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Begin New Search Topic Governance Political Geography Africa Content Type Working Paper Publication Year within 10 Years Publication Year within 5 Years Publication Year within 25 Years Publication Year within 3 Years

1. Remittances and corruption perceptions in Africa

Author:
Alex Yeandle and David Doyle
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
The relationship between remittances and corruption is contested. For some authors, external income endows individuals with financial buffers, which undermine these individuals’ incentive to hold governments to account and allow rent-seeking politicians to invest fewer resources in public goods. For others, remittance payments undermine clientelist networks and increase individual-level political engagement and accountability. For others still, remittances diffuse social norms, since senders are likely to live in large cities or wealthier countries where corruption is less tolerated. However, despite being rooted in individual-level assumptions, many of the conflicting results in the extant literature have an empirical focus at the aggregate level. In this paper we offer a corrective, explaining variation in individual-level perceptions of corruption among remittance recipients through a new mechanism. With survey data from 34 African countries, we show that recipients are endowed with greater cash income, which is used to bribe officials in the hope of securing preferential access to basic services. This act of paying bribes, coupled with the fact that access does not appear to improve, fuels perceptions that the government is corrupt.
Topic:
Corruption, Governance, Leadership, Accountability, and Bribery
Political Geography:
Africa

2. Keeping tabs? Perceptions of relative deprivation and political trust in Africa

Author:
Thomas Isbell
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
What are the implications of economic inequality for trust in government and state institutions? Political trust performs important functions in representative political systems, facilitating the efficient functioning of government, simplifying complex political processes, and reducing monitoring costs for ordinary people. The existing literature has shown that macroeconomic performance (including levels of inequality) and evaluations shape political trust. This paper addresses two gaps in the literature by focusing on the role of individual perceptions and subjective experiences of inequality and by studying cases in Africa. Using Afrobarometer survey data collected from more than 40,000 respondents in 34 African countries between late 2016 and mid-2018, I use multi-level modelling to demonstrate that perceptions of relative deprivation are significantly associated with less trust in representative government institutions and, more weakly, with less trust in state institutions. The effect of perceptions of relative deprivation remains significant when controlling for macroeconomic conditions and performance evaluations. In effect size, trust in representative government institutions is at least comparable to frequently cited covariates of trust such as location, level of education, and government economic performance, suggesting that perceived relative deprivation is indeed an important covariate of such trust. Feeling relatively advantaged is also significantly associated with greater trust in representative government institutions. This may reflect strong neo-patrimonial ties between citizens and political agents. In demonstrating that individual-level economic considerations affect political trust in Africa, we challenge the conventional wisdom that only macroeconomic factors affect trust.
Topic:
Politics, Governance, Institutions, and Trust
Political Geography:
Africa

3. Cameroon: The State’s Transfer of Powers to the Regions

Author:
Pacome Vouffo
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
If there is one thing that is hardly debatable in legal science, it is the evolution of law through constitutional or legislative textual reform on a given issue. The issue of decentralisation in Cameroon is an illustration. The constitutional and legislative dynamics since independence reflect this, particularly with the inclusion of local authorities in the Constitution of 4 March 1960, the 1974 laws applicable to the Communes and their subsequent amendments , the constitutional reform of 18 January 1996 explicitly raising decentralisation to the constitutional rank , the laws of 22 July 2004 on decentralisation and today Law No. 2019/024 of 24 December 2019 to lay down the General Code of Regional and local authorities(CGCTD). This Code enshrines an evolution in decentralisation law and sets out the terms and conditions for the exercise by the State of powers transferred to regional and local authorities in general and to the Regions in particular. From a legal point of view, this reframing does not seem to have aroused the interest of the doctrine in the same way as the question of the special regime for the North-West and South-West Regions, which has been addressed . In view of its scope, however, it is easy to admit that the legislator has made a significant change. It is necessary to examine the contours of this evolution in order to untangle the threads and consequently set the markers for understanding, following an approach based solely on the Regions as a framework for analysis and not on all the Regional and Local Authorities. Indeed, the choice of the Regions as the analytical framework is not insignificant. As the first level of decentralisation in Cameroon, the Region has only recently been established since its consecration in 1996. It is the characteristic of regionalism instituted since the constitutional reform of 18 January 1996. This regionalism is legally translated by the erection in 1996 of administrative provinces into Regions, headed by a President, an indigenous personality of the Region elected by his peers , and an elected Regional Council whose political colouring prints a mixture of traditional chiefs with the other departmental Councils. Compared to the Commune, therefore, the Region is a new feature of decentralisation which finds its basis in the controversy that took place during the 1996 reform on the form of the State between the supporters of the centralised State and those of the federal State. According to the doctrine, it is a point of agreement between these two (02) trends. When we know that regionalism as a technique for organising the unitary State is an advanced version of decentralisation that could border on federalism without being one, we can only subscribe to the idea that the Region is the point of agreement that would have federated the actors of the 1996 reform. With these considerations in mind, the attention given to the Region is justified. Following this logic, it must be agreed that the exercise by the State of powers transferred to the Regions did not disappear with the advent of the CGCTD, as some authors have suggested. It was maintained, however, with a reform of the legal framework that underpins an evolution in this area. If yesterday, the exercise by the State of powers transferred to the local and regional authorities in general and to the Regions in particular was legally self-evident (I), in the current state of Cameroonian decentralisation law, it is now only a possibility (II).
Topic:
Governance, Reform, State, and Local
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

4. Population density and governance in Africa

Author:
Pranish Desai
Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
Across Africa, denser populations are associated with less confidence in institutions and the rule of law. What does that mean for the world’s fastest-urbanising continent?
Topic:
Governance, Population, Urbanization, and Rule of Law
Political Geography:
Africa

5. The Challenges of Data Collection in Conflict-affected Areas: A Case Study in the Liptako-Gourma Region

Author:
Shourjya Deb and Virginie Baudais
Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Conducting research in the Sahel has become more challenging over the past 10 years, and the continuing deterioration of the security situation has restricted access to many areas. This SIPRI Insights paper provides an overview of the main challenges for researchers when conducting data collection in conflict-affected areas. The paper employs a case study of a humanitarian protection project that SIPRI has been working on in the Liptako-Gourma region. The project was designed in collaboration with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and three local research partners: the Centre for Democratic Governance (CGD) in Burkina Faso, Point Sud in Mali and the Laboratoire d’Études et de Recherche sur les Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local (LASDEL) in Niger. Using the case study, the paper identifies and outlines how the project addressed specific challenges. The paper also highlights key considerations for researchers to take into account when carrying out data collection and fieldwork in conflict zones. Evidence-based research can influence humanitarian and development initiatives and support shifts in policy and programming. The bottom-up research approach gives a voice to communities and alternative perspectives and advances evidence-based solutions that are locally driven, meaningful and sustainable for target populations.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Governance, Conflict, Peace, and Protection
Political Geography:
Africa and Sahel

6. The EU Green Deal. A new momentum for democratic governance in the MENA region?

Author:
Dina Fakoussa
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
IEMed/EuroMeSCo
Abstract:
Dysfunctional governance and repression lie at the heart of social, economic and political challenges and crises in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The nature of governance, whether autocratic, corrupt, crony capitalist, highly centralised, patriarchal and/or merely incompetent, led to alarming socioeconomic and political grievances. These grievances accumulated over decades sparking region- wide protests in 2010, 2011 and subsequent years. Without major improvements in the quality of democratic governance,1 further crises are inevitable, and sustainable stability will remain unattainable, with major negative repercussions for the European Union (EU) itself. Naturally, climate change is augmenting these challenges and increasing the pressure on government performance. The EU Green Deal addresses this uniquely urgent matter in need of assertiveness, namely climate change with its worldwide palpable repercussions and impact for all. The deal has serious implications for economies and hence societies in MENA countries. At the same time, it could and must serve as a vehicle for improved democratic governance in the region. This is also in the interests of the EU’s green ambitions, as lasting environmentally sound and socially just policies in countries beyond the EU will hardly materialise without improvements in the area of democratic governance. The two subject areas are mutually dependent; hence, the durable success of climate policies is unlikely without being buttressed by democratic components. This understanding needs to be mirrored in all EU policies and programmes targeting the region by interweaving climate policies with democratic governance.
Topic:
Climate Change, Governance, European Union, Democracy, Repression, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Middle East, North Africa, and MENA

7. Paradoxical Africanisation of Libya after 2011. Growing influence of sub- Saharan African government, rebel, diplomatic and criminal actors in the post-Gaddafi state

Author:
Jędrzej Czerep
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
IEMed/EuroMeSCo
Abstract:
The 2011 downfall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi marked a tipping point for Libya’s southern neighbours in re-defining their roles on the regional north-south axis. The era of an assertive Libyan foreign policy on Africa came to a halt. Simultaneously, as a consequence of the civil war, multiple African actors, both state and non-state, assumed greater influence inside and over Libya. The country moved from being an exporter of security and insecurity to sub-Saharan Africa, as under Gaddafi, to becoming an importer. Some aspects of this largely unnoticed, multi-dimensional “Africanisation” [1] of Libya are likely to take root. Changes in Libya’s and sub-Saharan African actors’ standings within the regional setting represent a new reality on the ground that has not been contextualised and analysed thoroughly enough. Only when the international actors do so will they be able to adequately navigate and constructively engage social, political and security structures within the Libya- sub-Saharan Africa framework. Thus, this paper aims to answer the following research questions: in which specific north-south security-related phenomena did sub-Saharan African actors assume agency? Are the motivations of the actors involved opportunistic or do they include long-term political goals? Which aspects of “Africanisation” are taking solid roots and could be sustained beyond the period of Libya’s instability? Will this change to the regional order be temporary and reversible? What are the implications for the European Union (EU) policies related to peace, security and governance in Libya? For the research, several interviews with representatives of the regional armed groups, policy advisors, policy-makers and researchers with an insightful understanding of local and regional dynamics have been conducted since 2018, including during field research in Sudan in 2019. Those have been supplemented by a comprehensive review of existing literature on cross-border conflict dynamics in the Libya-Sudan-Chad-Niger borderlands, Libya-sub-Saharan African relations and relevant documents of international organisations. Historical methods focusing on the long-term and comprehensive processes seen within a big picture are being supplemented with an analytical approach seeking logical consequences and formulating predictions out of hard data and a comparative approach, where models, institutions and experiences are put together with more or less adequate processes found elsewhere.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Governance, Leadership, and Transition
Political Geography:
Africa and Libya

8. Justifications of Repression in Autocracies: An Empirical Analysis of the Maghreb, 2000–2010

Author:
Maria Jousa
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Previous studies on the justification of repression have analysed large-scale protests, about which autocratic officials communicate to avoid backlash effects. However, we know much less about how everyday repression against dissidents and ordinary citizens is communicated and justified under authoritarianism. This paper is the first to systematically investigate how officials in autocracies justify, conceal, or deny different forms of repression employed by different state institutions. It studies the communication of repression in two North African autocracies, drawing on the novel Justifications of Repressive Incidents in Morocco and Tunisia Dataset. The dataset contains 439 events between 2000–2010 and disaggregates the various dimensions of repression and its communication. The empirical analysis shows that the chosen forms of repression influence patterns of communication and justification. Studying the communication of repression helps us better understand the nexus of authoritarian legitimation and political violence in the Middle East and North Africa region and beyond.
Topic:
Governance, Authoritarianism, Leadership, and Repression
Political Geography:
Africa and Maghreb

9. The ghost people and populism from above: The Kais Saied case

Author:
Malek Lakhal
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Since Kais Saied dismissed Hichem Mechichi’s government in July 2021, several political concepts emerged to interpret what happened in Tunisia, either to legitimize or denounce Saied’s measures. This article examines Saied’s brand of populism and looks at how his failure to mobilize the people he claims to represent is slowly sinking Tunisia into authoritarianism.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Populism, and Mobilization
Political Geography:
Africa and Tunisia

10. Social Determinants and how they Influence Councillor Performance in District Local Government Councils in Uganda

Author:
Fred Kasalirwe, Jonas Mbabazi, Phoebe Atukunda, Oscord Mark Otile, Eugene Gerald Ssemakula, Rebecca N. Mukwaya, and Walter Akena
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This paper analyses how social determinants influence councillor role performance in the district local government in Uganda. The extent to which elected local government leaders perform their roles is critical for the quality of social services delivered to citizens. In the analysis, social determinants are conceptualised as; the education level of councillors, political party affiliation, electoral terms served/experience, councillor category, gender, and geographical location of the constituency represented by a councillor. In the same analysis, councillors' roles were conceptualised to include; legislation, contact with electorate, participation in lower local governments, and monitoring service delivery.
Topic:
Government, Politics, Governance, Leadership, and Services
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

11. Looking Ahead: Trends and Solutions for 2022

Author:
Sarah Cliffe
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
It would be good to write a very optimistic piece at the dawn of 2022—and indeed we do try to focus in this piece not just on trends but on solutions. Yet, overall, it is impossible to avoid “telling it as it is”—internationally and for multilateral action, the year has not had an auspicious start. Omicron is sweeping through communities worldwide, with many hospital systems warning of the risk of being overwhelmed. The political instability of which we and many others have long warned, driven by economic and governance links, is coming to pass. Kazakhstan is the most recent example, but this also covers the quintupling of coups in Africa in 2021, and heightened polarization in many Western, Asian, and Latin American electoral processes.
Topic:
Governance, Multilateralism, Humanitarian Crisis, Instability, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Africa, Kazakhstan, Latin America, and West Asia

12. How Inequality and Polarization Interact: America’s Challenges Through a South African Lens

Author:
Brian Levy
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Over the past decade, toxic interactions between persistent inequality, racial tensions, and political polarization have undercut the promise of South Africa’s so-called rainbow miracle transition from apartheid to democracy. South Africa’s recent history sheds light on the United States’ recent political travails. It illustrates how interactions between inclusion and inequality on the one hand and political ideas and entrepreneurship on the other can fuel positive spirals of hope, economic dynamism, and political legitimacy—but can also trigger vicious, downward spirals of disillusion, anger, and political polarization. South Africa was able to transition from a society structured around racial oppression into a nonracial democracy whose new government promised “a better life for all.” Especially remarkable was the speed with which one set of national ideas appeared to give way to its polar opposite. From a society marked by racial dominance and oppression, there emerged the aspiration to build an inclusive, cooperative social order, underpinned by the principles of equal dignity and shared citizenship. In the initial glow of transition, South Africa’s citizens could hope for a better life for themselves and their children. In time, though, the promise wore thin. It became increasingly evident that the economic deck would continue to be stacked, and that the possibility of upward mobility would remain quite limited. Fueled by massive continuing inequities in wealth, income, and opportunity, South Africans increasingly turned from hope to anger. In the United States, a steady and equitably growing economy and a vibrant civil rights movement had fostered the hope of social and economic inclusion. But that hope turned to anger as the benefits of growth became increasingly skewed from the 1980s onward. In 2019, the U.S. economy was more unequal than it had been since the 1920s. Younger generations could no longer expect that their lives would be better than those of their parents. Such economic adversity and associated status anxiety can trigger a heightened propensity for us-versus-them ways of engaging the world. In both South Africa and the United States, polarization was fueled by divisive political entrepreneurs, and in both countries, these entrepreneurs leveraged inequality in ways that added fuel to the fire. In the 2010s, South Africa went through a new ideational reckoning, in part to correct the view that the transition to democracy had washed the country’s apartheid history clean. But opportunistic political entrepreneurs also pushed an increasingly polarized and re-racialized political discourse and pressure on public institutions, with predictable economic consequences. South Africa’s economy slid into sustained stagnation. Paralleling South Africa, America’s divisive political entrepreneurs also cultivated an us-versus-them divisiveness. However, unlike in South Africa, political entrepreneurs and economic elites in the United States also used divisive rhetoric as a way to persuade voters to embrace inequality-increasing policies that might otherwise not have won support. By the late 2010s, the risks were palpable in both South Africa and the United States of an accelerating breakdown of the norms and institutions that sustain inclusive political settlements. For South Africa, the reversals were not wholly unexpected, given the country’s difficult inheritance—though a recent turn away from angry populism suggests that, paradoxically, the rawness and recency of the anti-apartheid struggle and triumph might perhaps offer some immunization against a further-accelerating a downward spiral. But for the United States, the converse may be true. Increases in inequality since the 1980s, and their attendant social and political consequences, have been largely self-inflicted wounds. Complacency bred of long stability may, for decades, have been lulling the country into political recklessness at the inequality-ethnicity intersection, a recklessness that risks plunging the country into disaster. But this paper’s analysis is not all gloom and doom. South Africa’s escape from the shackles of apartheid teaches that, even in the most unlikely settings, downward spirals of despair and anger can transmute into virtuous spirals of hope. The country’s first fifteen years of democracy also show that, once a commitment to change has taken hold, making the shift to an inclusion-supporting economy is less daunting than it might seem. Reforms that foster “good enough inclusion” can be enough to provide initial momentum, with the changes themselves unfolding over time—and an initial round of change can bring in its wake a variety of positive knock-on effects. But lessons can be overlearned. Mass political mobilization was pivotal to South Africa’s shaking loose the shackles of apartheid—and new calls to the barricades might seem to be the obvious response to current political and governmental dysfunction. However, different times and different challenges call for different responses. In both contemporary South Africa and contemporary America, the frontier challenge is not to overthrow an unjust political order but to renew preexisting formal commitments to the idea that citizenship implies some shared purpose. Renewal of this kind might best be realized not by confrontation but rather by a social movement centered around a vision of shared citizenship, a movement that views cooperation in pursuit of win-win possibilities not as weakness but as the key to the sustainability of thriving, open, and inclusive societies.
Topic:
Governance, Democracy, Inequality, Institutions, and Polarization
Political Geography:
Africa, South Africa, North America, and United States of America

13. Mapping climate adaptation finance in Kenya's devolved governance system: a case of Makueni County

Author:
Judith Mulwa and Marie Ladekjær Gravesen
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
These years, countries are coming up with policies, laws and regulations aimed at mobilising finances to fund response measures for climate change adaptation. It is, therefore, imperative that these finances, among others, are mapped out so that we can track the measures that are financed, the types of financing that are used, and ultimately look at whether the available funds are meeting their objectives in the ways that they are being spent. Kenya is among the first countries to develop policies, strategies and institutional frameworks for climate action, creating a policy and legal environment to advance an effective climate change response. And specifically, Kenya’s Makueni County has enacted county-level climate change regulation as part of the implementation of the national agenda on climate change. The Makueni county government and its partners have made significant efforts to build the capacity to integrate climate information into CIDPs and apply it to resilience planning and budgeting processes. Doing so, Makueni County has been able to attract climate finance in the recent past. The integration of climate financing in the budgetary processes and allocation is an important example that other counties and governance institutions could embrace to attract climate financing and to ensure that impact of the financing is felt at community level. This DIIS Working Paper is a first step at exploring these dynamics, looking at the main types of devolved public funds from the Kenyan ministries and at how Makueni has adapted local institutions and policies to meet local needs of financing for adaptation activities.
Topic:
Climate Change, Governance, Finance, and Adaptation
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

14. Devolution of donor funded climate change adaptation finance

Author:
Per Tidemand, Andrew Hattle, Esbern Friis-Hansen, Beatrice Sumari, Peter Rogers, Judith Mulwa, and Millicent Omala
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
From 2013-2019 Tanzania received USD 2.0 billion as adaptation-related development finance, whereas Kenya received USD 3.3 billion. Based on the OECD database, this DIIS Working Paper analysis projects based on their financial value, measured as ‘adaptation-related development finance’. This is combined with an analysis of the project documents to measure degree of devolution was developed with three main parameters: the extent to which finance was managed through local government accounts; the extent to which the projects in the respective national budgets were considered devolved; and the use of participatory planning arrangements for management of the funds. Given Kenya’s greater emphasis on devolution, its fiscal strengths, and the autonomy of its counties, when compared to Tanzanian local governments, it was assumed that adaptation-related development finance would be relatively more devolved in Kenya than Tanzania. However, preliminary analysis suggests otherwise. The analysis also suggests that projects classified by development partners as ‘adaptation-related development finance’ in several cases exaggerate levels of funding and only contribute marginally to improved local governance of climate adaption activities.
Topic:
Climate Change, Governance, Finance, and Adaptation
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, and Tanzania

15. Rumble in the DR Congo: President Tshisekedi is Taking Control

Author:
Hans Hoebeke
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
Two years after the peaceful transition that ended the presidency of Joseph Kabila, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is experiencing another decisive turn. After a long-drawn-out fight, President Felix Tshisekedi has skilfully turned the tables on his predecessor, whose position had seemed impregnable. In a series of reversals, former President Kabila’s political platform, the Common Front for the Congo (FCC) lost control over the judiciary, the two chambers of parliament and the government. On 15 February 2021, President Tshisekedi appointed his prime minister, Sama Lukonde Kyenge, who will head a government of the new Union Sacrée de la Nation (USN) coalition. These are undoubtedly major steps forward. But while breaking the Kabila-system’s hold on the Congolese state is a necessary condition for change, it is only the beginning. President Tshisekedi, the incoming government and other forces for change are now in a unique position to renew governance practices and govern in the interest of the Congolese people. This Egmont Paper analyses the recent polit- ical developments in the DRC and identifies the main priorities and challenges facing President Tshisekedi and the country.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, State Building, and Transition
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo

16. Role of Native Administration in Integrated Natural Resource Management and Conflict Resolution in Central Darfur State, Sudan

Author:
Musa Adam Ismail, Siddig A. Mohamed, Mohamed A. Teabin, Elsadig A. Zakaria, Adam A. Bahar, Elamin M. Osman, Aziza A. Ali, Maria A. Osman, and Malik A. Sabei
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Abstract:
The Native Administration (NA) in Sudan is still commonly known by the term ‘traditional leadership,’ the name given to the formal system in the early 1930s during the British colonial period (1916-1956). Among the powers and responsibilities of the NA system were the manage­ment and conservation of the environment and natural resources, and resolution of conflict over land and natural resources. Researchers from the University of Zalingei in Central Darfur, Sudan, conducted this study to improve the understanding of the role played by the NA and local traditions in integrated natural resource management in Central Darfur over the last twenty years, and to understand the conflicts and disputes associated with land access. The study focused on communities targeted by the Taadoud project that employ a range of different livelihood strategies, e.g., farming and herding. Data were collected from 12 villages in Zalingei and Wadi Salih localities in Central Darfur State. These villages were selected to represent different livelihood groups (farmers and pastoralists). The study was conducted in collaboration with the Taadoud II Project’s inter-university partnership between the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University; the University of Al Fashir in North Darfur, Sudan; and the University of Zalingei in Central Darfur, Sudan.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Local, and Traditional Leaders
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

17. Fiscal Policy Letter No5: Improving Financial Inclusion To Broaden The Tax Base In Cameroon

Author:
Jean-Cedric Kouam and L.B. Bongbinsin
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
For several months, Cameroon has been facing the ravages of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus. To stop the spread of the virus, the Cameroonian authorities in April 2020 announced a series of fiscal easing measures to help companies and households in difficulty. Estimated at more than 114 billion CFA francs according to the Director-General of Taxation, the decisions taken have profoundly impacted public finances. Indeed, well before the pandemic, the country was already facing a high risk of external debt overhang (IMF, 2018) and immense security challenges in the North and the Anglophone regions. Despite this constraining socioeconomic and political context, the state must find the necessary and sufficient resources to ensure its proper functioning and territorial integrity. This fiscal policy letter proposes through analyzes a way for the government of Cameroon to increase its tax revenues in the coming years without penalizing growth: improving financial inclusion. The goal is to eliminate all constraints that exclude the most disadvantaged from full participation in the financial sector. The letter is structured around six key points. First, we provide an overview of Cameroon’s financial inclusion situation. Second, we analyze the factors that explain economic agents’ access to financial services, the transmission mechanisms between the financial and formal sectors, and the barriers to financial inclusion in Cameroon. Our results show that a deepening of the financial system would likely positively affect tax mobilization in Cameroon. Estimates show that a 10% increase in financial assets would lead to a 1.87% increase in tax revenue, equivalent to CFAF 49.70 billion – based on the level of tax revenue projected in the 2021 budget law. Similarly, a 10% increase in the number of secure servers – better access to the internet – would lead to a 1.1% increase in tax revenue, equivalent to CFAF 30.62 billion. This improvement in access to financial services for all economic agents – households, businesses – requires the public authorities to make the current regulations more flexible and increase the banking network’s density. This includes the development of payment systems, the construction of quality infrastructures, the definition of mechanisms to limit massive illicit capital flight, and the multiplication of consumer/investor protection guarantees.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Governance, Finance, and Tax Systems
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

18. Without a Birth Certificate, We Do Not Exist! (Re)Thinking the Civil Status System in Cameroon

Author:
Pierre-Claver Kamgaing
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Curious as it may seem in the 21st century, UNICEF estimates that three out of four children in the world have never been officially registered. . In Cameroon, 66.1 percent of children remain in hiding. . In other words, they live without existing, without being recognised by the country whose citizenship they claim. This situation, which is deplorable to say the least, has consequences for both the State and the individual concerned. For the state, the civil status file is essential for the implementation of public policies, because without a mastery of demography, it is impossible to make socio-economic projections. For the child, who has the right to register his or her birth, the absence of such a document excludes him or her from the education system and from the services necessary for his or her growth, thus exposing him or her to exploitation and violence. However, it should be noted that the Cameroon civil status system is not new. It was “designed” and its foundations laid at the beginning of the 20th century by the German coloniser, whose work was continued by the French and English administrations. However, this system was designed more for the European population established on Cameroon soil than for the “natives”. Moreover, the various texts adopted by the Cameroon legislator after independence are more like a simple assembly of old provisions. Moreover, on the sidelines of the ordinary session of the National Assembly in November 2020, the problem of establishing birth certificates was not missed by the deputies. The result is the need to rethink the civil status system in order to better adapt it to the socio-political evolution of the country. But how can this be done? This necessarily involves some profound and substantial reforms. However, before devoting any substantial development to this, it would be wise to first identify the causes of the failure of the civil status system in Cameroon.
Topic:
Civil Society, Governance, Citizenship, Social Order, and Identity
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

19. Urban Governance in Cameroon: Between Laissez-Faire And Faire-Laisser

Author:
Joseph MagloirenOlinga Olinga
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
From a geohistorical point of view, Cameroonian cities are characterised by what B. TAMRU (2001) describes as a “process of vulnerability“. This concept is in line with the phenomenological approach, which studies the impact of human actions on risk and its aggravation, based on the study of damage (P. PIGEON, 1994). However, urban dynamics are still poorly taken into account in the diagnosis of environmental risks. In this case, the flood risk is rarely studied in all its spatio-temporal depth: “The risk of flooding is thus most often analysed at a time “t”, according to a given hazard, on channels considered as stable”. From this point of view, starting from a diachronic analysis, the geohistorical context of Cameroon cities, particularly urban centres such as Douala (economic capital) and Yaoundé (political capital), constitutes an important key to reading the current urbanistic, social, economic and environmental challenges. Based on recent news, in particular the images of the Yaoundé VII Town Hall flooded after the downpour of 8 June 2021, this paper analyses the vulnerabilities of Cameroon cities through the prism of two variables: firstly, the socio-spatial processes that produce them and, secondly, the mechanisms that determine the capacity of cities to adapt to environmental risks. It brings to the fore the thorny issue of urban governance lato sensu. The case of the Commune of Yaoundé VII is symptomatic of urban governance in Cameroon and raises the question of whether municipal executives are definitively caught in the dilemma of “laissez-faire” and “faire laisser”.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, Governance, and Urban
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

20. Optimizing the Governance and Performance of Public Enterprises In Cameroon

Author:
Steve Tametong
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Defined as economic units with legal and financial autonomy carrying out industrial and commercial activities and whose share capital is wholly or mainly held by a legal person under public law, public enterprises occupy a major place in the economic development policy of the State in Cameroon. The many reforms that have taken place in this key sector have, for the most part, been directed towards the search for performance and the promotion of sound corporate governance. However, this double objective remained a real challenge under the empire of law n°99/016 of December 22, 1999 on the general status of public establishments and public and semi-public sector companies, which had repealed order n°95/003 of August 17, 1995 governing public and semi-public sector companies. To echo this, the Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation (CTR) of public and parapublic sector companies revealed in its 2019 Report that the 50 public entities whose performance was analysed showed a 15.7% drop in turnover compared to the 2018 financial year, and an overall net result of CFAF -59.5 billion, down by -6.4% compared to 2018. Also, the biggest losses were recorded in the combined sectors of “hydrocarbons, water and electricity” and “industry and commerce“. Moreover, out of a target of 53 billion in 2019 for contributions from public enterprises to the state budget, only 12 billion had been paid out by the end of the year, i.e. an achievement rate of 21.94%. These under-performances are the result of an extraverted governance whose causes are not exclusively managerial. According to Professor Henri Modi Koko Bebey, “political and administrative burdens also explain, at least in part, the poor results obtained so far”.. Therefore, the link between governance and the performance of public enterprises is inseparable. This policy brief is intended to be a plea for strengthening the performance-oriented governance of public enterprises. To achieve this, it first outlines the renovated legal framework and highlights the classification of public enterprises (I); then, it questions, based on a few illustrative cases, the governance of public enterprises and its impact on their performance (II); finally, it makes recommendations for better governance to improve the performance of public enterprises in Cameroon (III).
Topic:
Governance, Public Sector, Public Spending, and Efficiency
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

21. Perspectives on the Formalization of the Informal Economy in Cameroon

Author:
Joel Moudio Motto
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Informal sector practices are the third most frequently cited barriers – after corruption and administrative bureaucracy – for formal enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa (Moyo & Sibindi, 2020). To address this, many programs are being implemented to crack down on and penalize non-compliance. Policies are also being implemented for reducing registration costs and imposing taxes on informal activities and formalization campaigns (De Mel et al., 2014). The issues raised by these measures are fiscal and compliance issues. From this point of view, the non-participation of the informal economy in tax revenues limits the action of the State, hence the need to formalize, by organizing informal channels into associations or interest groups, despite the tax and standardization challenges.
Topic:
Economics, Governance, Tax Systems, and Informal Economy
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

22. Ease of Paying Taxes In Cameroon

Author:
Henri Kouam
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
The Doing Business Index of the World Bank ranks economies based on their performance in several businesses and governance-related indicators. One of the most important indicators for developing economies such as Cameroon is the “Paying Taxes Indicator,” as investors closely watch this metric to determine the attractiveness of a country to Foreign Direct Investment.
Topic:
Governance, Finance, Tax Systems, and Banking
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

23. Interrogating the Inclusiveness of the Cameroon Tax Policy

Author:
Fabien Sundjo and Bin Joachem Meh
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Management of the State requires resources and one of the major sources of income to the State is tax. Taxation is one of the most effective internal measures that the government use to raise resources needed to meet their social, economic and political objectives. Taxation is a sovereign right of the state where resources are transferred from private accounts to public use in order to achieve the economic and political objectives of society (Moore, 2014). The economy of Cameroon like any other economy in the world has basically two types of taxation systems which include; direct and indirect taxation through which the government can raise its revenue. In the process of fostering the objectives of revenue collection by the State, care needs to be taken not to discriminate between women and foreign groups (Amin, 1998). The Cameroon Government’s Vision 2035, a road map to become an emerging economy by 2035, stresses the importance of large-scale infrastructure development and the need to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI). In this light and in April 2013, the Cameroon Government enacted an Investment Promotion Incentives Law whose aim is to motivate foreigners to bring-in capital and to allocate it within major sectors in need of capital in order to boost the economy. Cameroon’s development strategy is to attract funding from foreign countries and invest them in large infrastructure. Statistics, and figures from the World Bank show that the flow of FDI to Cameroon is relatively low but steadily increasing. This pattern can be explained by both the favorable tax system and the welcoming nature of Cameroonians (Cameroon US Embassy, 2019). The objective of this work is to interrogate whether the Cameroon tax system discriminates between women and foreigners. Tax discrimination is a situation where by some individuals pay tax differently from others.
Topic:
Civil Society, Governance, Tax Systems, and Inclusion
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

24. Report on the 2021 Budget of Cameroon: An Analysis of the Sustainability of the Public Debt

Author:
Jean-Cedric Kouam, Henri Kouam Tamto, Bin Joachem Meh, and Marlyse Noussi
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
The purpose of this report is to analyze the 2021 budget of the State of Cameroon, examining the sustainability of public debt. We use data extracted from the Republic of Cameroon’s Finance Laws, notably those for 2021; available public debt data from the Autonomous Sinking Fund; as well as forecasts made by the Ministry of the Economy, Planning, and Regional Development in the New National Development Strategy 2020-2030. Using the framework for analyzing public debt sustainability defined jointly by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 2018, we show that Cameroon’s public debt, while still sustainable (estimated at 46.9% of Gross Domestic Product, thus remaining below the community threshold of 70%), still poses a high risk of external debt distress on the Cameroonian economy. This result means that, in the absence of concrete and radical actions by the government to reduce its rate of indebtedness, it will be difficult for the Cameroonian Treasury to honor all the government’s financial commitments on the bond markets in the near future, particularly with respect to debt service payments. We show that Cameroon’s liquidity and solvency ratios correspond to a policy that can be improved. Some debt and debt service indicators are significantly above short-term benchmarks over the entire study period from 2021 to 2030. Given this situation, it is urgent that the government define and implement an effective and efficient fiscal policy capable of bringing Cameroon to the level of development hoped for by 2035. This requires a more optimal reallocation of resources in order to guarantee productive investments and sustainable human development (Fambon, 2002). In this sense, this report emphasizes the need to guarantee the competitiveness of national enterprises, which includes the promotion of national private investment and the choice of loans at preferential rates that require the repurchase and/or cancellation of certain components of the country’s public debt. Thus, the study recommends several economic policy proposals to the Cameroonian government to reduce the debt burden.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Governance, Finance, and Public Debt
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

25. A Return to Constitutional Order and Democratic Governance in Chad: Is the African Union Not Crawling?

Author:
Francis Tazoacha
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
The world-wide drive towards democracy, incited in part by the ending of the cold war, created opportunities for democratization not only in Europe and the former Soviet Union, but also across Africa. Hopes were high that Africans would begin to enjoy the freedoms afforded to citizens living in the former colonial powers. Despite the euphoria that followed this wind of change, some countries are embracing it while others are clinging to autocratic rule. The fossilisation of the autocratic rule has left many heads of state clinging to power while others are exercising pseudo-monarchic transitions through the abrogation of their respective constitutions and abuse of human rights. This perturbation has been the stumbling block to the democratic processes, good governance and sustainable development. Despite these inconsistencies, some African regional bodies have upheld their responsibilities while others such as the African Union (AU), the umbrella continental organisation, has played the role of “the good, the bad and the ugly”.
Topic:
Civil Society, Regional Cooperation, Governance, Democracy, Constitution, and Africa Union
Political Geography:
Africa and Chad

26. Rethinking Fiscal Policy to Overcome the Debt Problem in Cameroon

Author:
Jean-Cedric Kouam
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
In 2009, Cameroon adopted a major development vision to become an emerging country by 2035. To achieve this, the country defined a series of structuring projects that are essential to boost its industrialization and competitiveness. These projects include the construction of transport and telecommunications networks as well as hydroelectric dams. In addition to these major infrastructure projects, which require a significant financial investment by the state, the country has been affected since 2013 by the backlash of social and political tensions in the Central African Republic as well as the exactions of the terrorist sect Boko Haram, which have been recurring in the northern region since 2014. In addition, in 2016, Cameroon was plunged into a socio-political crisis that is becoming more widespread in its northwest and southwest regions. The humanitarian and social effects of this crisis (loss of human life, internal displacement, influx of refugees) have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic and financial impacts are increasingly being felt. In order to achieve its development objectives on the one hand and to strengthen its economic resilience to various shocks, on the other hand, the Cameroonian government is increasingly resorting to debt, which calls into question, to some extent, the effectiveness of Cameroon’s fiscal policy. Defined as all measures and decisions taken by the government and public authorities in terms of taxation, fiscal policy participates in economic policy by contributing to the financing of public expenditure and the redistribution of income. It also aims to reduce the tax burden in order to boost consumption and stimulate growth. This fiscal policy letter analyses the budgetary situation of the State of Cameroon, with emphasis on the role that fiscal policy could play in reducing Cameroon’s debt burden on economic development. After analyzing the viability of Cameroon’s public debt on the basis of the criteria adopted by international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, this paper defines some fiscal policy strategies that could help keep Cameroon’s economy on track for emergence by 2035. It shows that Cameroon’s debt remains viable, but its liquidity and solvency ratios indicate that the treasury may find itself in financial difficulty over the next decade to meet debt service and principal repayments. The main fiscal policy recommendations to avoid this situation include defining and implementing a special tax regime for business support structures; following the Mauritius model by setting a sufficiently low corporate tax rate for all domestic companies; temporarily exempting domestic firms from corporate tax when they list their shares on the BVMAC; setting a time limit for the preparation, declaration and payment (or deduction at source) of corporate income tax, value-added tax, and social security contributions.
Topic:
Debt, Governance, Fiscal Policy, and Public Debt
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

27. Mali and the Challenges of Democratic Rule: Implications for Continental Democracy

Author:
Peter SAKWE MASUMBE
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Development-oriented public policies and governances within African countries are at extensive peril as African soldiers become zealots and threats to political power. As Klatt (2021) asserts, “…two hundred and eighty days appear to be the time a banana’s flowering stalk needs to produce fruits”. Paradoxically, it is the time it took Malians to live within a first coup d’état from August 2020 to a second one in May 2021. Consequently, the AU, ECOWAS, SADC must take definite actions to avert military and undemocratic incursions into political power. This is the position of this policy brief. Exasperated policy pundits had crafted parlances for what happened on May 25, 2021, in Bamako, when former coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita re-took Mali’s destiny into his own hands again by overthrowing the Transition President and Prime Minister. Is he a power zealot, a nationalist, or a sheer adventurer? Irrespective of the exigencies and necessities, democracy is at peril in that country, and by extension, the continent. Ostensibly, the developments in that Sahel country, with its poverty index and human insecurity, sounding astronomically frightful (Kelechi 2021), Ugoh 2021), present a great leeway for soldiers in other countries to interrupt the growth of democracy. No matter the benevolence of military rule, a lame civilian regime incarnates some degree of democracy; consequently, Mali is at its undemocratic intersections, with a doubtful democratic certainty.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Military Strategy, Governance, and Democracy
Political Geography:
Africa and Mali

28. Gender and Extremism in Ethiopia

Author:
Hilina Berhanu Degefa
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Institute of Peace (EIP)
Abstract:
This paper endeavored to provide a gender analysis on the role of women in violent extremism (VE) and government-led efforts on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) in Ethiopia. It draws its findings and recommendations from three main research methods: a literature review, observation, and one-on-one semi-structured interviews with actors involved in VE and P/CVE efforts across six Regional States in Ethiopia. The study firstly examines the role of women in extremism in Ethiopia, emphasising how and why women are involved in VE, including the gendered nature of association with VE groups. Among those that have been researched are the hardening of in-group identity, sense of community and seeking recognition, romanticism and fascination with a charismatic leader, as well as a sense of victimhood as a result of government action or inaction, including gender-specific violations. All are contributing factors; mostly compounded and cumulatively present in individual cases. Secondly, the study engages with the current standing P/CVE efforts led by the government, analysing the types of womanhood that the state mobilises and produces in the name of, and as part of, P/CVE efforts. While the research has been less conclusive in establishing a commonly agreed-upon definition of VE from respondents, it recommends the need for intersectionality-informed gender analysis in understanding women’s participation in VE as well as in the designing and implementation of P/CVE measures
Topic:
Governance, Women, Leadership, Gender Based Violence, and Gender
Political Geography:
Africa and Ethiopia

29. A Double-Edged Sword: Examining the Role of the State in National Dialogues as Mechanisms of Nation-building in Uganda and Rwanda

Author:
Sylvie Namwase
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
This working paper argues that, while the state is a key actor in facilitating national dialogues as mechanisms of nation-building in post-colonial contexts, it can also co-opt these processes to entrench the status quo and undermine genuine dialogue and nation-building objectives. As a process built on solidarity, relationship-building, and “open-endedness” with indeterminate and subjective results, nation-building can be used as a pretext to depoliticize and control national dialogues and offer the illusion of change while evading any real challenge to the status quo. This paper shows the ways in which this applies to Uganda and Rwanda, where state-controlled national dialogues have been open-ended, longterm processes that have played a double-edged role as facilitators and inhibitors of meaningful dialogue. In the absence of effectively organized, empowered, and credible non-state actors to counter its dominant discourse, the national dialogues in these contexts are likely to operate on the terms and interests of elites who wield state power. This is because they fall short on the requirements of “a credible convener” and “inclusive participation” necessary for genuine dialogue. Moreover, even where the dialogues are dubbed “citizen-led” as is the case in Uganda, they are still infused with dominant elite interests that seek to maintain the status quo.
Topic:
Post Colonialism, Governance, Nation-State, Identity, and Nation-building
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, and Rwanda

30. Ennahda or the cost of recognition

Author:
Thierry Brésillon
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The political earthquake that rocked Tunisia on 25 July 2021 and its following 25 September aftershock – which resulted in a loss of power and dissent over contested leadership – had closed a cycle for Ennahda and ushered in a moment of existential uncertainty. It became unclear if the organization could reinvent itself to regain the role it had played since 2011. In one form or another, it was also unclear if the party still had something to offer Tunisians. This is essentially the recurring uncertainty surrounding the relevance of political Islam as a party and its potential to bring about specific solutions to contemporary problems created in the wake of the turmoil of the past few weeks. In this context, this paper will provide a retrospective glance at Ennahda’s trajectory since 2011.
Topic:
Politics, Natural Disasters, Governance, and Leadership
Political Geography:
Africa and Tunisia

31. Economic Diversification in Africa: How and Why It Matters

Author:
Zainab Usman and David Landry
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Many African countries have placed economic diversification high on the policy agenda, yet they first need to define what it means in their specific structural and socioeconomic contexts. For decades, economic diversification has been a policy priority for low- and middle-income economies. In the words of former managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, “We know that economic diversification is good for growth. Diversification is also tremendously important for resilience.” Unfortunately, this goal continues to elude many African countries. In fact, the continent is home to eight of the world’s fifteen least economically diversified countries. This reality weakens the foundation of their economic transfomation and slows their pace of progress. It also makes these countries particularly vulnerable to sudden external shocks, as the pandemic-induced disruption of tourism and oil-dependent economies has illustrated. Given the importance of diversifying African economies, it is critical to recognize how various dimensions of diversification can have different implications for the menu of policy options. Closely associated with the process of structural transformation from lower to higher productivity sectors, economic diversification has three evident dimensions. The first relates to the expansion of economic sectors that contribute to employment and production or gross domestic product (GDP) diversification, and the second is associated with international trade or exports diversification. This paper, however, focuses on a third dimension that the economics literature pays scant attention to: fiscal diversification. This fiscal element involves expanding government revenue sources and public expenditure targets and can therefore play a central role in helping to catalyze broader economic transformation through the expansion of activity in specific industries and sectors. It is also critical that policymakers effectively measure the extent to which this objective is being achieved. Both the expansion of existing economic sectors and the creation of new ones may diversify an economy. But these processes are vastly different in practice and will garner distinct outcomes. Of the main tools used by economists to measure diversification, the Theil Index differentiates between the respective contributions of new economic sectors and existing ones to overall diversification. Another tool widely used by development practitioners—the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) framework—has significant potential for evaluating fiscal diversification but would need to capture more information on government revenue collection and spending and link them to policy objectives.
Topic:
Economics, Governance, Diversification, and Trade
Political Geography:
Africa

32. Climate Finance Mobilization in Uganda: The Most Viable Option

Author:
Robert Bakiika, Christine Mbatuusa, Anthony Mugeere, and Anna Amumpiire
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This report seeks to contribute to informing the mobilization of climate finance in light of the climate change impacts across all sectors. The report highlights the operating policy, legal and institutional framework on public climate finance, makes reference to country case studies on climate finance mobilization, proposes various options for climate finance mobilization based on stakeholders consulted and ranks the most efficient option.
Topic:
Climate Change, Governance, Finance, and Mobilization
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

33. Establishing the empirical basis for tracing the development outcomes of agricultural investments

Author:
Helle Munk Ravnborg, Bernard Bashaasha, Rikke Broegaard, Michael Byaruhanga, Evelyne Lazaro, Festo Maro, Khamaldin Mutabazi, Teddy Nakanwagi, and David Tumusiime
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This DIIS Working Paper describes the design of a questionnaire survey developed and implemented in order to trace the development outcomes of foreign agricultural investments in six research locations in Tanzania and Uganda. The questionnaire survey was conducted as part of the Agricultural Investors as Development Actors (henceforward AIDA) research programme which, in particular, focuses on development outcomes in terms of employment, migration, food security and wider dynamic economic effects, such as access to technology, infrastructure and markets; land markets and perceived security of land tenure; and water access and security of tenure. The working paper which serves as a methodological reference document describes the approach which was employed for drawing six independent samples of 400 respondents each, as well as the approach developed for computing a foreign agricultural investment exposure index and for computing a locally informed household poverty index.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, Environment, Poverty, Water, Food, Governance, Inequality, Investment, and Land Rights
Political Geography:
Sub-Saharan Africa and Africa

34. Does sensitivity bias lead respondents to misreport their level of trust in political parties? An investigation into Afrobarometer’s survey results and methodology

Author:
Loubna Marfouk, Martin Sarvas, Jack Wippell, and Jintao Zhu
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
This paper explores the presence of politically sourced sensitivity bias, which leads respondents to report alternative answers to their true beliefs, in Afrobarometer’s survey results. To this end, we run a set of regressions on Afrobarometer Round 7 data to explore mechanisms through which the perceived sponsor of the survey is associated with response patterns related to trust in political parties. Questions regarding individuals’ trust levels in political parties are prone to sensitivity bias insofar as political concerns can lead respondents to favour a certain response for strategic reasons. Moreover, if respondents believe that answers will be shared with the perceived sponsor of the interview, they are likely to tailor their answers to what they judge is the preferred answer of their perceived survey sponsor. We find a number of statistically significant results that suggest some sensitivity bias is present in the survey responses. In particular, we show that there are statistically significant differences in responses for self-reported trust in both opposition and ruling parties when the respondent perceives the government to be the survey sponsor compared to when they perceive the sponsor to be Afrobarometer. We also explore how these responses vary by country- specific characteristics, such as regime type. Reducing respondents’ variation in perception of the survey sponsor might alleviate biases throughout Afrobarometer’s interviews, and a set of methodological changes might mitigate the effects of this sensitivity bias in future surveys. While other studies have focused on potential bias from interviewer effects, our research suggests a new avenue for research, in Africa and beyond, on respondent perceptions of sponsorship.
Topic:
Governance, Research, Political Parties, and Survey
Political Geography:
Africa

35. Mechanisms for Governing the Water-Land-Food Nexus in the Lower Awash River Basin, Ethiopia: Ensuring Policy Coherence in the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda

Author:
Srinivasa Reddy Srigiri, Anita Breuer, and Waltina Scheumann
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
Interdependencies among the goals and targets make the 2030 Agenda indivisible and their integrated implementation requires coherent policies. Coordination across different sectors and levels is deemed as crucial for avoiding trade-offs and achieving synergies among multiple, interlinked policy goals, which depend on natural resources. However, there is insufficient evidence regarding the conditions under which coordination for integrated achievement of different water- and land-based Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) functions effectively. The paper investigates the land and water governance in the Ethiopian lower Awash River basin and identifies key interdependencies among related SDGs. It assesses in how far the interactions and coordination among various decision-making centres are effective in managing the interdependencies among different goals. Systems for using and managing water and land exhibit features of polycentric governance as this process involves decision-making centres across different sectors and at various levels. Key action situations for land and water governance in operational, collective and constitutional choice levels are interlinked/networked. Each action situation constitutes actions that deliver one of the functions of polycentric governance, such as production, provision, monitoring etc. as an outcome, which affects the choices of actors in an adjacent action situation. The study shows that the existing institutions and governance mechanisms for water and land in Ethiopia are not effective in managing the interdependencies. Non-recognition of traditional communal rights of pastoralists over land and water and ineffective policy instruments for ensuring environmental and social safeguards are leading to major trade-offs among goals of local food security and economic growth. The autocratic regime of Ethiopia has coordination mechanisms in place, which fulfil the role of dissemination of policies and raising awareness. However, they are not designed to build consensus and political will for designing and implementing national plans, by including the interests and aspirations of the local communities and local governments. The study recommends efforts to achieve SDGs in the Ethiopian Awash River basin to focus on strengthening the capacities of relevant actors, especially the district and river basin authorities in delivering the key governance functions such as water infrastructure maintenance, efficient use of water, and effective implementation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Further, urgent efforts for scaling up of recognition, certification and protection of communal land rights of pastoralists and clear definition of rules for awarding compensation upon expropriation, are required.
Topic:
Water, Food, Governance, Sustainable Development Goals, and Land
Political Geography:
Africa and Ethiopia

36. Dissecting Aid Fragmentation: Development Goals and Levels of Analysis

Author:
Ruth Carlitz and Sebastian Ziaja
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
Aid fragmentation is widely denounced, though recent studies suggest potential benefits. To reconcile these mixed findings, we make a case for studying differences across aid sectors and levels of analysis. Our cross-national time-series analysis of data from 141 countries suggests aid fragmentation promotes child survival and improves governance. However, just looking across countries has the potential to blur important within-country differences. We analyse subnational variation in Sierra Leone and Nigeria and find that the presence of more donors is associated with worse health outcomes, but better governance outcomes. This suggests that having more donors within a locality can be beneficial when they are working to improve the systems through which policies are implemented, but harmful when they target policy outcomes directly. A survey of Nigerian civil servants highlights potential mechanisms. Fragmentation in health aid may undermine civil servants’ morale, whereas diversity in governance aid can promote meritocratic behaviour.
Topic:
Governance, Development Aid, and Donors
Political Geography:
Africa, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria