scholarly journals Globalization and Inclusive Human Development in Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simplice Asongu ◽  
Jacinta Nwachukwu
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Favourable Effect ◽  
Economic Implication ◽  
Quantile Regressions ◽  
African Countries ◽  
World Bank Report ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Generalised Method Of Moments ◽  
Political Economic

AbstractThis study extents the literature on responses to a recent World Bank report on the African poverty tragedy by assessing the effect of globalisation on inclusive human development in 51 African countries for the period 1996–2011. Political, economic, social and general globalisation variables are used. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) and Instrumental Quantile Regressions (IQR). While estimated coefficients are not significant in GMM results, for IQR, globalisation positively affects inclusive human development and the favourable effect is higher in countries with high initial levels of inclusive development. The main economic implication is that in the post-2015 development agenda, countries would benefit more from globalisation by increasing their levels of inclusive development.

scholarly journals The role of inclusive development and military expenditure in modulating the effect of terrorism on governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 681-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simplice Asongu ◽  
Jacinta Nwachukwu ◽  
Sara le Roux
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Military Expenditure ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Transnational Terrorism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
Generalised Method Of Moments ◽  
Policy Syndromes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of inclusive human development and military expenditure in modulating the effect of terrorism on governance. Design/methodology/approach It is based on 53 African countries for the period 1998–2012 and interactive generalised method of moments is employed. Six governance indicators from the World Bank and two terrorism variables are used, namely, domestic and transnational terrorism dynamics. Findings The following main findings are established. There is a negative net effect on governance (regulation quality and corruption-control) when inclusive human development is used to reduce terrorism. There is a positive net impact on governance (voice and accountability and rule of law) when military expenditure is used to reduce domestic terrorism. Originality/value The authors have complemented the sparse literature on the use of policy variables to mitigate the effect of policy syndromes on macroeconomic outcomes.

scholarly journals DOES GLOBALIZATION PROMOTE GOOD GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA? An Empirical Study across 51 Countries

World Affairs ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 180 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simplice A. Asongu
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Variable ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Governance ◽  
Estimation Technique ◽  
Quantile Regressions ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Impact

This study investigates the effect of globalization on governance in 51 African countries for the period 1996–2011. Four bundled governance indicators and four globalization (political, economic, social, and general) variables are used. The empirical evidence is based on instrumental variable quantile regressions. The motivation for using this estimation technique is that blanket governance–globalization policies are not likely to succeed unless they are contingent on initial levels of governance and tailored differently across countries with low, intermediate, and high levels of governance. The following findings are presented. First, globalization does, in fact, appear to promote good governance. Second, for the most part, the effect of globalization is higher in terms of magnitude in the bottom quantiles of the political, institutional, and general governance distributions. Third, the impact of globalization is overwhelmingly higher in terms of magnitude in the top quantiles of the economic governance distribution.

scholarly journals Mobile phones in the diffusion of knowledge and persistence in inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simplice Asongu ◽  
Jacinta C. Nwachukwu
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Diffusion ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Sub Saharan

The success of inclusive development strategies in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda depends substantially on the adoption of common inclusive development policies among nations. Building on the relevance of a knowledge economy in the post-2015 development agenda, this study models the feasibility of common policies for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). More specifically, we investigate the complementary role of knowledge diffusion in the inclusive benefits of mobile phone penetration in SSA from 2000 to 2012 by employing the Generalised Method of Moments. Knowledge diffusion variables include educational quality, innovation and Internet penetration. The main finding is that inclusive human development is persistently conditional on mobile phones in knowledge diffusion. Moreover, countries with low levels of inclusive human development are catching-up their counterparts with higher development. Policy implications are discussed with particular emphasis on how to leverage common knowledge economy initiatives for inclusive development.

Human Development & the Corporate Sector: The Anonymous Benefactor

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirti Karamchandani
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Uttar Pradesh ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Private Business ◽  
Corporate Sector ◽  
Public Funds ◽  
The Public ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
The Government

The interdependence between the corporate world and the society is evidently visible in the economic, social, ecological and inclusive development of the region where a corporate has evolved. This evolution of the private business houses has laid the foundations of sustainable relationships with the community at large. But yet given the resources, reach and impact of this sector, its imprecise relation with the human development of the population can be referred to as that of the ‘Anonymous Benefactor’. There are numerous examples of corporates adopting villages, running hospitals and training centres, conducting awareness workshops, bringing about a positive change at the community level, providing employment to masses. It’s time to acknowledge the role of the corporate sector as a change agent in social development and welcome such developmental activities through the creation of win-win partnerships. Human development is also at the core of the government’s development agenda, it is for the government to establish incentives and encourage industry to come up with new developmental models that address issues like manpower shortages, infrastructural deficiencies in hitherto remote areas and civil society concerns relating to costs and quality of services. Uttar Pradesh not only has a large spread of industry but is also the source of captive workforce. This must be seen as an endowment for reaching out to the masses, thus instead of imposing financial contributions on corporates its capacity, reach and expertise should be leveraged through effective partnerships. There is a need for mechanisms that can streamline the public funds in the social sector through partnerships that align the multi-dimensional impact and social behaviour of the corporates, and together endorse a constructive role in the pursuit of the goals of human development. In order to push the development agenda in a mission mode, it is recommended that realistic and operational models of engagement between the Government and the corporate sector are jointly explored and addressed. The era of globalization where India transformed itself to ‘India Inc’, also saw a multi-faceted development in the presence and impact of corporates. Today, the role of corporates doesn’t only involve provision of goods and services but has grown to become the source of livelihood, empowerment and community development. This research paper focuses on how the private business houses have established deep rooted relations with the community and how this may be seen as a potential partner for using the public funds in an effective way.

scholarly journals Doing business and inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simplice Asongu ◽  
Nicholas Odhiambo
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Time Required

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how doing business affects inclusive human development in 48 Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2000–2012.Design/methodology/approachThe measurement of inclusive human development encompasses both absolute pro-poor and relative pro-poor concepts of inclusive development. Three doing business variables are used, namely: the number of start-up procedures required to register a business, time required to start a business, and time to prepare and pay taxes. The empirical evidence is based on fixed effects and generalised method of moments regressions.FindingsThe findings show that increasing constraints to the doing of business have a negative effect on inclusive human development.Originality/valueThe study is timely and very relevant to the post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda for two fundamental reasons: first, exclusive development is a critical policy syndrome in Africa because about 50 per cent of countries in the continent did not attain the Millennium Development Goal extreme poverty target despite enjoying more than two decades of growth resurgence. Second, growth in Africa is primarily driven by large extractive industries and with the population of the continent expected to double in about 30 years, scholarship on entrepreneurship for inclusive development is very welcome. This is essentially because studies have shown that the increase in unemployment (resulting from the underlying demographic change) would be accommodated by the private sector, not the public sector.

scholarly journals Social media and inclusive human development in Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 026666692092034
Author(s):  
Simplice A. Asongu ◽  
Nicholas M. Odhiambo
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Least Squares ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Positive Function ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Quantile Regressions ◽  
African Countries

This study investigates the relationship between social media and inclusive human development in 49 African countries for the year 2012. Social media is measured with Facebook penetration whereas inclusive human development is proxied by the inequality- adjusted human development index. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares, Tobit and Quantile regressions. Ordinary Least Squares provided baseline results, Tobit regressions account for the limited range in the outcome variable while Quantile regressions are engaged to control for initial levels of inequality-adjusted human development. From Ordinary Least Squares and Tobit results, Facebook penetration is positively associated with inclusive human development. Quantile regressions confirm this positive nexus and further establish that the positive association is slightly higher in magnitude in the above-median sub-sample. From a comparative assessment, it is apparent that with the exception of the resource-wealth sub-samples, higher levels of Facebook penetration are associated with comparatively higher levels of inclusive human development. Accordingly, the positive association between Facebook penetration and inclusive human development is: (i) a positive function of income levels and (ii) more apparent in Middle East and North African countries (compared to Sub-Saharan African countries), English common law countries (compared to their French civil law counterparts), and coastal countries (in relation to landlocked countries).

Prospects for the Development of Russian-African Cooperation in the Cultural and Humanitarian Sphere

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
Olga Konstantinova
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Science And Culture ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Russian Education ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Russian Universities ◽  
The Russian Language

The relations between Russia and Africa today go to a new level. This was successfully demonstrated by the first Russia-Africa Summit. The «soft power» that is capable of creating an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding and supporting the further development of political, economic, and cultural relations between the Russian and African peoples is of great importance for the further advancement of Russia’s interests, which is considered in this article. Currently, the «soft power» of Russia in Africa is represented by the activities of the Russian centers of science and culture, the «Russkiy Mir» Foundation, schools at the Russian Embassies in African countries, the education of Africans in Russian universities and more. However, the author concludes that Russia does not fully use «soft power» on the continent. It is necessary to increase the number of Africans studying the Russian language, to more actively promote Russian education, to involve compatriots and graduates of Soviet / Russian universities to joint projects, which will undoubtedly contribute to the further development of mutually beneficial Russian-African ties.

Rapid urbanization and the growing demand for urban infrastructure in Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Leyeka Lufumpa ◽  
Tito Yepes
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Productivity ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Transformation Theory ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Development Agenda

Africa is undergoing a rapid urban transition and is set to be the fastest urbanizing region in the coming decades. This shift has profound implications for achieving the continental and global targets for inclusive growth and transformation. Theory and global experience show that urbanization and structural transformation are closely linked—but less so in Africa. Urbanization in many African countries has not been driven by improving agricultural productivity. Indeed, most countries are urbanizing rapidly amid declining or stagnant industrial output and low agricultural productivity. The infrastructure development agenda has to make cities more productive and liveable yet with great reliance on the provision of sizable resources. However, matching the investment agenda to the goals of urbanization is a complex task, encompassing regional, national, urban, and rural dimensions which together determine the quality of the urbanization process. Institutional reforms should be undertaken to positively drive urbanization in Africa.

scholarly journals In the Wake of TICAD V: Japan-Africa Relations Today

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-173
Author(s):  
István Tarrósy
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Bilateral Aid ◽  
African Development ◽  
Business Opportunities ◽  
Major Donors

Abstract The paper looks at how Japan, one of the major donors of African countries, has been redefining its positions on the African continent in terms of bilateral aid and business opportunities, triangular collaboration and multilateral development projects in an increasingly ‘interpolar’ world of international relations. The discussion includes China's expanding presence all over Africa as an important ‘reference point’ for the Japanese public at large and how that may influence Japanese pragmatic foreign policy towards the continent and Japan's involvement in African development. What are Japan's priorities in the wake of hosting the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) early in June 2013 in Yokohama? How does Japan go along with its confident manner of inclusive development and ownership in African societies when at the same time it is challenged by China and other emerging actors? What are the items on Japan's agenda for a re-intensified Africa policy?

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document