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on Africa |
| By: | Abukar Warsame |
| Abstract: | Housing affordability remains a pressing challenge in numerous African countries due to rapid urbanization, population growth, and economic disparities. This study explores the multifaceted nature of affordability by considering variables such as GDP per capita, inflation rate, slum population percentage, female-headed households, unemployment rate, lending interest rate, maximum loan-to-value ratio, cheapest house price and size, and typical monthly rental. By combining and weighing these variables, a comprehensive affordability measurement is obtained. Utilizing Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the dataset's dimensionality is reduced, revealing key variables contributing to affordability. Our preliminary results demonstrate that distinct components, encompassing socio-economic development, inequality, urbanization, labor markets, housing conditions, construction processes, and economic and business environment, influence affordability differently across countries. Understanding these factors enables policymakers to design targeted interventions such as income redistribution, slum improvement initiatives, gender-specific housing programs, employment generation measures, interest rate regulations, and housing finance accessibility policies. The findings from PCA, combined with examinations of the Gini coefficient, Human Development Index, and World Bank DBI quality index, facilitate evidence-based decision-making and the development of effective policies to enhance housing affordability and socio-economic conditions. |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2023–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afr:wpaper:afres2023-033&r=afr |
| By: | Sara Mercandalli (UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UM - Université de Montpellier); Pierre Girard (UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UM - Université de Montpellier); Bécaye Dione (UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UM - Université de Montpellier); Sandrine Michel (UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UM - Université de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | In Sub-Saharan Africa, unprecedented population growth, concomitant with limited industrialisation and job creation, have changed the configurations of rural-urban linkages in recent decades. Indeed, as primate cities do not act as strong engines of growth, territorial dynamics are rapidly being reshaped by renewed flows of people, goods, services and information within and between economic sectors, and between rural and urban areas. Rural densification and the fast expansion of small and medium-sized cities is one manifestation of these changes. As a result of silo thinking about rural and urban in most national strategies, plus the widespread informal economy and limited available statistics in the region, these new rural-urban linkages and their contribution to socioeconomic dynamics remain underexplored. Contributing to fill this gap, the aim of this paper is to present and test a method to assess rural-urban linkages and their possible role in territorial development in southern countries. We use a holistic approach and adopt an original posture, taking rural areas as the point of reference. Our method sets proxy indicators for specific information that is missing on rural-urban linkages. These indicators are then used to build a typology of territories according to potential rural-urban linkages, using a multivariate analysis and clustering. When applied to the case of Zimbabwe, the results reveal three types of districts, which differ in terms of the nature, intensity, direction and potential of rural-urban linkages for territorial development. We discuss the method's suitability in a diagnostic phase and how it could feed strategic thinking to mainstream rural-urban linkages in territorial development actions. |
| Keywords: | rural-urban linkages, assessment, small and medium-sized cities, territorial development, Zimbabwe |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04161783&r=afr |
| By: | Alfano, Marco (Lancaster University); Goerlach, Joseph-Simon (Bocconi University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the effect of exposure to terrorist violence on education. Since terrorists may choose targets endogenously, we construct a set of novel instruments. To that end, we leverage exogenous variation from a local terrorist group's revenues and its affiliation with al-Qaeda. Across several Kenyan datasets we find that attacks suppress school enrolment more than predicted by difference-in-differences-type estimators. This indicates that terrorists target areas experiencing unobserved, positive shocks. Evidence suggests fears and concerns as mechanisms of impact, rather than educational supply. |
| Keywords: | conflict, education, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | D74 I25 O15 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16544&r=afr |
| By: | Abushama, Hala; Resnick, Danielle; Siddig, Khalid; Kirui, Oliver K. |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the political economy of the conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that brought out in April 2023, resulting in massive violence, displacement, and threats to food security. Based on a series of key informant interviews and other secondary materials, this study identifies that the primary underlying driver of the conflict relates to the rise of competition between the SAF and RSF over productive resources, including within the agri-food system. This scenario has been facilitated by a longstanding lack of scrutiny, accountability, and transparency over the distribution of economic rents and commercial holdings between the two factions. Additionally, the capture of rents from different industries and resources has been a key contributor to the geographic expansion of the conflict. As the conflict continues to rage between the two groups and their associates, it continues to impose considerable impacts on different actors within the agri-food system, posing significant challenges to the planting season and crop production, introducing blockades of trade routes, and a near cessation of agro-processing. We discuss these aspects of the ensuing conflict in view of the uncertainty about political and economic developments and propose policy recommendations for rebuilding Sudan’s agri-food system holistically under different scenarios. |
| Keywords: | REPUBLIC OF THE SUDAN; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; agrifood systems; conflicts; economics; food security; politics; rent; violence |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ssspwp:15&r=afr |