Download or read book Is it beneficial for the African Union to introduce a Common Currency written by Katharina Osterholt and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2012-05-22 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: B bzw. 1.7, BI Norwegian Business School, course: Development Studies; Trade, Aid and Microfinance, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with the question whether a common currency is beneficial for the African Union. In order to assess this question, potential problems will be analysed and highlighted. The topic of a common currency becomes important in terms of economic growth that can facilitate sustainable development. The African Monetary Union is an economic and monetary union. The plan to introduce a common currency is based on the Abuja Treaty that was signed on 3.6.1991 in Abuja, Nigeria. In this treaty it was decided to set up an African Economic Community, an African Central Bank and an African Economic Community with a single currency by around 2020 (Masson, Milkiewicz, 2003). Up to today most countries have not signed this proposal as some decided to form their own currency unions, some want to delay the starting date and some are already using currencies from other countries. The paper will start looking at the advantages and disadvantages of a common currency and putting it into context with sustainable development. Here it can be highlighted that a successful and stable common currency can foster economic growth and therefore result in higher sustainable development. Further on, the paper looks into the theories of an Optimum Currency Area, Economic shocks, Spillover effects, currency adjustments and development traps. In order to analyze these theories the analysis part is looking into these using inflation rate data, GNI per capita and trade pattern provided by the IMF, the World Bank and UNECA, while contrasting it with the difficulties due to the development traps.
Download or read book Regional Integration in West Africa written by Eswar Prasad and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2021-07-13 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " Assessing the potential benefits and risks of a currency union Leaders of the fifteen-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have set a goal of achieving a monetary and currency union by late 2020. Although some progress has been made toward achieving this ambitious goal, major challenges remain if the region is to realize the necessary macroeconomic convergence and establish the required institutional framework in a relatively short period of time. The proposed union offers many potential benefits, especially for countries with historically high inflation rates and weak central banks. But, as implementation of the euro over the past two decades has shown, folding multiple currencies, representing disparate economies, into a common union comes with significant costs, along with operational challenges and transitional risks. All these potential negatives must be considered carefully by ECOWAS leaders seeking tomeet a self-imposed deadline. This book, by two leading experts on economics and Africa, makes a significant analytical contribution to the debates now under way about how ECOWAS could achieve and manage its currency union, andthe ramifications for the African continent. "
Download or read book The Monetary Geography of Africa written by Paul R. Masson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004-11-30 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa is working toward the goal of creating a common currency that would serve as a symbol of African unity. The advantages of a common currency include lower transaction costs, increased stability, and greater insulation of central banks from pressures to provide monetary financing. Disadvantages relate to asymmetries among countries, especially in their terms of trade and in the degree of fiscal discipline. More disciplined countries will not want to form a union with countries whose excessive spending puts upward pressure on the central bank's monetary expansion. In T he Monetary Geography of Africa, Paul Masson and Catherine Pattillo review the history of monetary arrangements on the continent and analyze the current situation and prospects for further integration. They apply lessons from both experience and theory that lead to a number of conclusions. To begin with, West Africa faces a major problem because Nigeria has both asymmetric terms of trade—it is a large oil exporter while its potential partners are oil importers—and most important, large fiscal imbalances. Secondly, a monetary union among all eastern or southern African countries seems infeasible at this stage, since a number of countries suffer from the effects of civil conflicts and drought and are far from achieving the macroeconomic stability of South Africa. Lastly, the plan by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to create a common currency seems to be generally compatible with other initiatives that could contribute to greater regional solidarity. However, economic gains would likely favor Kenya, which, unlike the other two countries, has substantial exports to its neighbors, and this may constrain the political will needed to proceed. A more promising strategy for monetary integration would be to build on existing monetary unions—the CFA franc zone in western and central Africa and the Common Monetary Area in southern Africa. Masson and Pattillo argue that the goal of a creating a s
Download or read book Towards a Single African Currency written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book West African Currency Union written by and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 25 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the inception of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1975, the founding members have aimed to introduce a single regional currency as a mechanism to achieve continued economic integration, sustainable economic expansion and poverty reduction. This paper empirically assesses the feasibility of the proposed West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) as an optimum currency area by considering potential benefits and costs of the union using the Gravity Model of Trade and Vector Autoregression (VAR) analysis respectively. To perform the assessment, I first employ the Gravity Model of Trade to analyze the trade-creating benefits of adopting a common currency by evaluating the effect of currency risk on bilateral trade flows. I find that currency risk is not a significant trade barrier. Then, I perform a VAR analysis to understand the symmetry of shock responses across the proposed union and discover that both supply and demand shocks are generally asymmetric. This finding indicates that the retention of monetary policy autonomy by member countries will be more beneficial than joining the proposed currency union. The results of both analyses indicate that the proposed monetary zone is not an optimal currency area. Finally, I employ a K-means clustering algorithm to derive a statistically driven cluster of countries best suited to form an optimal currency area in West Africa and find three optimal clusters.
Download or read book The Theory of Economic Integration Routledge Revivals written by Bela Balassa and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1962, The Theory of Economic Integration provides an excellent exposition of a complex and far-reaching topic. Professor Balassa has been remarkably successful in covering so much ground with such care and balance, in a treatment which is neither in any way abstruse nor unnecessarily technical. His book will interest economists in Europe by reason of its subject and treatment, but it is also a valuable and reliable textbook for students tackling integration as part of a course of International Economics and for those studying Public Finance. He distinguishes between the various forms of integration (free trade area, customs union, common market, economics union, and total integration). In addition, he applies the theoretical principles to current projects such as the European Common Market and Free Trade Area, and to Latin American integration projects. In offering this theoretical study, the author builds on the conclusions of other writers, but goes beyond this in providing a unifying framework for previous contributions and in exploring questions that in the past received little attention – in particular, the relationship between economic integration and growth (especially the interrelationship between market size and growth, and the implications of various factors for economic growth in an integrated area).
Download or read book The European Union A Very Short Introduction written by John Pinder and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-07-25 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Pinder and Simon Usherwood explain the EU in plain readable English. They show how and why it has developed, how the institutions work, and what it does - from the single market to the euro, and from agriculture to the environment.
Download or read book Contesting Sovereignty written by Joel Ng and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-22 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines and compares diplomatic practices and normative change in the African Union and ASEAN.
Download or read book Asia and Africa in the Global Economy written by Ernest Aryeetey and published by UNU. This book was released on 2003 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication considers the different economic experiences of countries in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, in terms of policy, institutional and structural aspects, divergence in economic growth and performance levels, and the extent of their integration into the global economy. Chapters discuss a variety of issues including the dynamics of globalisation, local entrepreneurship, exports, foreign direct investment, management of financial flows, foreign aid, debt and development.
Download or read book Monetary Union in West Africa ECOWAS written by International Monetary Fund and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monetary union, currency unions, fixed exchange rate, monetary stability.
Download or read book The East African Community written by Ms.Catherine McAuliffe and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2012-11-14 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The East African Community (EAC) has been among the fastest growing regions in sub-Saharan Africa in the past decade or so. Nonetheless, the recent growth path will not be enough to achieve middle-income status and substantial poverty reduction by the end of the decade—the ambition of most countries in the region. This paper builds on methodologies established in the growth literature to identify a group of countries that achieved growth accelerations and sustained growth to use as benchmarks to evaluate the prospects, and potential constraints, for EAC countries to translate their recent growth upturn into sustained high growth. We find that EAC countries compare favorably to the group of sustained growth countries—macroeconomic and government stability, favorable business climate, and strong institutions—but important differences remain. EAC countries have a smaller share of exports, lower degree of financial deepening, lower levels of domestic savings, higher reliance on donor aid, and limited physical infrastructure and human capital. Policy choices to address some of these shortcomings could make a difference in whether the EAC follows the path of sustained growth or follows other countries where growth upturns later fizzled out.
Download or read book Made in Africa written by Carol Newman and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2016-02-23 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is there so little industry in Africa? Over the past forty years, industry has moved from the developed to the developing world, yet Africa’s share of global manufacturing has fallen from about 3 percent in 1970 to less than 2 percent in 2014. Industry is important to low-income countries. It is good for economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction. Made in Africa: Learning to Compete in Industry outlines a new strategy to help African industry compete in global markets. This book draws on case studies and econometric and qualitative research from Africa and emerging Asia to understand what drives firm-level competitiveness in low-income countries. The results show that while traditional concerns such as infrastructure, skills, and the regulatory environment are important, they alone will not be sufficient for Africa to industrialize. The book also addresses how industrialization strategies will need to adapt to the region’s growing resource abundance.
Download or read book Africa s Last Colonial Currency written by Fanny Pigeaud and published by Pluto Press (UK). This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the CFA Franc enabled France to continue its colonies in Africa.
Download or read book East African Community Law written by Emmanuel Ugirashebuja and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2017-03-06 with total page 553 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: East African Community Law provides a comprehensive and open-access text book on EAC law. Written by leading experts, including the president of the EACJ, national judges, academics and practitioners, it provides the most complete overview to date of this increasingly important field. Uniquely, the book also provides a systematic comparison with EU law. EU companion chapters provide concise overviews of EU law and its development, offering valuable inspiration for the application and further development of EAC law. The book has been written for all practitioners, judges, civil servants, academics and students faced with questions of EAC law. It discusses institutional, substantive and jurisdictional issues, including the nature of EAC law, free movement and competition law as well as the reception of EAC law in Partner States.
Download or read book Africa s Development Dynamics 2021 Digital Transformation for Quality Jobs written by African Union Commission and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2021-01-19 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa’s Development Dynamics uses lessons learned in the continent’s five regions – Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa – to develop policy recommendations and share good practices. Drawing on the most recent statistics, this analysis of development dynamics attempts to help African leaders reach the targets of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 at all levels: continental, regional, national and local.
Download or read book Assessing Regional Integration in Africa V written by and published by UN. This book was released on 2012 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fifth of the series (ARIA/V) has come at a time of renewed enthusiasm for shortening the period of the vision of the Abuja Treaty. Its overall objective is to provide an analytical research publication that defines frameworks for African Governments, the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities, towards accelerating the establishment of the African Common Market through: the speedy removal of all tariff and non-tariff barriers, obstacles to free movement of people, investments and factors of production in general across Africa, and through fast-tracking the creation of an African continental Free Trade Area
Download or read book The CFA Franc Zone written by Ali Zafar and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an empirical analysis of economic and political structures impacting the CFA franc zone. Concise and practical chapters explore the history of the CFA franc zone, challenges to development, geopolitical issues, the importance of flexible exchanges rates, growth trends, and the impact of the Covid crisis. Policy reform is examined to detail economic approaches that could reduce poverty and increase the quality of life within the area. This book aims to present a macroeconomic and exchange rate framework to promote development and post-Covid recovery within the CFA franc zone. It will be of interest to students, researchers, and policymakers involved in African economics, the political economy, and development economics.
