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Health Expenditure Shocks Worsened Household Poverty Amidst COVID-19 in Uganda
Full text linkAmidst the COVID-19 pandemic a lot changed regarding health care financing, both globally and nationally – in Uganda. Households faced unprecedented economic constraints and were forced to make hard expenditure choices including whether and how to spend on health care. Relatedly, the number of poor Ugandans increased from eight million in 2016/17 to 8.3 million in 2019/20, but it was still not clear how much of this impoverishment can be attributed to health xpenditure shocks amidst the pandemic. In addition, Uganda has consistently fallen short on living up to the 2001 Abuja Declaration expectations of allocating at least 15% of her national budget each year to improving the healthcare system. The size of the health sector budget has been less than half of the declaration requirement for the past five years (see Figure 1). More precisely, the health sector budget as a share of the total budget and GDP has averaged 6.4% and 1.9% respectively in the financial years 2018/19 to 2022/23. The absence of a national health insurance scheme implies that a huge health care financing burden, is borne by the households who pay for health care directly by out-of-pocket payments (OOPs)
The Impact of Conflict on Child Health Outcomes: Micro-level evidence from Nigeria
Full text linkGlobally, the prevalence of conflicts has taken different dimensions due to exposure to different forms of conflict. Also, extant studies have linked conflict with health outcomes. However, comprehensive information on different conflict types remaining a major challenge faced by existing studies. Thus, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of conflicts on child well-being in Nigeria. To achieve the goal, it classified the conflicts into three categories: aggregate, insurgency/terrorism, and herdsmen/farmers’ conflict. Furthermore, robust data are used by exploring four DHS waves (2003, 2008, POLICY BRIEF The Impact of Conflict on Child Health Outcomes: Micro-level evidence from Nigeria Mutiu A. Oyinlola, Oluwatosin Adeniyi, Abdulfatai A. Adedeji and Omolola M. Lipede October 2023 / No.792 2 Policy Brief No.792 2013, and 2018) and integrating three conflict data sets using the MELTT technique. We present three steps of analysis for conflicts and child well-being based on this robust information. The impact of aggregate conflicts on child health outcomes, mechanisms, and across different groups was first investigated. Second, the impact of insurgency/terrorism on child health outcomes, mechanisms, and across different groups was examined. Third, the impact of herdsmen/farmers' conflict on child health outcomes, mechanisms, and across various groups was investigated. The result of a difference-in-difference approach suggest that proximity and exposure to different types of conflict worsened child health outcomes (infant mortality, height-for-age z-score, weight-for-age z-score and weight-for-heigh z-score). Also, vaccination, hospital visitation, and mother’s education are significantly affected by conflict types. Proximity and exposure to different conflict types forced people to migrate to less conflict-affected areas
Shocks to School Attendance
Full text linkThe COVID-19 pandemic affected the way children experience education and, by extension, the learning capability. It is evidenced that the longer they stayed out of school, the greater the risk of the poorest among them dropping out completely. Furthermore, even when they returned back to school their performance was dismal (Miguel and Kremer, 2004; UN, 2020). Access to learning technology during the period of closure in Kenya seems to have favored disproportionately the private schools’ pupils at the expense of public-school pupils. This in a sense introduced inequality in school attendance which to large extent was not justifiable. In addition, it contravened the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on quality education and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)10 on reduction of inequality. It is therefore clear that the pandemic adversely affected quality and quantity of learning outcomes in Kenya and
more severely the poor households
The Effect of Intra African Immigration on Productivity in Africa
Full text linkContrary to popular belief, many Africans who migrate stays in Africa. In a context of low trade openness between African countries and high differences in the prices of goods and factors, intra-African immigration could theoretically play an important role. This paper aims to study the impact of intra-African immigration on labour productivity in Africa, as well as its macroeconomic and sectoral components. Empirically, I rely on a panel of 187 countries, including 53 African countries, over the period 1990‒2019, and a gravity-based 2SLS approach to deal with endogeneity. The results show that intra-African immigration has a positive, significant, and robust impact on labour productivity in Africa. This impact is greater than the effect of immigration in a global sample, and essentially passes through the improvement in total factor productivity and capital efficiency. While immigration tends to deteriorate capital productivity in the world sample, intra-African immigration improves capital productivity in Africa. Furthermore, the results reveal that the service sector is the one that benefits from the positive effect of intra-African immigration in Africa
Explication de l'Insécurité Alimentaire en Afrique Subsaharienne : Le Rôle de la Gouvernance et des Institutions
Full text linkLa littérature florissante sur l'(in)sécurité alimentaire mondiale suggère que l'Afrique subsaharienne (ASS) est à la traîne du reste du monde malgré une période de déclin de la prévalence de la sous-alimentation sévère. En utilisant des données de panel couvrant 34 pays de la région pour la période 2000-2015, cette étude a examiné les corrélations et les causes de l'insécurité alimentaire en Afrique subsaharienne, en mettant l'accent sur le rôle de la production alimentaire nationale, de la gouvernance et des institutions. Le rapport fournit également des preuves du rôle médiateur de la gouvernance en examinant comment la qualité de la gouvernance et des institutions influence l'efficacité de la production alimentaire nationale sur l'insécurité alimentaire dans la région. Le document utilise une stratégie de variables instrumentales. Les résultats suggèrent que la production alimentaire nationale et les améliorations de la qualité de la gouvernance, mesurée par la liberté économique et l'efficacité du gouvernement, sont des moteurs fondamentaux de la sécurité alimentaire en Afrique subsaharienne. Nous avons également constaté que l'amélioration de la qualité de la gouvernance permettrait aux pays de mieux traduire la production alimentaire nationale en réductions de l'ampleur du déficit alimentaire et de la prévalence de la sous-alimentation. Néanmoins, en l'absence d'une production alimentaire intérieure suffisante, les réformes de la gouvernance ne peuvent à elles seules favoriser la sécurité alimentaire en Afrique subsaharienne. Le document suggère en outre qu'il est impératif de trouver un juste équilibre entre l'interventionnisme de l'État et les réformes politiques axées sur le marché pour promouvoir la sécurité alimentaire dans les pays africains
The Impact of Network Coverage on Adoption of Fintech Platforms and Financial Inclusion
Full text linkThis paper analyses the effect of mobile network coverage on financial inclusion using the survey data of 12,735 individuals from nine sub-Saharan African countries conducted in 2017. We use the geolocation of respondents to combine the survey data with information on the proximity of mobile network towers. We estimate a two-stage model: in the first stage consumers decide to adopt a technology device, and in the second stage they decide whether to use digital financial services or not. The results show that financial inclusion is positively influenced by mobile network coverage. In counterfactual POLICY BRIEF The Impact of Network Coverage on Adoption of Fintech Platforms and Financial Inclusion Onkokame Mothobi October 2023 / No.798 2 Policy Brief No.798 simulations, we consider that the whole population lives within 2km of the towers of any of these networks and find that the adoption of digital financial services would increase by 2%, on average, depending on the country. Considering a case where the whole population lives within a 2km radius from the LTE tower, financial inclusion would increase by 6% in Mozambique and 3% in Ghana, Rwanda, and Senegal. In Tanzania, where mobile money is a common financial service, investment in GSM and UMTS would have a larger impact on financial inclusion than LTE. These results show that non-Internet-based digital financial technologies have a greater impact on financial inclusion in East African countries than those that require consumers to be connected to the Internet. The results also indicate that digital financial platforms act as substitutes for a bank account among the poor, and as a complement for those who own a bank account
Le Diable est dans les Détails : Les Déterminants Robustes de l'Aide au Développement dans les Pays Sahéliens G5
Full text linkCe document introduit l'incertitude du modèle dans l'étude empirique sur les déterminants de l'aide au développement au niveau régional. Pour ce faire, il adopte une approche bayésienne de moyenne des modèles de panel appliquée aux données des pays du G5 Sahel, couvrant la période 1980-2018. Nos résultats suggèrent que, parmi les régresseurs considérés, ceux qui reflètent les attaques terroristes, les enjeux commerciaux, y compris les dépenses militaires, les perspectives socio-économiques et les conditions institutionnelles ont tendance à recevoir des probabilités d'inclusion a posteriori élevées. L'étude explore la Le Diable est dans les Détails : Les Déterminants Robustes de l'Aide au Développement dans les Pays Sahéliens G5 Nimonka Bayale et Brigitte Kanga Kouassi Octobre 2023 / No.810 DOCUMENT DE POLITIQUE GÉNÉRALE 2 Document de Politique Générale No.810 relation entre ces variables de régression et l'aide étrangère en utilisant les moindres carrés ordinaires entièrement modifiés (FMOLS), les moindres carrés ordinaires entièrement modifiés actualisés en continu (CUP-FM), les moindres carrés ordinaires dynamiques (DOLS), ainsi que le test de causalité en panel de Dumitrescu et Hurlin (2012). Les résultats mettent en évidence trois préoccupations qui peuvent justifier les flux d'aide vers les pays du G5 Sahel : (a) les questions de paix et de sécurité, (b) l'intérêt économique des donateurs, et (c) les besoins économiques des bénéficiaires. Le document recommande aux pays du Sahel de renforcer la coopération internationale pour la sécurité et la paix, conformément à l'objectif 16 de l'Agenda 2030 pour le développement durable de l'Organisation des Nations unies (ONU) et à l'objectif 13 de l'Agenda 2063 de l'Union africaine (UA)
Long Term Effects of Free Primary Education on Educational Achievement: Evidence from Lesotho
Full text linkMany sub-Saharan African countries have instituted Free Primary Education (FPE) policies, which significantly increase primary school enrolment rates in developing countries. However, school attendance is different from learning. The main questions that still beg for answers are whether the many children in school are learning and whether the FPE learning effects are long-lasting. This paper attempts to estimate the long-term effects of the FPE programme on educational achievement in Lesotho. The programme was implemented grade by grade, beginning with grade one school fees abolition in 2000. The POLICY BRIEF Long Term Effects of Free Primary Education on Educational Achievement: Evidence from Lesotho Ramaele Moshoeshoe October 2023 / No.796 2 Policy Brief No.796 timing of the implementation created changes in programme coverage across age (and grade) groups over time. We employ a semi-parametric difference-in-differences strategy that exploits these variations to identify the long-term effects of the FPE policy on educational achievement, using university examinations record data for student cohorts that are FPE-treated and those that are FPE-untreated. The results indicate that the FPE effect on academic performance is between 2 percentage points (statistically insignificant) and 20 percentage points (statistically significant at a 1 percent level)
From Crisis to Coverage: Kenya's Healthcare Revolution
Full text linkIn Kenya, the majority of the households are unable to afford health care due to financial constraints as demonstrated by a high health finance vulnerability index. The existing health financing model that is heavily reliant on out-of-pocket payments, therefore, presents a significant barrier to healthcare access. The situation is especially critical when the country is faced with a health shock like the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Developing nations like Kenya are characterized by high poverty and unemployment rates further worsening the financial ability of the citizens to afford healthcare. To ensure equitable and quality healthcare access to all as envisaged in Sustainable Development Goal 3, Kenya must urgently reform its healthcare financing system, reducing the burden of out-of-pocket expenses and embracing more sustainable funding sources
Inégalité des Revenus et Croissance : Ajustement et Simulation pour l'Économie Kenyane
Full text linkNous étudions le déclin considérable des inégalités de richesse et de revenu au Kenya au cours de la période de 10 ans entre 2005 et 2015. En utilisant un modèle d'agents hétérogènes ajusté en temps continu, nous attribuons jusqu'à 92% de la variation de l'inégalité de la richesse au sommet à une augmentation persistante mais lente du rendement du capital, à un faible taux sans risque et à une augmentation des taux d'imposition sur le revenu « effectifs ». Notre étude suggère qu'un environnement macroéconomique caractérisé par de faibles taux d'intérêt sans risque, ancré par de faibles ratios dette/recettes fiscales, est important pour réduire les inégalités de richesse et de revenu