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Skills over Scarcity
No full textSenegal’s labour market is characterised by a strong mismatch between the supply of training and jobs, and a high unemployment rate. Indeed, the unempoyment rate was estimated at 16.7% in 2019 and varies according to the age group of the youth (according to graph 1). Furthermore, the available jobs were characterised by a high vulnerability (72% of jobs) and a high rate of informal jobs (72%). 3000 youth arrive in the labour market each year, yet the labour market offer is estimated at only 2000 jobs (see graph 2). The problem of youth employment in Senegal is one that requires an urgent solution, if the country is to attain the prescribed Sustainable Development Goals of quality education and decent work and economic growth (SDG 4 and SDG8)
Tea Prices and Household Consumption Patterns in Tanzania
No full textTea production is a significant contributor to Tanzania’s output and income. The country is a price taker in regional and international tea markets. This makes it vulnerable to price shocks, which can have a detrimental impact on smallholder farmers, especially those who heavily rely on tea production for their income. This vulnerability is particularly critical for net producers who lack alternative income sources, especially in rural areas. The study uses a panel dataset from the Tanzania National Panel Survey (TNPS), collected over the periods 2008-2009, 2010-2011 and 2012-2013. The study’s main findings indicate that tea price shocks have a strong negative effect on consumption patterns of smallholder farming households in Tanzania. The results also highlight that the impact of price shocks is not uniform across all households. It varies based on factors such as the gender of the household head and the location (rural or urban). The study underscores the importance of government intervention to support households affected by price shocks. Safety net programmes and welfare management initiatives can be vital in assisting these households to cope with economic uncertainties. Moreover, policies that encourage savings and the accumulation of productive assets can serve as a cushion against future shocks. Recognizing the variations in the effects of price volatility among different households, the study suggests the need for policies and strategies that are specifically designed to address the uncertainties in the tea market. This implies a nuanced approach to policies that address the diverse needs and vulnerabilities of tea-producing households.
Keywords: Prices, consumption, Tanzania, Te
Gender and Firm Performance in Africa: Does the Business Environment Play a Moderating Role?
Full text linkThis paper examines the moderating role of the business environment in the relationship between the gender of the top manager and firm performance (measured as sales per employee), and whether female-managed firms perform better the higher the proportion of female employees in the firm. The paper uses World Bank Enterprise Survey data of 14,561 firms from 29 African countries collected between 2010 and 2016. The descriptive analysis reveals significant variation in the performance and experience of business environment constraints that disadvantage female-managed firms. Controlling for potential endogeneity POLICY BRIEF Gender and Firm Performance in Africa: Does the Business Environment Play a Moderating Role? Ibrahim Mike Okumu, Sunday Nathan and Edward Bbaale October 2023 / No.799 2 Policy Brief No.799 and country fixed effects, we show that female-managed firms are associated with lower performance compared to male-managed firms. Electricity outages, informal competition, and corruption account for the performance gap between female and male-managed firms. However, we show that large female-managed firms perform better than male-managed large firms. Overall, the results imply that strengthening Africa’s business environment is central to closing the performance gap between male and female managers
Facilitating Regional Trade: Lessons from WAEMU and EAC on How to Increase Trade in CEMAC
Full text linkThis study explores the ways of facilitation and enhancing intra- Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) trade, which has remained structurally weak over more than twenty years, by focusing on the East African Community and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The study uses a descriptive analysis of trade and the indicators of facilitation of trade in those three communities. An econometric analysis of factors underlying the level of trade in those three communities is conducted using an augmented gravity model. The econometric results demonstrate that the number of POLICY BRIEF Facilitating Regional Trade: Lessons from WAEMU and EAC on How to Increase Trade in CEMAC Nguenkwe Ronie Bertrand October 2023 / No.807 2 Policy Brief No.807 documents and the number of days required to export has a negative and significant impact on trade in EAC and WAEMU, but a positive impact in CEMAC. Infrastructure services, notably the use of the Internet have a negative impact on intra-zone trade in EA
The Impact of COVID-19 on Food Insecurity in Burkina Faso
Full text linkIn Burkina Faso, agriculture is an important pillar of the national economy and is fundamental to food security. The sector generates one third of the country's GDP and employs 80% of the active population but supports mainly subsistence livelihoods.
However, agricultural production and food security are highly dependent on weather shocks. Rainfall variability reduced agricultural production between 6% and 15% in 2019 (Food Crisis Prevention Network, 2020) and this in turn might have tipped 10.1%
of population into food insecurity. In addition, over the past five years, the country has been affected by violent terrorist attacks and regional unrest. The combination of insecurity and violence led to the closure of schools, internally displaced people (around 1.7 million people) and shutdown of health centres. These recurrent and violent adversely affected households’ livelihoods in several regions within the country.Food insecurity is a common social issue affecting several African households. COVID-19 reduced people's ability to meet their food needs, which could continue to exacerbate food and nutrition insecurity in the country
Shaky Pillars or Strong Pillars?
Full text linkSubstantial empirical evidence now exists in the literature that shows that higher education is a determinant of income, can produce both private and societal benefits, facilitates economic growth, and improves technological catch-up. There is also, now, a general recognition that higher education is a key driver of economic competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy, which has made higher education more important than ever before in a developing region like Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Thus, access to higher education provides a pathway to sustainable growth and development, which is also in line with the 4th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4). Although more recent evidence on the benefits of higher education has led to an acknowledgment of the importance of higher education in Ethiopia and other SSA countries, little or nothing is known about the life-cycle determinants (i.e., how education and wealth from an early stage of life affect education opportunity in the future) of access to higher education in Ethiopia and the wider SSA region. Apart from current socio-economic factors, early child and family characteristics could play an important role in determining access to higher education
Symmetric and Asymmetric Responses of Consumer Prices Index Inflation to Exchange Rates in Nigeria
Full text linkThe question whether domestic prices respond to either official exchange rate or parallel exchange rate movements is a key research issue, especially in an oil-dependent developing country such as Nigeria that has rising fiscal pressures and a vibrant parallel foreign exchange market. From the monetary authority perspective, it is also imperative to know if prices respond symmetrically and/or asymmetrically to both official and parallel exchange rate movements. Consequently, this study examines the response of domestic prices to both official and parallel exchange rate movements for the period POLICY BRIEF Symmetric and Asymmetric Responses of Consumer Prices Index Inflation to Exchange Rates in Nigeria Perekunah B. Eregha October 2023 / No.801 2 Policy Brief No.801 1995Q1–2019Q1 using Shin et. al’s (2014) non-linear ARDL approach. The results show that the magnitude of the effect of parallel exchange rates on domestic prices is more than that of the official exchange rate’s effect in a symmetric case. However, only domestic prices respond differently to the depreciation and appreciation of the official exchange rate in Nigeria. Consequently, the government needs to ensure some level of fiscal austerity, and possibly exchange rate unification when the premium grows too big, if the intention is to insulate domestic prices from fiscal pressures. Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria needs to be aware of a possible asymmetric relationship in their decisions to ensure price stability so that it does not distort monetary policy effects
Financial Openness and Remittances: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
Full text linkDoes financial openness matter for remittances? Are the effects of financial openness on remittance dependent on the levels of financial and institutional development? This paper investigates these questions using panel data for 31 sub-Saharan African countries over from 1990 to 2015 and using a dynamic panel system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique. The results show that financial openness, albeit having a declining effect, does not significantly influence the inflow of remittances into the region. In contrast, when conditioned on the levels of financial development and institutional quality, POLICY BRIEF Financial Openness and Remittances: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa Ekpeno L. Effiong and Emmanuel E. Asuquo October 2023 / No.804 2 Policy Brief No.804 financial openness tends to significantly increase remittances. However, this effect declines with significant improvement in institutional quality and a well-developed financial sector. Thus, financial openness substitutes financial and institutional development in fostering remittances in the region
Skills that Shine
Full text linkIn Kenya, youth unemployment rate is 3 times higher than adult unemployment and remains on an upward curve, despite efforts of the Government of Kenya (GOK) to bridge the gap through implemented and ongoing reforms like the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Kenya Youth Employment and Opportunities Project (KYEOP
Does every Cloud have a Silver Lining?
Full text linkClimate change disproportionately affects rural economies, particularly in poorer regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, where livelihoods depend on weather fluctuations. South Africa, a middle-income country located within a drought belt, has experienced exacerbated drought conditions in recent years. In 2015-2016, the country suffered the worst drought in decades, which substantially decreased food production (World Bank Group, 2021). To cope with weather events, households employ several strategies, including adjusting the human capital investments and labour supply responses of household members as a form of ‘self-insurance’. Rainfall shocks, as a proxy for agricultural productivity shocks, can affect the school–work decisions of adolescents and young adults in rural South Africa. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable as they may be forced to enter the labour market to cope with shocks, resulting in school termination and, consequently, long-lasting negative effects on human capital accumulation. Exploring the weather shocks-human capital nexus is crucial for South Africa, which has around 207,714, out-of-school adolescents and a low net secondary school enrollment rate of 70.3 % in 2019 (UNESCO, 2019)