With youth unemployment close to 83% in most of the northern states of Nigeria, it is easy for the young, uneducated, and hopeless to offer their services to misguided community leaders intent on destabilization of the region. Lacking in job skills, and neglected by all levels of government, it is also easy to understand the allure of self-determination and spiritual fulfillment offered by radicalization. It is in this context that one must perceive the actions of the young in northern Nigeria as primarily driven by economic needs, and not religious hegemony. The excellent research by William Willies is a good…
Author: CASADE
The research by Carol Graham on the differential impact of globalization on various sub-groups that constitute the income distribution strata in various Latin American countries hold lessons for policy markers in Africa. The standing argument that the poor, and unskilled workers in emerging markets invariably suffer the effects of liberal trade policies engendered by globalization remains true but instructive on the urgency to implement corrective measures. Carol Graham. In the past few years, routine meetings on the operations of the international financial institutions or on the future of free trade have filled the streets of usually peaceful cities like…
By Todd I. Moss. Reviewed by Peter Lewis. Africa presents some of the greatest challenges of economic development in the contemporary world. Slow growth, poverty, corruption, debt, and recurring crises have marred the region’s economies for decades. Attempts at reform have often had discouraging results, and the sources of the continent’s malaise — and its prospects for revitalization — are widely contested. Moss elucidates the region’s travails and unpacks the often muddled debates over policy and change. Treating both political and economic themes with admirable clarity, he walks the reader briskly through Africa’s colonial legacy, the syndrome of personal rule,…
Thousands of African migrants and refugees fleeing war, repression and poverty have long struggled to enter European borders, enduring dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea without any guarantee of being accepted upon reaching Europe’s shores. Now, in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, Africans coming to Europe could face even greater scrutiny as security overtakes compassion and lawmakers call for tighter border controls. Africans already grapple with tougher immigration policies compared with other refugees and migrants in Europe, particularly Syrians. After the attacks in France last week, some lamented that the global show of support for Paris was the…
It is one thing to deal with the finances of a state of five million people with an unsophisticated and decrepit political machinery, and quite another to manage international loan arrangements for a country of over 170 million where corrupt politicians and private sector opportunists are adept at marginalizing the country’s economic prospects. But she may pleasantly surprise all if given sound economic advise coupled with political and moral support by her team of expert advisers. Paul Walker and Chris Kay of Bloomberg provide a brief look at the daunting task she faces. Paul Walker/Chris Kay Kemi Adeosun spent…
Jonathan M. Powell. Abstract. In this article, I move beyond prior efforts to explore the relationship between the risk of a coup and international conflict by considering alternatives that leaders can utilize to strengthen their regimes. I offer two theoretical expectations. First, I theorize that leaders lose the incentive and ability to use diversion when the structural coup-proofing apparatus is strengthened. Second, I expect military finances to lead to disparate behavior when considering regime type. Autocrats are expected to use military funds to provide private incentives to the armed forces, largely in the form of allowances. Democracies, in contrast,…
Martin Maximino. The estimated number of deaths from terrorism worldwide rose from 3,329 in 2000 to 32,685 in 2014, according to a November 2015 analysis by the Institute for Economics and Peace. The vast majority of lives lost to terrorism in 2014 — 78 percent — took place in the five countries where most terrorism activity occurred: Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria. More than half of incidents claimed were attributed to Boko Haram and the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL). However, 93 countries experienced at least one terrorist event in 2014, including France, Australia and Austria. Commentators have frequently speculated about the nature and characteristics of…
Clay Lowery and Vijaya Ramachandran. Next week, the G-20 Leaders will meet in Antalya, Turkey, to continue their conversation about the importance of financial inclusion in achieving strong, sustainable, balanced economic growth. One item on the agenda will be the cost of remittances. In 2009, G-8 Leaders set a goal of reducing remittance costs to 5 percent within 5 years, roughly a 5 percentage point decrease. Instead, the cost of sending remittances from G-20 countries to “high risk” countries has stayed almost flat, and to “less risky” countries, has decreased slightly more than 1 percentage point. Last week, the Financial…
Davesh Kapur. The elephants in the room at the annual International Monetary Fund/World Bank meeting in Lima, Peru, were the China-inspired Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and New Development Bank (or “BRICS Development Bank,” as it was originally called). Will these new institutions behave like the World Bank or the more conventionally “bank-like” European Investment Bank (EIB)? Above all, will they be vehicles to promote – or, paradoxically, constrain – China’s interests? The reality is that over the next decade, these new institutions will not be huge lenders. The paid-in capital of each is $10 billion; so, even with an…
By Mahamudu Bawumia. Reviewed by Christian Kitenge Moembo Kingombe. A very lucid account and assessment of the monetary policy and financial sector reform in Ghana since its independence in 1957. The description and analysis clearly bears the mark of Bank of Ghana insider who played a key role in the design and implementation of many of the reforms while rising through the ranks from Senior Economist in 2000, to Head of Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Department, Chairman of Ghana’s Capital Market Committee, Monetary Policy Committee Member, and finally Deputy Governor in 2006-2008. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s book is essential reading…