Download or read book Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa written by Kathleen Beegle and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-10-09 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sub-Saharan Africa's turnaround over the past couple of decades has been dramatic. After many years in decline, the continent's economy picked up in the mid-1990s. Along with this macroeconomic growth, people became healthier, many more youngsters attended schools, and the rate of extreme poverty declined from 54 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2015. Political and social freedoms expanded, and gender equality advanced. Conflict in the region also subsided, although it still claims thousands of civilian lives in some countries and still drives pressing numbers of displaced persons. Despite Africa’s widespread economic and social welfare accomplishments, the region’s challenges remain daunting: Economic growth has slowed in recent years. Poverty rates in many countries are the highest in the world. And notably, the number of poor in Africa is rising because of population growth. From a global perspective, the biggest concentration of poverty has shifted from South Asia to Africa. Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa explores critical policy entry points to address the demographic, societal, and political drivers of poverty; improve income-earning opportunities both on and off the farm; and better mobilize resources for the poor. It looks beyond macroeconomic stability and growth—critical yet insufficient components of these objectives—to ask what more could be done and where policy makers should focus their attention to speed up poverty reduction. The pro-poor policy agenda advanced in this volume requires not only economic growth where the poor work and live, but also mitigation of the many risks to which African households are exposed. As such, this report takes a "jobs" lens to its task. It focuses squarely on the productivity and livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable—that is, what it will take to increase their earnings. Finally, it presents a road map for financing the poverty and development agenda.
Download or read book Social and Economic Statistics for Africa written by G.M.C. Kpedekpo and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-07-12 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1981, this book deals with the general nature of social and economic statistics; their sources, collection, use and reliability with an emphasis on Africa and source material available in Africa which deals with Africa. The authors look in depth at specific topics such as population, crime, health, housing, labour, social security, agriculture, external trade and national accounts. Particular attention has been paid to the role played by Western concepts and definitions, analysis and interpretation of African statistics and the problems to which these concepts give rise. Explanation on how to interpret critically, statistics collected by others and those which are published and used to guide decision making by governments and private organisations alike is given. Undergraduate students taking courses in statistics and quantitative methods in Social Science Faculties through Africa will find this book useful, as well as students of education, agriculture and medicine in their introductory statistics courses
Download or read book Poor Numbers written by Morten Jerven and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most urgent challenges in African economic development is to devise a strategy for improving statistical capacity. Reliable statistics, including estimates of economic growth rates and per-capita income, are basic to the operation of governments in developing countries and vital to nongovernmental organizations and other entities that provide financial aid to them. Rich countries and international financial institutions such as the World Bank allocate their development resources on the basis of such data. The paucity of accurate statistics is not merely a technical problem; it has a massive impact on the welfare of citizens in developing countries. Where do these statistics originate? How accurate are they? Poor Numbers is the first analysis of the production and use of African economic development statistics. Morten Jerven's research shows how the statistical capacities of sub-Saharan African economies have fallen into disarray. The numbers substantially misstate the actual state of affairs. As a result, scarce resources are misapplied. Development policy does not deliver the benefits expected. Policymakers' attempts to improve the lot of the citizenry are frustrated. Donors have no accurate sense of the impact of the aid they supply. Jerven's findings from sub-Saharan Africa have far-reaching implications for aid and development policy. As Jerven notes, the current catchphrase in the development community is "evidence-based policy," and scholars are applying increasingly sophisticated econometric methods-but no statistical techniques can substitute for partial and unreliable data.
Download or read book Africa s Development Dynamics 2018 written by African Union Commission and published by Org. for Economic Cooperation & Development. This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This first edition explores the dynamics of growth, jobs, and inequalities. It proposes ten decisive actions to promote sustainable economic and social development and to strengthen institutions in Africa.
Download or read book Taxing Colonial Africa written by Leigh Gardner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-10-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taxation was one of the most contentious aspects of British colonial rule in Africa, shaping relationships between Africans, colonial governments, and European settlers. This is the first detailed comparative study of both taxation and public spending in British colonies in Africa.
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 Aging in Sub Saharan Africa written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-11-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In sub-Saharan Africa, older people make up a relatively small fraction of the total population and are supported primarily by family and other kinship networks. They have traditionally been viewed as repositories of information and wisdom, and are critical pillars of the community but as the HIV/AIDS pandemic destroys family systems, the elderly increasingly have to deal with the loss of their own support while absorbing the additional responsibilities of caring for their orphaned grandchildren. Aging in Sub-Saharan Africa explores ways to promote U.S. research interests and to augment the sub-Saharan governments' capacity to address the many challenges posed by population aging. Five major themes are explored in the book such as the need for a basic definition of "older person," the need for national governments to invest more in basic research and the coordination of data collection across countries, and the need for improved dialogue between local researchers and policy makers. This book makes three major recommendations: 1) the development of a research agenda 2) enhancing research opportunity and implementation and 3) the translation of research findings.
Download or read book Insect and Hydroponic Farming in Africa written by Dorte Verner and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2021-12-16 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interestingly, some relief from today's woes may come from ancient human practices. While current agri-food production models rely on abundant supplies of water, energy, and arable land and generate significant greenhouse gas emissions in addition to forest and biodiversity loss, past practices point toward more affordable and sustainable paths. Different forms of insect farming and soilless crop farming, or hydroponics, have existed for centuries. In this report the authors make a persuasive case that frontier agriculture, particularly insect and hydroponic farming, can complement conventional agriculture. Both technologies reuse society's agricultural and organic industrial waste to produce nutritious food and animal feed without continuing to deplete the planet's land and water resources, thereby converting the world's wasteful linear food economy into a sustainable, circular food economy. As the report shows, insect and hydroponic farming can create jobs, diversify livelihoods, improve nutrition, and provide many other benefits in African and fragile, conflict-affected countries. Together with other investments in climate-smart agriculture, such as trees on farms, alternate wetting and drying rice systems, conservation agriculture, and sustainable livestock, these technologies are part of a promising menu of solutions that can help countries move their land, food, water, and agriculture systems toward greater sustainability and reduced emissions. This is a key consideration as the World Bank renews its commitment to support countries' climate action plans. This book is the Bank's first attempt to look at insect and hydroponic farming as possible solutions to the world's climate and food and nutrition security crisis and may represent a new chapter in the Bank's evolving efforts to help feed and sustain the planet.
Download or read book Special Economic Zones in Africa written by Thomas Farole and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book, designed for policymakers, academics and researchers, and SEZ program practitioners, provides the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of SEZ programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the result of detailed surveys and case studies conducted during 2009 in ten developing countries, including six in Sub-Saharan Africa. The book provides quantitative evidence of the performance of SEZs, and of the factors which contribute to that performance, highlighting the critical importance not just of the SEZ itself but of the wider national investment climate in which it functions. It also provides a comprehensive guide to the key policy questions that confront governments establishing SEZ programs, including: if and when to launch an SEZ program, what form of SEZ is most appropriate, and how to go about implementing it. Among the most important findings from the study that is stressed in the book is the shift from traditional enclave models of zones to SEZs that are integrated ? with national trade and industrial strategies, with core trade and social infrastructure, with domestic suppliers, and with local labor markets.Although the book focuses primarily on the experience of Sub-Saharan Africa, its lessons will be applicable to developing countries around the world."
Download or read book The Economic History of Colonialism written by Leigh Gardner and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2020-07-15 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Debates about the origins and effects of European rule in the non-European world have animated the field of economic history since the 1850s. This pioneering text provides a concise and accessible resource that introduces key readings, builds connections between ideas and helps students to develop informed views of colonialism as a force in shaping the modern world. With special reference to European colonialism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in both Asia and Africa, this book: • critically reviews the literature on colonialism and economic growth; • covers a range of different methods of analysis; • offers a comparative approach, as opposed to a collection of regional histories, deftly weaving together different themes. With debates around globalization, migration, global finance and environmental change intensifying, this authoritative account of the relationship between colonialism and economic development makes an invaluable contribution to several distinct literatures in economic history.
Download or read book The Informal Economy in Sub Saharan Africa written by Leandro Medina and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-07-10 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The multiple indicator-multiple cause (MIMIC) method is a well-established tool for measuring informal economic activity. However, it has been criticized because GDP is used both as a cause and indicator variable. To address this issue, this paper applies for the first time the light intensity approach (instead of GDP). It also uses the Predictive Mean Matching (PMM) method to estimate the size of the informal economy for Sub-Saharan African countries over 24 years. Results suggest that informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa remains among the largest in the world, although this share has been very gradually declining. It also finds significant heterogeneity, with informality ranging from a low of 20 to 25 percent in Mauritius, South Africa and Namibia to a high of 50 to 65 percent in Benin, Tanzania and Nigeria.
Download or read book The Global Findex Database 2017 written by Asli Demirguc-Kunt and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.
Download or read book Food Systems in Africa written by Gaëlle Balineau and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2021-01-11 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rapid population growth, poorly planned urbanization, and evolving agricultural production and distribution practices are changing foodways in African cities and creating challenges: Africans are increasingly facing hunger, undernutrition, and malnutrition. Yet change also creates new opportunities. The food economy currently is the main source of jobs on the continent, promising more employment in the near future in farming, food processing, and food product distribution. These opportunities are undermined, however, by inefficient links among farmers, intermediaries, and consumers, leading to the loss of one-third of all food produced. This volume is an in-depth analysis of food system shortcomings in three West African cities: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Rabat, Morocco; and Niamey, Niger. Using the lens of geographical economics and sociology, the authors draw on quantitative and qualitative field surveys and case studies to offer insightful analyses of political institutions. They show the importance of “hard†? physical infrastructure, such as transport, storage, and wholesale and retail market facilities. They also describe the “soft†? infrastructure of institutions that facilitate trade, such as interpersonal trust, market information systems, and business climates. The authors find that the vague mandates and limited capacities of national trade and agriculture ministries, regional and urban authorities, neighborhood councils, and market cooperatives often hamper policy interventions. This volume comes to a simple conclusion: international development policy makers and their financial and technical partners have neglected urban markets for far too long, and now is the time to rethink and reinvest in this complex yet crucial subject.
Download or read book South Africa in Focus written by C. C. Wolhuter and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1994, South Africas image in the world changed instantaneously from the polecat to that of being a model. The intensity of the societal conflict in the run-up to 1994, and the nature of the post-1994 societal reconstruction focused the attention of the whole world on South Africa. The societal changes have been of a social, economic, political and educational nature; the foundation of which had been laid by a Constitution and a Bill of Human Rights widely hailed as one of the most progressive in the world. After almost two decades, the time is ripe for an assessment. This book offers nine essays written by scholars who are recognised authorities in their fields of expertise, critically surveying some aspects of that societal reconstruction project.
Download or read book Urbanization and Industrialization for Africa s Transformation written by United Nations. Economic Commission for Africa and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2017 Economic Report on Africa focuses on the linkages between industrialization and urbanization. Urbanization is one of Africa mega trends with profound implications for the social, economic, environmental dimensions of growth and transformation. Theory and experience demonstrate that industrialization and urbanization can be mutually reinforcing processes. It is therefore imperative to explore the linkages between urbanization and industrialization given the profound implications for structural transformation in Africa. So far, current policy narratives and frameworks on structural transformation and industrialization in Africa have largely failed to factor in the spatial and urban dimensions of industrialization, and in particular the advantages presented by productivity enhancement and agglomeration effects generated by cities. Yet, the nexus between urbanization and industrialization is of particular relevance for Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. Both agendas recognize urbanization as a critical factor for sustainable development. It is also important to consider urbanization and industrialization in light of Africa's engagement with the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) to be held in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016. In this context, African policy makers have clearly recognized urbanization as an engine of structural transformation for inclusive and sustainable growth.
Download or read book Social and Economic Statistics for Africa written by G. M. K. Kpedekpo and published by Allen & Unwin Australia. This book was released on 1981 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Textbook describing statistical sources, data collecting and data analysis methodologys for social indicators and economic indicators in Africa - covers uses, limitations, comparison, reliability, etc. In relation to population, health, education, housing and work statistics, etc. Bibliography after each chapter.
Download or read book Africa written by Tony Binns and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-11-21 with total page 627 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa: Diversity and Development introduces and de-mystifies Africa’s diversity and dynamism, and considers how its peoples and environments have interacted through time and space. The book examines the background and diversity of Africa’s social, cultural, economic, political and environmental systems, as well as key development issues which have affected Africa in the past and are likely to be significant in shaping the future of the continent. These include: the impact of HIV/AIDS; sources of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction; the state and governance; the nature of African economies in a global context and future development trajectories. This second edition features new chapters on history and governance, health, separate chapters on rural and urban development and updated content on all aspects of the continent, particularly aspects of culture and ethnicity. It is richly illustrated throughout with diagrams and plates and contains a wealth of detailed up-to-date case studies and current data. This textbook is a refreshing interdisciplinary text which enhances understanding of the background to Africa’s current position and clarifies possible future scenarios. It will be a valuable resource for students taking modules on Africa, African Development and Geography of Africa, and will also prove useful to students in the wider fields of Geography, Development Studies, Global Studies, Environment and Society and African Politics.
