scholarly journals Fiscal Regimes and Digital Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benno Ndulu ◽  
◽  
Cornel Joseph ◽  
Karline Tryphone
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Reduced Form ◽  
Internet Adoption ◽  
Transmission Mechanisms ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Positive Externality ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Fiscal Regime

In this paper we investigate how the fiscal authorities, through tax policies or fiscal incentives, can play an important role in supporting digitalisation of the economy (digital transformation) to exploit its opportunities. Our approach is to track the influence of these policies indirectly through relevant determinants of internet adoption (connectivity and user enablers). Hence, we first establish empirically the influence of these enablers on internet use by estimating a reduced form equation of determinants of internet adoption (both demand- and supply-side factors). Then we assess the influence of a country’s fiscal policy stance on some of these enablers or determinants (direction and extent) throughout the internet value chain. Using these transmission mechanisms, we estimate the influence of the fiscal regime on digitalisation. We draw on our own empirical analysis and other relevant studies to support our recommendations to the fiscal authorities. Our findings emphasise the importance of trade-offs between short-term revenue objectives and the longer-term opportunity costs of higher revenue, enabled by the large positive externality effects of the sector, generating higher social returns than those accruing privately.

scholarly journals Identifying potential synergies and trade-offs for meeting food security and climate change objectives in sub-Saharan Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 107 (46) ◽  
pp. 19661-19666 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Palm ◽  
S. M. Smukler ◽  
C. C. Sullivan ◽  
P. K. Mutuo ◽  
G. I. Nyadzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Sub Saharan

ASR FORUM: ENGAGING WITH AFRICAN INFORMAL ECONOMIES

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Lyons ◽  
Alison Brown ◽  
Zhigang Li
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Socioeconomic Mobility ◽  
Informal Economies ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Economic Development Strategies

Abstract:This article analyzes the value chain for Chinese manufactured goods such as garments and textiles sold in sub-Saharan Africa. It explores the opportunities for Africans with small, private businesses in the export trade from China, the potential for long-term business development, and how strategies of engagement have changed over time. It finds that the value chains for low-cost goods vary. There is great diversity of entry levels and opportunities for socioeconomic mobility, and traders evolve diverse strategies to obtain and defend their position in the chain. These findings are discussed in terms of understandings of international value chains, the informal economy, and African economic development strategies.

scholarly journals Investigating persistent measles dynamics in Niger and associations with rainfall

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (169) ◽  
pp. 20200480
Author(s):  
Alexandre Blake ◽  
Ali Djibo ◽  
Ousmane Guindo ◽  
Nita Bharti
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Transmission Mechanisms ◽  
Immunization Strategies ◽  
Annual Periodicity ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Low Coverage ◽  
Over Time

Measles is a major cause of child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Current immunization strategies achieve low coverage in areas where transmission drivers differ substantially from those in high-income countries. A better understanding of measles transmission in areas with measles persistence will increase vaccination coverage and reduce ongoing transmission. We analysed weekly reported measles cases at the district level in Niger from 1995 to 2004 to identify underlying transmission mechanisms. We identified dominant periodicities and the associated spatial clustering patterns. We also investigated associations between reported measles cases and environmental drivers associated with human activities, particularly rainfall. The annual and 2–3-year periodicities dominated the reporting data spectrum. The annual periodicity was strong with contiguous spatial clustering, consistent with the latitudinal gradient of population density, and stable over time. The 2–3-year periodicities were weaker, unstable over time and had spatially fragmented clustering. The rainy season was associated with a lower risk of measles case reporting. The annual periodicity likely reflects seasonal agricultural labour migration, whereas the 2–3-year periodicity potentially results from multiple mechanisms such as reintroductions and vaccine coverage heterogeneity. Our findings suggest that improving vaccine coverage in seasonally mobile populations could reduce strong measles seasonality in Niger and across similar settings.

scholarly journals Reconciling agriculture, carbon and biodiversity in a savannah transformation frontier

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1703) ◽  
pp. 20150316 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. D. Estes ◽  
T. Searchinger ◽  
M. Spiegel ◽  
D. Tian ◽  
S. Sichinga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yields ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Transportation Costs ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Agricultural Expansion ◽  
Potential Yield ◽  
Cropland Area ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
Sub Saharan

Rapidly rising populations and likely increases in incomes in sub-Saharan Africa make tens of millions of hectares of cropland expansion nearly inevitable, even with large increases in crop yields. Much of that expansion is likely to occur in higher rainfall savannas, with substantial costs to biodiversity and carbon storage. Zambia presents an acute example of this challenge, with an expected tripling of population by 2050, good potential to expand maize and soya bean production, and large areas of relatively undisturbed miombo woodland and associated habitat types of high biodiversity value. Here, we present a new model designed to explore the potential for targeting agricultural expansion in ways that achieve quantitatively optimal trade-offs between competing economic and environmental objectives: total converted land area (the reciprocal of potential yield); carbon loss, biodiversity loss and transportation costs. To allow different interests to find potential compromises, users can apply varying weights to examine the effects of their subjective preferences on the spatial allocation of new cropland and its costs. We find that small compromises from the objective to convert the highest yielding areas permit large savings in transportation costs, and the carbon and biodiversity impacts resulting from savannah conversion. For example, transferring just 30% of weight from a yield-maximizing objective equally between carbon and biodiversity protection objectives would increase total cropland area by just 2.7%, but result in avoided costs of 27–47% for carbon, biodiversity and transportation. Compromise solutions tend to focus agricultural expansion along existing transportation corridors and in already disturbed areas. Used appropriately, this type of model could help countries find agricultural expansion alternatives and related infrastructure and land use policies that help achieve production targets while helping to conserve Africa's rapidly transforming savannahs. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Tropical grassy biomes: linking ecology, human use and conservation’.

scholarly journals Aid and growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: accounting for transmission mechanisms

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1055-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karuna Gomanee ◽  
Sourafel Girma ◽  
Oliver Morrissey
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Transmission Mechanisms ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) Origin, Cultivation, and Potential Expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amadou Tidiane Sall ◽  
Tiberio Chiari ◽  
Wasihun Legesse ◽  
Kemal Seid-Ahmed ◽  
Rodomiro Ortiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Durum Wheat ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Marginal Lands ◽  
Wheat Varieties ◽  
Variety Release ◽  
Sub Saharan

Durum wheat is an important food crop in the world and an endemic species of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In the highlands of Ethiopia and the oases of the South Sahara this crop has been cultivated for thousands of years. Today, smallholder farmers still cultivate it on marginal lands to assure production for their self-consumption. However, durum wheat is no longer just a staple crop for food security but it has become a major cash crop. In fact, the pasta and couscous industry currently purchase durum grain at prices 10 to 20% higher than bread wheat. Africa as a whole imports over € 4 billion per year of durum grain to provide the raw material for its food industry. Hence, African farmers could obtain a substantial share of this large market by turning their production to this crop. Here, the achievements of the durum breeding program of Ethiopia are revised to reveal a steep acceleration in variety release and adoption in the last decade. Furthermore, the variety release for Mauritania and Senegal is described to show how modern breeding methods could be used to deliver grain yields above 3 t ha-1 in seasons of just 92 days of length and daytime temperatures always above 32°C. This review describes the ability of releasing durum wheat varieties adapted to all growing conditions of SSA, from the oases of the Sahara to the highlands of Ethiopia. This potential area of expansion for durum wheat production in SSA is not linked to any breeding technology, but rather it remains dependent on the market ability to purchase these grains at a higher price to stimulate farmer adoption. The critical importance of connecting all actors along the semolina value chain is presented in the example of Oromia, Ethiopia, and that success story is then used to prompt a wider discussion on the potential of durum wheat as a crop for poverty reduction in Africa.

scholarly journals RESOURCE CURSE AND THE EITI MEMBERSHIP EFFECT ON THE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND CORRUPTION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: PART I - A THEORETICAL REVIEW

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-28
Author(s):  
Andries Francois Geldenhuys ◽  
Oluseye Samuel Ajuwon ◽  
Michael Graham
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Resource Governance ◽  
Growth Outcomes ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Rich Countries ◽  
Resource Sector ◽  
The Impact

This study reviews the theoretical literature concerning the resource curse as it pertains to the impact of natural resources upon economic growth and corruption in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and how the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) membership can be of help. The EITI is an international standard promoting open and transparent resource governance through disclosure mechanisms in the resource value chain. Corruption has been associated with less-than-average economic growth in resource-rich countries. This research concludes that the theoretical review found that through the dissemination of disclosures in the natural resource sector, the EITI can potentially reduce the prevalence of corruption in implementing countries in SSA and it can address negative economic growth outcomes associated with resource abundance. However, there is not much evidence empirically needed to suggest this.

scholarly journals Immediate impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on bean value chain in selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 188 ◽  
pp. 103034
Author(s):  
Eileen Bogweh Nchanji ◽  
Cosmas Kweyu Lutomia ◽  
Rowland Chirwa ◽  
Noel Templer ◽  
Jean Claude Rubyogo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan
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