A fundamental principle that guides productive exchanges and relations amongst nations is a variant of the Kantian Moral Imperative that insists that nations treat each other as each would like to be treated. What is striking about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is that there was a goal for “ensuring environmental sustainability,” but that there wasn’t a goal for economic growth or increased productivity or prosperity—or even one aiming to achieve population-wide improvement in material wellbeing. In fact, economic growth wasn’t a goal, or even a target, but only an indicator of the MDGs. Instead, the MDGs focused on…
Author: CASADE
Paul Sumner, Glenna Huo. Although the institution of Rule of Law (ROL) and its counterpart, Control of Corruption (COC), are well known in economic development literature as being essential to economic growth and investment, policy makers in developed countries may be unaware of, or may have forgotten the lessons learned in the developing world. The United States of America, for example, used to have a strong tradition of ROL but has been moving away from this concept in the past few years. This shift has been documented by various agencies who rate countries for such things as perceived corruption…
Emmanuel Debrah. Abstract. It is argued that political parties must be internally democratic in order to promote democracy within society. This article examines the extent to which the two leading Ghanaian political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that have alternated power, nurtured and promoted democratic practices within their internal affairs. While the parties have democratized channels for decision-making and choosing of leaders and candidates, the institutionalization of patron-client relationships has encouraged elite control, violence and stifled grassroots inclusion, access to information, fair competition and party cohesion. A multifaceted approach including the…
The need to counter terroristic insurgency is urgent and clear, but the means employed to achieve this objective cannot always be transparent nor guaranteed to solve the problem permanently. The influx of foreign jihadist fighters in Africa, specifically in Libya, northern Nigeria and Somalia point to the sad reality that military force alone is insufficient, and usually instigate reactionary and sympathetic alliance from those who harbor similar sentiments as the terrorists. Indiscriminate use of military force that cause collateral damage to innocents may also provoke such sympathy for the jihadists, and enrage Western democracies that place high premium on human…
Shantayanan Devarajan, Chief Economist World Bank’s Africa Region. In low-income African countries, most people cannot afford to be unemployed. Lacking any significant safety net, 70 to 80 percent of the labor force ekes out a living by working in low-productivity, informal farms or household enterprises. Private-sector wage and salary jobs have been growing at a fairly rapid clip—at 7.3 percent a year between 1992 and 2005 in Uganda, but this growth is from such a small base that it cannot come close to absorbing the 7 million to 10 million young people entering the labor force every year. Furthermore, some…
Abraham Adonduwa. They have told us a littany of lies. First they would not run then they would and they never said they wouldn’t. Then they said Shekau was killed, but Shekau is alive and they are fresh on his tail. Twenty billion dollars went missing from the excess crude account. They said it was a mere delusion. The Power sector has been successfully privatized, yet we have electricity less frequently than we used to. Corruption is not stealing, but the corrupt are stealing all they can lay their hands on.What drives a person to steal? Is corruption intrinsic to…
Bukola Bolarinwa. On a recent taxi ride in Abuja, I asked the driver whom he would be voting for in the upcoming elections. He said he preferred the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan because he believed the main opponent, General Mohammed Buhari, was too much of an Islamic fundamentalist. He narrated his various issues with the former dictator, which are echoed by most of the opposition. On the other hand he expressed his dissatisfaction with the current administration and the worsening levels of impunity of government officials and the ruling class. He concluded by saying that they were just as…
Professor Lisa Cook. Abstract. The Nigerian banking system was in crisis for much of the 1990’s and early 2000’s. The reforms of 2005 were ambitious in simultaneously attempting to address safety, soundness, and accessibility. This paper uses published and new survey data through to investigate whether bank consolidation and other measures achieved their stated goals and whether they also enhanced development, efficiency, and profitability. Following the reforms, banks are better capitalized, more efficient, and less involved in the public sector but not more profitable and accessible to the poor. While there is greater supervision and less fragility, recorded…
Editorial Commentary. Sooner or later a house of cards built on a rotten foundation would show its deficiencies, and much sooner the builder would be called upon to give account of his moral turpitude, and ineptitude. The presence of foreign troops and private mercenaries on Nigerian soil for the sole purpose of rescuing the country from the ravages of a band of nebulous militants should give every Nigerian with a pulse an elevated blood pressure. For a very important reason it calls into question the current government’s ability to discharge its most sacred obligation to its citizenry, which is…
By Nicolas van de Walle. Traditional economic theory predicts that capital mobility and international trade will push the world’s national economies to one income level. As poorer nations race ahead, richer ones should slow down. Eventually, theory says, national economies would reach equilibrium. The reality of the last few decades, however, defies this notion; most of the poorest economies continue to lag far behind. For 50 years, foreign aid has been the main way the international community has promoted economic development. Yet it has not proven to be a silver bullet. Why is this? What can be done? A rigorous…