scholarly journals Enterprising Women in Southern Africa: When Does Land Ownership Matter?

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Brixiová ◽  
Thierry Kangoye ◽  
Fiona Tregenna
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Sales Growth ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Female Entrepreneurs ◽  
Access To Credit ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Enterprise Surveys ◽  
Start Ups

AbstractLimited access to finance remains one of the major barriers for women entrepreneurs in Africa. This paper presents a model of start-ups in which firms’ sales and profits depend on their productivity and access to credit. However, due to the lack of collateral assets such as land, female entrepreneurs have more constrained access to credit than do men. Testing the model on data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys in Eswatini, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe, we find land ownership to be important for female entrepreneurial performance in terms of sales levels. These results suggest that the small Southern African economies would benefit from removing obstacles to female land tenure and enabling financial institutions to lend against movable collateral. Although land ownership is linked with higher sales levels, it is less critical for sales growth and innovation where access to short term loans for working capital seems to be key.

scholarly journals Skills Gap, Innovation, and Firms Performance in Zambia

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Yordanos Gebremeskel ◽  
Bupe Simuchimba ◽  
Chonzi Mulenga
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Sales Growth ◽  
Skills Gap ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Innovation Model ◽  
Skilled Workforce ◽  
The Empirical Analysis

This study examines the interaction between employees’ skill, innovation and firm’s performance. A skilled labour force has a significant impact on the innovation, performance and long-term competitiveness of the firm. Due to a weak educational system coupled with limited training facilities, most Zambian firms still face challenges in acquiring the required skilled workforce. The World Bank Skills Survey Zambia 2016 is used for the empirical analysis on 350 small, medium, and large enterprises. A binomial logit model is used for the innovation model and OLS regression model for performance measurement. We employ sales growth as a measure of firm performance. The results show that the number of professional & skilled employees and trainings were important factors of innovation. Furthermore, we find that innovation and location have an impact on the firms’ performance as measured by sales growth.

Poll will pose short-term hurdle for Zambia's IMF deal

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Investor Confidence ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Current Account Deficits ◽  
High Inflation ◽  
Power Deficit

Subject Outlook for Zambia's IMF programme. Significance The World Bank in its most recent report expects Zambia's GDP growth to slow to 3.4% this year from 3.6% in 2015. The slowdown is symptomatic of an array of macroeconomic challenges -- including low commodity prices, drought, currency volatility, high inflation, fiscal and current account deficits and rising debt burdens -- that have driven the Patriotic Front (PF) government to seek assistance from the IMF. Impacts Glencore's plans to invest 1.1 billion dollars in its Mopani mine will extend the asset's life, possibly by up to 25 years. The new variable mining tax system, in which tax rates rise and fall depending on global metals prices, will improve investor confidence. The substantial power deficit will persist due to the drought, which is depressing hydroelectricity output, and dilapidated facilities. Recent investments in renewables capacity -- in particular, solar power -- will prove insufficient to mitigate electricity shortages.

Nigeria’s infrastructure backlog could worsen

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Internal Migration ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Capital Projects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Additional Funding ◽  
Alternative Sources

Subject Infrastructure shortfalls. Significance Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun stated on December 11 that Nigeria will release an additional 750 billion naira (2.1 billion dollars) to federal ministries and agencies for implementation of capital projects. Adeosun has previously said the country must explore alternative sources of financing in the short term to deliver critical road, rail and power infrastructural projects. However, there are concerns about whether additional funding will lead to the delivery of such projects; the World Bank recently said that 50 infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) projects have not met their objectives because they were hastily designed. Impacts Slow-burning conflict between farmers and herdsmen will cause more internal migration to cities, further straining infrastructure. Major infrastructure gaps will be worst in states such as Lagos and Abia, which are struggling to cope with new migrants and residents. Persistent corruption and a 'kickback' culture will result in higher infrastructure delivery and maintenance costs.

Determinants of credit access of small and medium enterprises in emerging economies: evidence from the World Bank enterprise surveys

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Rafael De Freitas Souza ◽  
Patrícia Belfiore ◽  
Nuno Manoel Martins Dias Fouto ◽  
Marco Aurélio Dos Santos ◽  
Luiz Paulo Fávero
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Credit Access ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Enterprise Surveys ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Protecting access to land for indigenous and non-indigenous communities: A new page for the World Bank?

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-516
Author(s):  
Margherita Brunori
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Equitable Access ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Social Standards ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
International Instruments

AbstractThe World Bank has reviewed its environmental and social policies at a moment of intense production of international instruments dealing with land tenure, all of which take the form of soft law. This endeavour is motivated by the progressive acknowledgement of the importance of secure and equitable access to land for the realization of human rights and food security. The latest contribution of the World Bank to this debate is of great significance. This article aims to unveil the effects that the new Environmental and Social Framework is likely to generate in this context. It analyses the protection of access to land and security of tenure contained in the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Standards in light of the developments occurring at the international level. To this end, the article reviews the changes to the standards in the context of the social impacts when a lending project affects land holders or users directly or indirectly; addresses the mechanisms for protecting, compensating and improving livelihood opportunities for those affected by the projects; and comments on the safeguarding of indigenous peoples’ lands. The article finds that the World Bank, by incorporating some of these emerging standards, has confirmed the relevance of emerging principles and guidelines on land, even if they are contained in non-binding instruments. On a critical note, the article recognizes the refusal of the World Bank to adopt the underlying discourse and fully embrace human rights achievements in the context of land issues.

Measuring Entrepreneurship: Do Established Metrics Capture Schumpeterian Entrepreneurship?

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Henrekson ◽  
Tino Sanandaji
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Small Business ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Limited Liability ◽  
High Impact ◽  
The Other ◽  
Business Activity ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Start Ups

We compile four hand-collected measures of high-impact Schumpeterian entrepreneurship (venture capital-funded IPOs, self-made billionaire entrepreneurs, unicorn start-ups, and young top global firms founded by individual entrepreneurs) and six measures dominated by small business activity as well as institutional and economic variables for 64 countries. Factor analysis reveals that a great deal of the variation is accounted for by two distinct factors: one relating to high-impact Schumpeterian entrepreneurship and the other relating to small business activity. Except for the World Bank measure of firm registration of limited liability companies, quantity-based measures tend to be inappropriate proxies for high-impact Schumpeterian entrepreneurship.

Creating Law from the Ground Up: Land Law in Post-Conflict Cambodia

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah M. Trzcinski ◽  
Frank K. Upham
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Land Law ◽  
Registration System ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Foreign Intervention ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Ownership Of Land ◽  
Professional Resources

AbstractSince 1990, successive waves of foreign experts have introduced legal transplants into Cambodia dealing with the possession, use, and ownership of land. The Land Law of 2001, sponsored by the World Bank, first created a registration system that made land ownership dependent exclusively on a central cadastral registry. The 2007 Civil Code, sponsored by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, subsequently cast doubt on the exclusivity of the registry by declaring it only presumptive evidence of ownership. Both laws are based on foreign models that presume economic, technical, and professional resources that Cambodia, as a very poor, post-conflict country, lacks. Despite recent efforts to reconcile the laws, implementation remains uneven and legal ambiguity persists. While it is too early to make conclusive judgments, the Cambodian experience brings into question not only the wisdom of top-down foreign intervention but also the desirability of any form of centralized formal legal construction in a society without the necessary social, political, and institutional prerequisites.

scholarly journals Applying the FFP Approach to Wider Land Management Functions

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 723
Author(s):  
Kathrine Kelm ◽  
Sarah Antos ◽  
Robin McLaren
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Data Capture ◽  
Geospatial Data ◽  
Land Administration ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Management Functions

The initial focus of implementing the Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration (FFPLA) methodology was to address the significant, global security of tenure divide. We argue that this land tenure methodology is proving successful in scaling up the provision of security of tenure for developing countries. The increasing adoption of the FFPLA methodology has also opened opportunities and provided flexibility for the innovative use of emerging technologies to accelerate the global roll out of security of tenure, such as the use of autonomous drones and machine learning techniques applied to image analysis. Despite wider adoption of participatory approaches to the recording of land tenure, similar FFP solutions for the other components of land administration services (land value, land use and land development) and land management functions are still evolving. This article therefore explores how the FFP approach can be applied to this wider set of land administration services and land management functions. A case study methodology, using three case studies, is used to determine if the case study approaches meet the FFP criteria. The focus is on the urban environment, drawing mostly from experiences and case studies in the Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience & Land Global Practice of the World Bank. These opportunities for the wider application of the FFP approach and associated principles are being triggered by the innovative use of emerging new data capture technology developments. The paper examines the innovative use of these emerging technologies to identify a common set of data capture techniques and geospatial data that can be shared across a range of urban land administration and management activities. Finally, the paper discusses how individual land projects could be integrated into a more holistic land administration and management program approach and deliver a significant set of socio-economic benefits more quickly. It is found that the FFP approach can be more widely adopted across land administration and land management and in many cases can share a common set of geospatial data. The authors argue that the wider adoption and integration of these new, innovative FFP urban management approaches will require a significant cultural, professional, and institutional change from all stakeholders. Future work will explore more deeply these institutional weaknesses, which will provide a basis for guidance to the World Bank and similar institutions.

scholarly journals What impedes micro, small and medium firms’ growth the most in South Africa? Evidence from World Bank Enterprise Surveys

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Mthimkhulu ◽  
M. J. Aziakpono
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Access To Finance ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Enterprise Surveys ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Medium Firms ◽  
Simple Count

The growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is often regarded as a solution to persistent unemployment in developing countries. Studies have shown that access to finance is the most serious obstacle to MSMEs’ growth. This paper investigates key obstacles to the growth of MSMEs in South Africa using the World Bank Enterprise Surveys of 2003 and 2007. Two approaches are used to determine the key obstacles. The first improves on the simple count-of-ratings method used by many researchers. The second estimates the effects of obstacles on growth through sequential multivariate regressions based on the Growth Diagnostics framework by Hausmann, Rodrik & Velasco (2005) and identifies two levels of obstacles’ intensities: binding constraints with negative and significant effects and constraints with notable effects whose negative effects are significant but less than the binding. From both count- and regression-based analyses, access to finance is a relatively less important obstacle. The count-based analysis finds crime to be the top obstacle. In the regressions, ‘courts’, which refers to the efficacy of the legal system and thus related to crime, is binding. Electricity and transportation of goods are the constraints with notable effects.

African in the Debt Trap: Which Way Out?

1986 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor W. Parfitt ◽  
Stephen P. Riley
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Primary Products ◽  
External Demand ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Food Imports ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

At the October 1985 meeting in Seoul of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, African delegates insisted that ‘the economic situation is the worst in recent history’.Indeed, it is now widely accepted that the states and peoples of sub-Saharan Africa are in the midst of a crisis of unprecedented magnitude that has been caused by both short-term and long-range factors. Domestic food production has been declining, whilst food imports have increased, and this has exacerbated the televised disasters of drought and famine. The recession in western countries has led to a decline in the external demand for African primary products. Export volumes and values have decreased overall, producing significant fiscal problems, and the resulting foreign-exchange shortages have meant industrial stoppages, an inability to replace infrastructures, and a decline in the gross domestic product.

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