Africa http://lists.repec.org/mailman/listinfo/nep-afr Africa 2026-04-13 Colonial Rule and Religious Change: Evidence from Africa's Colonial Borders https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2604.04777&r=&r=afr The European colonization of sub-Saharan Africa drove a massive shift from indigenous religions to Christianity, yet the channels through which this transformation occurred remain poorly understood. Using a geographic regression discontinuity design at colonial borders in sub-Saharan Africa, I find that Christian adherence is substantially higher under French and Portuguese direct rule than under British indirect rule -- a gap that implies a correspondingly greater persistence of traditional religions where indirect rule prevailed. Neither mission presence nor pre-colonial political centralization can account for the discontinuity. Instead, the evidence points to the disruption of the inherited social order as the key channel: where direct rule eroded rigid traditional social structures, Christianity -- which bypassed hereditary boundaries -- expanded to fill the void; where indirect rule preserved them, indigenous religions endured. These findings shed light on the dynamics of religious identity change and how it was shaped by colonialism. Hector Galindo-Silva 2026-04 Change, Language and Power: The Example of International Financial Institutions’ Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05571524&r=&r=afr International financial institutions (IFIs, the IMF and the World Bank) and their policies have faced several global crises since the late twentieth century, and these institutions claim that they have implemented significant changes in response. In this context, after examining the polysemy of the concept of change, it is argued that the changes have been limited, and that language plays a key role in maintaining the stability of policies, theories, and the international institutions that convey them. This is illustrated by the empirical example of the formulations of the policies required by the IFIs in Sub-Saharan African economies since the rise of the IFIs' role as policy drivers in the 1980s. Economic outcomes in African countries remain poor and even exhibit a divergence from other regions, with the underlying causalities remaining unchanged (notably, export structures based on commodities). Despite the 'small changes' claimed by theories and policies, evaluating them based on their consequences reveals their underlying stability. Alice Nicole Sindzingre epistemology of economics, international financial institutions, Sub-saharan africa 2025-12-31 Climate finance and the legitimacy machine: insights from the Green Climate Fund in South Africa https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:137480&r=&r=afr The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is the principal multilateral mechanism for channelling climate finance to developing countries. This paper examines the processes through which GCF projects are developed, opening the ‘black box’ of project development to better understand the uneven production of different kinds of climate finance. Empirically, the analysis addresses a puzzle in South Africa: while the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) had secured approval for three projects by 2019, it was not until 2025 that the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) secured approval for its first project. To account for this divergence, the paper brings assembling thinking into dialogue with the concept of legitimacy. A key contribution is to introduce and operationalise the ‘legitimacy machine’ to theorise how assemblages become productive. This abstract machine transforms disparate components into sufficiently legitimate entities to advance policy objectives. Legitimacy thus acts as a mechanism for establishing and strengthening connections, unlocking relational power, and enabling the flow of authority, resources, and material effects. The paper demonstrates how the production of climate finance in South Africa reflects contrasting processes of legitimacy-making in the pursuit of heterogeneous desires. DBSA rapidly mobilised private finance by legitimating the South African economy as an investible opportunity, while shielding projects from critique through decentralised delivery. SANBI, by contrast, deliberately pursued a slower, more inclusive approach – shaped by acute scarcity of adaptation finance and the political challenge of narrowing multiple project ideas without alienating ‘deserving’ publics. Its commitment to safeguarding its own institutional legitimacy outweighed the imperative of rapid approval. These findings nuance debates on the transformational potential of the GCF and its role in the top-down financialization of recipient countries. They also underscore the need for pragmatic and differentiated approaches to supporting projects, recognising that distinct forms of multilateral finance require both rapid and patient pathways. Barnes, Jonathan Perkins, Richard assemblage; climate finance; green climate fund; legitimacy; South Africa; transformation 2026-03-26 Did the Cold War Produce Development Clusters in Africa https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05573607&r=&r=afr This paper examines the lasting impact of Cold War alignment on African economic development. To determine alignment and reduce the number of potential outcomes under consideration, we introduce a non-cooperative game of social interactions where each country chooses its bloc based on its predetermined bilateral similarities with other members of the bloc. We are able to use the celebrated MaxCut method to exactly identify the equilibrium partition. The alignment predicts UN General Assembly voting patterns during the Cold War but not after. We find that the alignment produces two clusters of development outcomes today that reflect the Cold War's ideological divide. Western-aligned African countries have greater inequality coupled with deeper financial penetration, while there is no difference in the level of income per capita between the two groups of countries. Michel Le Breton Paul Castañeda Dower Gunes Gokmen Шломо Вебер Cold War, Political Alliances, Africa, Blocs, Development Clusters, Strong, Guerre froide, Alliances politiques, Afrique, Blocs, Pôles de développement, ,Nash Equilibrium, Landscape Theory., Equilibre de Nash fort, Théorie du paysage. 2026-03-13