nep-afr New Economics Papers
on Africa
Issue of 2020‒01‒27
five papers chosen by
Sam Sarpong
The University of Mines and Technology

  1. Effects of energy consumption, economic growth and population growth on carbon dioxide emissions: a dynamic approach for African economies (1990-2011) By Ibrahim, Abdulrazaq
  2. Legal History, Institutions and Banking System Development in Africa By Samuel Mutarindwa; Dorothea Schäfer; Andreas Stepan
  3. On the Simultaneous Openness Hypothesis: FDI, Trade and TFP Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa By Simplice A. Asongu; Joseph Nnanna; Paul N. Acha-Anyi
  4. When Jungle Order Rocks the Boat of Legal Order: Inevitability of State Stability for the Peace and Security of Mankind in Africa By Simeon A. Igbinedion
  5. An Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI) By Samba Diop; Simplice A. Asongu

  1. By: Ibrahim, Abdulrazaq
    Abstract: It has been established fact that growing energy use, specifically in the emerging economies, is associated with adverse economic, climatic and ecological effects through carbon emissions. In this regard, the study seeks to analyze the dynamics of energy consumption, economic growth and population growth on carbon dioxide emissions using panel data (1990-2011) for 9 leading African economies (including Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Morocco, Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia respectively ) based on 2014 World Bank ranking.. To achieve its objectives the study employed panel data techniques such as IPS (1997) panel unit-root test, Pedroni (1997, 1999, and 2000) panel co-integration test, Kao and Chian (2000) panel dynamic least squares (DOLS) model, and Dumitrescu-Hurlin (2012) panel causality test. The results indicated that energy consumption is the most important factor contributing to environmental pollutions and that the African economy is very much unlikely to attain EKC turning point in the long-run. The paper recommends that Africa’s energy policy (specifically the panel’s energy policy) should be geared towards improving energy consumption efficiency rather than reducing energy consumption so as not to adversely affect development.
    Keywords: Energy Consumption, Economic Growth, Population Growth, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Dynamic OLS Panel Model
    JEL: Q53
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:97598&r=all
  2. By: Samuel Mutarindwa; Dorothea Schäfer; Andreas Stepan
    Abstract: This paper links banking systems development to the colonial and legal history of African countries. Specifically, we investigate the impact of differing legal traditions on the development of existing investor and creditor protection, and on African banking systems. Based on a sample of 40 African countries from 2000 to 2016, our empirical findings show a significant dependence of current financial institutions on the legal origin and the colonization type. Findings also reveal that current legal financial institutions are not the major determinants of banking system development, whereas institutional and regulatory quality significantly matter for banking system development in both common and civil law countries. Strong creditor rights reduce the cost of banking in African countries
    Keywords: Legal origin, colonial history, financial institutions, banking system, Hausman-Taylor estimation
    JEL: G21 G38 G39 K40
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1844&r=all
  3. By: Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroon); Joseph Nnanna (The Development Bank of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria); Paul N. Acha-Anyi (Walter Sisulu University, South Africa)
    Abstract: This study assesses the simultaneous openness hypothesis that trade modulates foreign direct investment (FDI) to induce positive net effects on total factor productivity (TFP) dynamics. Twenty-five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and data for the period 1980 to 2014 are used. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalised Method of Moments. First, trade imports modulate FDI to overwhelmingly induce positive net effects on TFP, real TFP growth, welfare TFP and real welfare TFP. Second, with exceptions on TFP and welfare TFP where net effects are both positive and negative, trade exports modulate FDI to overwhelmingly induce positive net effects on real TFP growth and welfare real TFP. In summary, the tested hypothesis is valid for the most part. Policy implications are discussed.
    Keywords: Productivity; Foreign Investment; Sub-Saharan Africa
    JEL: E23 F21 F30 L96 O55
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:20/001&r=all
  4. By: Simeon A. Igbinedion (University of Lagos, Nigeria)
    Abstract: This paper discusses the disorder that characterizes the legal order of the modern state in parts of Africa. The capacity to maintain law and order and to exercise monopoly over means of coercion constitutes some of the raison d’etre of the Westphalian state model that pervades every nook and cranny of the continent. However, the inability of the state to meet the existential exigencies of its citizens and, ipso facto, its consequent loss of legitimacy, has generated a groundswell of discontent that has triggered the emergence of centrifugal forces – non-state actors – variously described as rebels, insurrectionists, insurgents, armed bandits, separatist agitators, terrorists, amongst others. But although these forces initially set out as viable alternatives to the state, they soon lose track and threaten not only the peace and security of the state but also of everyone else including their compatriots and neighbouring or contiguous states. Amidst the incapacity of the state to reclaim its lost power or glory, these non-state actors create a jungle order that harks back at Thomas Hobbes’ state of nature where life is short, nasty and brutish. Such has become the lot of so many states in Africa. From Nigeria to Central African Republic through the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Somalia, the narrative is similar. This paper examines the background and the foreground of the failure of the legal orders of the state, the disaster that armed non-state actors have become for their compatriots and territorial neighbours and the reluctance of the international community to effectively respond to restore order. Finally, the paper suggests some ways in which the legal order of the state can be rejuvenated in such a way as to be able to meet contemporary needs of law and order on the one hand and freedom and liberty on the other.
    Keywords: legal order, jungle order, non-state actors, law and order, peace and security, freedom and liberty
    Date: 2019–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:ipaper:016si&r=all
  5. By: Samba Diop (Alioune Diop University, Bambey, Senegal); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon)
    Abstract: This study improves the African Regional Integration Index (ARII) proposed by the African Union, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa by providing a theoretical framework and addressing shortcomings related to weighting and aggregation of the indicator. This paper measures monetary integration in the eight African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) by constructing an Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI). It proposes an Optimal Currency Area as theoretical framework and uses a panel approach to appreciate the dynamics of the index over different periods of time. The findings show that: (i) inflation and finance (trade and mobility) present the highest (lowest) score while ECOWAS is (EAC and IGAD are) the highest (least) performing. (ii) Surprisingly, in most RECs, the highest contributors to wealth creation are not the top performers in regional monetary integration. (iii) The RECs in Africa are characterized by a stable monetary integration which is different from the gradual process usually observed in monetary integration because with the exception of the EAC and UMA, the dynamics of IAMI show a steady trend in the overall index across time. Policy implications are discussed.
    Keywords: Monetary Integration; Currency Unions; Economic Communities; Africa
    JEL: E10 E50 O10 O55 P50
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:20/003&r=all

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