. Ansah (Kumasi, Ghana); Sampson Adom (Kumasi, Ghana); Omega Hlortu (Kumasi, Ghana.) |
| Abstract: | The current review systematically synthesizes existing literature to provide a comprehensive overview of the nature of financial crimes in Africa and their impact on economic growth. We adopted the PRISMA protocol to identify 128 papers from the Scopus database; which were analyzed using MS Excel, VOS Viewer, and R-packages (Bibliometrix). The survey reveals that financial crimes are on the rise in Africa and have gained increasing concern over the years on the part of scholars, governments and NGOs. The survey also demonstrates that most of the financial crime in Africa emanates from illicit activities such as credit card fraud, cybercrime, mobile money fraud, financial statement fraud, Ponzi scheme, bribery and corruption, public fund mismanagement, terror financing, piracy, identity fraud, tax invasion, drug trafficking, product based-fraud, burglary, trade-based money laundering, sex marketing and gambling; with the majority occurring in specific regions like Western Africa, Southern Africa and Eastern Africa. Socio-political marginalization, poverty and unemployment, weak institutional and financial regulatory systems and individual selfish interests were the major causes. Overall, the content analysis of the studies indicates that financial crimes have significant negative impacts on the economic growth of the African continent. Implications for future research and practices have been discussed. |
| Keywords: | Financial crime, financial fraud, Money laundering, Africa, Economic development, Economic growth, and Bibliometric |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:24/029 |
| By: | Lukas Vashold (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Gustav Pirich (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Maximilian Heinze (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Nikolas Kuschnig (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | Minerals are essential to fuel the green transition, can foster local employment and facilitate economic development. However, their extraction is linked to several negative social and environmental externalities. These are particularly poorly understood in a development context, undermining efforts to address and internalize them. In this paper, we exploit the discontinuous locations of mines along rivers and their basins to identify causal effects on agricultural yields in Africa. We find considerable impacts on vegetation and yields downstream, which are mediated by water pollution and only dissipate slowly with distance. Our findings suggest that pollution from mines may play a role in the limited adoption of intensive agriculture. They underscore an urgent need for domestic regulations and international governance to limit negative externalities from mining in vulnerable regions. |
| Keywords: | pollution, agriculture, river basin, mining, earth observation |
| JEL: | Q53 O13 Q15 C23 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp368 |
| By: | Oumarou, Mohamadou; Sali, Oumarou; Hamadou, Alioum |
| Abstract: | Do natural resource endowments influence the relationship between economic growth and income inequality in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries? This is the main question of this article. To this end, we use polynomial non-linear modeling and non-parametric and semi-parametric modeling applied to a panel of 43 SSA countries between 2000 and 2020. The data used come from World Development Indicators (WDI) and the University of Texas Inequality Project. In order to enrich the empirical literature on the subject, four indices measure income inequality in the econometric tests. All other things being equal, the results show that the growth-inequality link is non-linear, with a positive trend that changes convexity with the level of growth. Rents from non-renewable natural resources (oil, gas and other minerals) accentuate the negative effect of growth on inequality, while income from renewable resources (water and forests) has the effect of reducing inequality. Furthermore, these results show that rents from a single product (a single natural resource) have no impact on inequality. On the other hand, income from the export of several natural resources accentuates the effect of growth on inequality. Consequently, SSA countries need to put in place a general policy to reduce inequalities and a strategy to reduce their dependence on the exploitation of natural resources. This can be achieved through the structural transformation of economies and the development of global value chains. |
| Date: | 2024–09–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:5sczh |
| By: | Maria Rosaria Carillo (University of Naples Parthenope); Tiziana Venittelli (University of Naples Parthenope and GLO); Alberto Zazzaro (University of Naples Federico II, CSEF and MoFiR.) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of a racial attack in 2008 by a local Camorra clan against the African community near Naples on the social identity of African immigrants. We find that in Naples and in other municipalities where the degree of insecurity was high or where there was a strong public backlash in Italian civil society against racism and violence, Africans’ identification with Italy strengthened after the massacre, while in other municipalities it weakened. This heightened identification with Italy is persistent over time and is not accompanied by a weakening of ethnic identity. |
| Keywords: | Immigrants’ identity; Racial discrimination; Hate-Crimes; Collective backlash, Cultural integration. |
| JEL: | J15 R23 Z13 |
| Date: | 2024–07–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:727 |
| By: | Bleck, Jaimie; Carillo, Lucia; Gottlieb, Jessica; Kosec, Katrina; Kyle, Jordan; Soumano, Moumouni |
| Abstract: | We surveyed 2, 919 community leaders across seven regions of Mali to provide insights on the prevalence and severity of shocks and crises across localities; which types of shocks and crises are most difficult from which to recover; the formal and informal ways in which local actors are involved in aid distribution systems; and the types of programming local actors view as most beneficial for promoting resilience. Despite increasing prevalence of conflict across localities, leaders predominately cited climate-related shocks as the most difficult from which to recover— especially droughts. We find that localities vary in the inclusiveness of local governance around aid distribution: while elected mayors are almost always involved, traditional leaders, women’s group and youth leaders in villages, civil servants, and civil society leaders are each involved in 40–60% of localities. We used both a budget allocation exercise and an experimental game in which we introduced the concept of anticipatory action (AA) programming—aid that is “triggered†by an early warning signal to arrive before a shock and mitigate its worst effects—to probe preferences over aid modality. We found that leaders see value in balancing investment across resilience programming (including AA) and humanitarian response, especially food aid. However, there is some important variation between village- and commune-level officials: village-level leaders are more likely to prioritize aid modalities that target households directly, like food aid and cash transfers, while commune-level leaders are more likely to prioritize risk prevention trainings. Our findings have important policy implications for promoting local resilience in Mali, including the importance of investing more in drought resilience, engaging actors at different levels of local governance who have different information and perspectives, and simultaneously investing in capacity-building around early warning system accuracy and dissemination. |
| Keywords: | governance; climate; conflicts; resilience; Africa; Western Africa; Mali |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2272 |