Search

Begin New Search Publication Year within 10 Years

29481. Sweet secrets in the Horn of Africa: Sugar and politics in the Kenya-Somalia borderlands

Author:
Jacob Rasmussen
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
A new DIIS Working Paper entitled ‘Sweet secrets: sugar smuggling and state formation in the Kenya-Somalia borderlands’ explores the role of Somali militants and the Kenyan army, bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen and truck drivers in the lucrative but dangerous smuggling of sugar between Somalia and Kenya. Jacob Rasmussen, an anthropologist and Associate Professor at Roskilde University, highlights the many vested interests in sugar smuggling in northern Kenya. Sugar smuggling is a ‘sweet secret’ that is publicly known in Kenya, but cannot openly be talked about. It is part of illicit trade networks that not only span the Horn of Africa region, but go hand in hand with state formation dynamics in Kenya. This DIIS Working Paper is part of the GOVSEA PAPER SERIES (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa) edited by Tobias Hagmann and Finn Stepputat.
Topic:
State Formation, Borders, Smuggling, and Sugar
Political Geography:
Kenya, Somalia, and Horn of Africa

29482. Bringing the sea back in: Towards a port-centric view of the Somali economy

Author:
Jatin Dua
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Much of the existing scholarship on the Somali peninsula is informed by territorialized assumptions focusing on pastoralism or overland trading. In this working paper Jaitin Dua, an anthropologist and assistant professor at the University of Michigan, proposes a ‘maritime’ view on the Somali economy that highlights the role of ships, ports and seas. Comparing the three port cities of Benderbeyla, Bosaso and Djibouti the author provides insights into the nexus between violent capture, regulation and sovereignty across the Somali territories. What emerges are different modes of port-making that are closely related to global circulation. By bringing the sea back into Somali studies and contemporary anthropology, Dua offers an innovative interpretation of state formation dynamics. This DIIS Working Paper is part of the GOVSEA PAPER SERIES (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa) edited by Tobias Hagmann and Finn Stepputat
Topic:
Piracy, Economy, State Formation, Maritime, and Port
Political Geography:
Africa and Somalia

29483. Institutions And Sustainable Industrial-led Development In Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Anointing Ogie Momoh and Uzochukwu Uchechukwu Alutu
Publication Date:
02-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
In 2015, economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) slowed to 3.4 percent from 4.6 percent the previous year. The economic slowdown in the region was the result of an interplay of several external and domestic factors such as lower commodity prices, slowdown in the economies of major trading partners, tightening borrowing conditions, political instability and conflict, electricity shortages and other infrastructure deficiencies (World Bank, 2016). This sluggish growth trends is in contrast to the impressive growth recorded in the region, over the past decade.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Institutions, Sustainability, and Industry
Political Geography:
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

29484. Consequences Of School Resources For Educational Achievement

Author:
Joseph Ishaku
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
This paper examines the determinants of educational achievement in a developing country context, Burkina Faso. We deviate from the extant literature by constructing an aggregate index of school quality from the observable school resources. Also, we account for school choice constraints, faced by children especially in rural areas, as it relates to the geographical inequalities in the distribution of quality schools. These treatments provide an unbiased estimates of the relevance of school resources for academic performance. The empirical approach is based on a two-stage procedure that accounts for supply constraints in school choice.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, and Schools
Political Geography:
Africa and Burkina Faso

29485. Electrification in Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward

Author:
Joseph Ishaku
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
Although electricity has been generated in commercial quantities in Nigeria for over a century, the rate of electricity infrastructure development in the county is low and power supply remains inadequate. Prior to reforms, the central challenges of the Nigerian power sector was the vertically integrated monopoly of government in power generation, transmission and distribution. While the reforms was successful in privatizing the generation and distribution segments of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), the overbearing problems in the sector persists –with privatization only changing the dimensions of the challenges. Financing remain a major problem across all the segments of the NESI partly due to non-cost reflective tariff. Yet each segment of the NESI also faces its unique challenges. The generation segment is riffed with the problems of energy security and inefficiencies in other segments. The challenges in the transmission segment lies in the lack of modern transmission lines and equipment, gross mismanagement, poor maintenance of available infrastructure and inefficient grid design. Distribution companies face the problem of huge Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses. In terms of electricity access, 46.09 percent of the Nigerian population remains unconnected to the national grid, representing 83.98 million people. Further, electricity demand is estimated at 24,380 MW as at 2015 compared to NESI’s available generation capacity of 7,139.6 MW. In terms of energy use, Nigeria has the lowest in the world – 80 percent below its energy use based on income levels. In a bid to tackle aforementioned challenges, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) set ambitious targets for the country’s energy mix. This should allow Nigeria exploit its potential for coal, solar, wind, biomass, as well as small and large hydroelectric power electric generation, while reducing the prevalence of self-generation, which constitute two-thirds of present energy mix. By 2020, the FGN targets to achieve up to 75 percent access to electricity by connecting 1.5 million households annually. While Nigeria’s energy mix targets are desirable, the prospect of success remain bleak on account of financial constraints, pricing policy and lack of policy coordination. Improving electricity supply in Nigeria and addressing barriers to achieving the energy mix targets will entail: addressing payment risk, financing power sector investment, as well as improving the pricing and tariff structure, gas pricing and allocation, and market regulation.
Topic:
Development, Markets, Infrastructure, Regulation, and Electricity
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

29486. In Conversation with Diane Abbott

Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Diane Abbott talks to Professor Philip Cowley about her career and current topics happening in UK politics and the labour party.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

29487. Hennessy Lecture 2017 - In Conversation with Lord Neil Kinnock

Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Peter Hennessy in conversation with Neil Kinnock
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, and Domestic Politics
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

29488. Mile End Institute - In Conversation with John Bercow

Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
John Bercow talks to Professor Phil Cowley about why he didn't invite Donald Trump to the houses of parliament and other current issues facing British politics.
Topic:
Politics, Governance, Leadership, and Conservatism
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

29489. Can there be benefits from competing legal regimes?: the impact of legal pluralism in post-conflict Sierra Leone

Author:
Pedro Naso, Erwin Bulte, and Tim Swanson
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
We investigate the impact of competition between legal regimes on the number of authoritative acts and amount of fines occurring in rural Sierra Leone. We model state and traditional legal systems as competing authorities with a potential for overlap in their jurisdictions. We are interested in the sign and magnitude of the legal pluralism externality in this region of overlapping authority. We then test the model and estimate the size of the externality coefficient in the context of post-conflict Sierra Leone. Our results show a negative externality between regimes for civil disputes—that is, an increase in the cost of apprehending a person. We also show that there is a reduction in the amount of fines per dispute collected in this shared space. Overall, this indicates that a potential benefit to the local people from multiple competing regimes is a reduction in expected authoritative expropriation.
Topic:
Civil War, Post-Conflict, and Legal Dualism
Political Geography:
Africa and Sierra Leone

29490. The Porter Hypothesis Goes to China: Spatial Development, Environmental Regulation and Productivity

Author:
Pedro Naso, Yi Huang, and Tim Swanson
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
We examine the relationship between environmental regulation and competitiveness in China. Exploiting exogenous changes in national pollution standards for three industries—ammonia, paper and cement—we test whether environmental regulation increases industry productivity. Our results show that the strong version of the Porter hypothesis does not hold, but that regulation might reallocate productivity spatially. We show that regulated industries that are located in newly developing cities see an increase in their productivity as compared to the same industries in other cities. This means that environmental regulation is more likely to drive the spatial distribution of productivity changes than it is to drive the pace and direction of technological change.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Science and Technology, Regulation, Productivity, and Competition
Political Geography:
China and Asia