Competition In Africa Research Articles

“The Secret Lives of Dennis Phombeah: Decolonization, the Cold War, and African Political Intelligence, 1953–1974”

Processes of decolonization in the context of the Cold War provided enormous opportunities for nationalist figures to parlay insider nationalist knowledge into significant metropolitan influence. This article offers an ‘agent-focused’ rather than ‘agency-focused’ approach to the study of Cold War intelligence competition in Africa’s decolonization through a study of the career of Dennis Phombeah, a Nyasalander by birth and Tanganyikan nationalist figure who came to work for multiple foreign intelligence agencies. While itself a single case study, this article suggest that multiple intelligence agencies placed a high premium on acquiring a basic understanding of the internal politics of newly-independent African countries, which were otherwise rendered deliberately opaque by the states themselves as a common sovereignty-preserving device. Using intelligence records from Britain, Czechoslovakia and Portugal, a picture emerges of cross-rival institutional dependency on informants from the peripheries who were empowered by their years at metropolitan centers, offering a challenging perspective to institutional-focused studies of Cold War intelligence.

Intra-African Trade, Macroeconomic Conditions and Competitiveness in Africa

Abstract More than ever before, trade and regional integration have become two important arguments in the development equation of most modern states and, probably, explains the current rise in regional integration around the world. However, regional integration will not produce optimal benefits in the absence of favourable macroeconomic conditions and substantial internal trade among the integrating members. This paper employs descriptive statistics and econometric techniques to analyze the competitiveness of the continent by studying the impact of relevant intra-African trade indices on the competitiveness of Africa, based on a panel dataset spanning 2000 to 2016. The results show considerable variations in both inter- and intra-regional trade performance and competitiveness among African regional groupings and nations. Intra-African trade, especially in exports, over the study period, was consistently low. While the South Africa region had the highest intra-regional trade in imports, East Africa region had the highest level of inter-regional imports. West Africa, with Nigeria’s dominance, had the highest level of intra-regional exports, while South Africa had the highest inter-regional exports at country level. For the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), SADC reported the highest intra-African import trades, while SACU reported the highest inter-regional imports. SADC has the highest intra-African exports, while COMESA has the highest inter-regional exports. African Competitiveness Index (ACI) ranking puts the East Africa Region on top, and South Africa as the most competitive African economy. Using panel data covering 2012 to 2016 for 20 African economies, ACI was regressed on a 7-variable model, including intra-regional imports and exports, inflation rate, nominal exchange rate, gross capital formation, and the growth rate of GDP. The results were mixed but plausible. All the variables were correctly signed and significant in different regions, reflecting the huge structural and policy disparities among the regions. Continued transformation of African economies with emphasis on both physical and financial infrastructure, and human capital development will enhance intra-African trade and regional competitiveness.

Foreign Direct Investment and Export Competitiveness in Africa: Investigating the Channels

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Africa has surged in recent years. At the same time, international trade has increased, exposing African countries to international competition. This raises the question of whether FDI plays a role in enhancing export competitiveness. This study investigates the impact of FDI on export competitiveness in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the channels of influence. It uses the system generalized method of moments technique, and considers an index of export sophistication as a measure of competitiveness. The study shows that FDI stimulates export competitiveness. Several other factors also enhance export competitiveness, such as human capital, export demand, macroeconomic environment, and the quality of institutions. However, unit labor costs and reduced foreign market access lower export competitiveness. The key channels through which FDI affects export competitiveness are human capital, technological spillovers in the form of forward linkages, and enhancement of domestic productivity. The study also confirmed the possible competition and domination effects of FDI on export competitiveness, which works to crowd out local producers by foreign firms. The results are robust to sensitivity tests including alternative estimation methods and alternative measures of competitiveness. Policy reforms should focus on building human capital and strengthening economic linkages in order to catalyze technological transfers and enhance productivity and competitiveness.

African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: The Euphoria, Pitfalls and Prospects

The ratification of African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) climaxes African Union effort to foster intra-African Trade. AfCFTA is expected to foster socio-economic development and industrial competitiveness in Africa. AfCFTA will engender massive liberalization of intra-African trade in goods and services, making it easier for business to trade across borders and reduce the costs of trade. But there are fears that a successful implementation of the agreement in a continent that lacks capacity, industrial competitiveness and infrastructure will be fraught with challenges. The article examines the dynamics, and contends that the success of AfCFTA will be significantly dependent on a number of factors, namely the level of commitment exhibited by the Member States, availability of technical capacity and infrastructure, transparency and accountability of processes, and the manner infractions and complaints are addressed or redressed.

Law & Ordo: Exploring What Lessons Ordoliberalism Holds for African Competition Law Regimes

For many years, it was believed that trade liberalization would address the lack of competition that many African economies suffer from. Recent insights seem to have falsified that belief. Many of those economies still suffer from a lack of competition and a prevalence of monopoly behaviour, often (enabled) by the State. So if trade liberalization did not do the trick, what other recipes are available? This article focuses on the added value that more rigorous competition law enforcement could bring, and seeks to derive insights from Ordoliberalism. Although often overlooked in recent years, it is submitted that the comprehensive conceptual framework of Ordoliberalism could provide tangible suggestions to strengthen competition in African economies. It provides a theoretical basis for introducing vigorous competition law enforcement, putting the competition rules in the centre of economic policy-making. It affords great weight to the consistency of economic policies and strongly cautions against any undue government influence, both through the enactment an ‘economic constitution’. It also provides scope provides analytical tools how to deal with the interaction between market power and vested interests. This article concludes that Ordoliberalism does in fact have various insights that could be helpful for spurring competition in Africa.

Water Integrity to close financing gaps in Africa

In 2015, the combination of the adoption of the SDGs and the Paris agreement on climate change gave a positive impulse to building transformative capacities around the globe. Only few years later, the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2019 wonders if the world is sleepwalking into a crisis. In Africa competition to gain control of land, water and mineral resources is increasingly fierce and rent-seeking by political figures, global corporations, endowment funds continues under conditions of impunity.In Africa, a reputation of high risks and poor sector performance across the board is associated with poor governance and lack of strong and accountable institutions causes a considerable investment gap. Closing that gap could be fast as soon as there are sufficient positive indications of improving sector performance.OECD principles for water governance and the Water Integrity Global Outlook with various concepts, lessons learned and integrity tools form a good initial basis to design strategies and projects to improve sector performance and gain trust. Evidence of emerging good governance and integrity practices to can help build trust and engagement among different stakeholders and make the African water sector more attractive for investors and help to close the investment gap.

Student’s perception of engineering design for competitiveness in Africa: The case of Tanzania, East Africa

Engineering is vital for addressing basic human needs, improving the quality of life and creating opportunities for sustainable prosperity at local, regional, national and global levels. However, Africa faces a shortage of engineers arising from the declining interest and enrolment of young people in the relevant disciplines at higher education institutions. Africa is also flooded with numerous products from the five major emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, creating challenges for local engineering solutions. In this sense, engineering design capacity practice needs to be reviewed for the purpose of creating the potential for the application of local competitive engineering capacity for growth. This suggests a need for the upgrading and integration of local engineering design capacity into the mainstream, beginning with the education system. Empirical evidence from Tanzania lends support to this proposition. Primary data from undergraduate students suggest a strong focus on curricular review of engineering design capacity. Secondary data from the engineering design functions practised by industries and engineering-based R&D institutions indicates the existence of a skills mismatch which needs to be addressed. This holds important policy implications; in particular, the tertiary education curriculum ought to be sensitive to local needs and knowledge.

Changing South Africa's Competition Law Regime: A Populist Departure from International Best Practices†

Key Points: The Amendment Bill alters key provisions of the South African Competition Act focusing specifically on the redistribution of wealth and transformation of ownership in lieu of pursuing traditional antitrust goals. The Bill provides for greater ministerial intervention at the initial stage of a merger (based on national security), during the merger investigation (based on public-interest grounds) and broadens the right of appeals to parties outside the merger control review. The Bill lowers the standard that the South African Competition Commission must meet to prosecute cases and foreshadows a risk of increased third-party interventionism more generally. The departure from a traditional substantial lessening of competition (SLC) test to an adverse effects-based test, which takes public interests considerations into account, is likely to result in the injection of greater subjectivity into the decision-making process and parties’ increased difficulty in self-assessment of conduct particularly in relation to dominant firms.

Status competition in Africa: Explaining the Rwandan–Ugandan clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract Yoweri Museveni’s rebels seized power in Uganda in 1986, with Rwandan refugees making up roughly a quarter of his troops. These refugees then took power in Rwanda in 1994 with support from Museveni’s regime. Subsequently, between 1999 and 2000, the Rwandan and Ugandan comrades-in-arms turned on each other in a series of deadly clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country they had invaded together only one year earlier. What explains these fratricidal clashes? This article contends that a social–psychological perspective focused on status competition between the Rwandan and Ugandan ruling elites provides the most compelling answer. Long treated as ‘boys’, the new Rwandan rulers strove to enhance their social status vis-à-vis the Ugandans, seeking first equality and then regional superiority. Economic disputes over Congo’s natural resources at times complemented this struggle for status but cannot explain all of its phases. The article draws on interviews with senior Rwandan, Ugandan, and former Congolese rebel officials, and triangulates them with statements given to national and regional newspapers at the time of the clashes. More broadly, it builds on the recently revitalized study of status competition in world politics and makes a case for integrating research on inter-African relations.

Sino-Indian Competition in Africa

Sino-Indian Competition in Africa

Meeting the 21st century challenges of doing business in Africa

This concluding piece to the special issue outlines how nations and firms can capitalise on their resources and capabilities towards meeting the 21st century challenges of doing business in Africa. The paper outlines key requirements, including human capital formation, technology transfer, frugal innovation and learning from other nations. We also examine the mechanisms through which technology can be harnessed to help facilitate economic development and enhance Africa's competitiveness.

A comparative assessment of competition in Africa: identifying drivers of reform in Botswana, Ethiopia, and Nigeria

A comparative assessment of competition in Africa: identifying drivers of reform in Botswana, Ethiopia, and Nigeria

Reciprocal retaliation and local linkage: Federalism as an instrument of opposition organizing in Nigeria

How do local politics shape national political competition in Africa? This article explores opposition party formation in Nigeria, where citizens voted out the People’s Democratic Party in 2015 after 16 years in power. Existing analyses attribute the victory of the All Progressives Congress to issues such as corruption, terrorism, and declining economic performance. Drawing upon field research in Abuja and Rivers, a key opposition state, this article argues that the institutional environment also played a role. Federalism provided the nascent All Progressives Congress with a partisan basis for subnational interest coordination. Rivers’ governor leveraged his authority over local governments to challenge the federal government, linking local struggles to broader states’ rights. The People’s Democratic Party unsuccessfully attempted to deter defections and subvert subnational challenges through court cases and other means. More than just a mechanism for resource distribution, representation, or conflict mediation, Nigeria’s federalism has emerged as an instrument of party organizing.

Managing Electoral and Political Competition in Africa: Lessons from Ghana 2016 General Elections

African elections are usually highly contested and competitive because of the winner takes all making of most of the political systems on the continent. Since the third wave of democracy (Huntington, 1991), due to the competitive nature of these elections, attention is usually focused on making these elections peaceful and often relatively credible. Little attention has been paid to documenting good practices across these retinue of elections with the bid to providing election practitioners opportunity to learn from good practices that could be applied in similar context and circumstances. This paper is an attempt at that. It chronicles some of the important measures deployed by different stakeholders towards successful 2016 General Elections in Ghana. It recommends that managing electoral competition in African election requires commitment of political stakeholders, development of mechanisms and measures for both political and judicial redress and commitment to rule of law through independence of the judiciary.

Three’s Company: How the US and China’s Complementary Competition is Improving African Health

President Obama's and President Xi Jinping's visits to Tanzania — and the associated jubliation and fanfare accompanying them — seem to validate much of what has been written in the past few years of the supposed competition between the United States and China for influence and resources in Africa, with many authors proclaiming that the U.S. was losing this competition. Aside from propagating the idea that Africa is some sort of homogenous collection of people, ideas, and cultures, many of these authors view the role of Africa as primarily an economic battleground in which the U.S and China must battle to determine control while ignoring the fact that the differing strengths and focuses of the American and Chinese economies do not lend themselves to any sort of outright competition in Africa.

Party Strategy in Multidimensional Competition in Africa: The Example of Zambia

Just as voters have ethnic identities, they also have economic interests. Government policies create winners and losers, favoring some economic groups or sectors and disfavoring others. And to the extent that economic interests divide populations into different blocs as ethnic identities do, politicians have options for building coalitions. Using the example of Zambia, I show that the recipes for successful coalition building have varied from election to election, and that shifting bases of partisan competition eventually brought about party turnover in power. With a demonstration of multidimensional party strategies, a clear contribution of the work lies in enhancing our ability to explain partisan change and alternation in power, despite a static ethnic map.

On the competitiveness of Africa – a paradoxical economic region - research

On the competitiveness of Africa – a paradoxical economic region - research

Descriptive Epidemiology of Soccer Injury During Elite International Competition in Africa

Epidemiological research on soccer injuries during African soccer competition is sparse. This study was conducted among 12 teams in the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) challenge cup tournament. Fifty-seven injuries were reported (2.7 injuries per match), or 82.25 injuries per 1,000 match hours. The ankle was most often injured (23%). The majority (81%) of injuries occurred as a result of traumatic contact, with the most injuries occurring in the last 30 min of the match. A majority (84%) of athletes who sustained injuries continued to play. African medical personnel should be trained to handle the unique constraints and variety of injuries sustained during soccer competition.

PROCESSOS DE DEMOCRATIZAÇÃO E COMPETIÇÃO POLÍTICA NA ÁFRICA DOS ANOS 1990: OS CASOS DE MOÇAMBIQUE E ZÂMBIA

O presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar os processos de democratização e competição política na África em dois estudos de caso: Moçambique e Zâmbia. O trabalho parte da evidência de que a democracia é um sistema que deve permitir a confrontação das diversas forças políticas e sociais e a sua legitimidade advém do reconhecimento dos atores envolvidos em seus processos políticos e eleitorais como um todo. Metodologicamente, o trabalho foi desenvolvido numa perspectiva comparativa, seguindo a análise de dados secundários existentes sobre os resultados eleitorais na África Austral, auxiliou-se com a discussão teórica sobre história política da África e dos sistemas eleitorais e partidários. Ao mesmo tempo, reinterpretamos os dados eleitorais agregados, demonstrando as variações ao longo da competição política e partidária nos dois casos. Assim, o estudo conclui que há uma relação entre a trajetória histórica e política e os padrões da competição eleitoral nos dois países, e que foram determinantes no processo da transição para a democracia. De forma diferenciada, os dois países tiveram experiências de sistemas de partido único (Moçambique: 1975 a 1994 e Zâmbia 1972 a 1991), contudo o processo de efetivação e abertura política foi diferencial.

Beyond the Liberal Democracy Paradigm: A Fresh Look at Power and Institutions

Abstract:Compared to political developments in Eastern Europe and Latin America, democratization in sub-Saharan Africa has been more problematic and uneven. Looking at the performance in four subregions—central Africa, East Africa, southern Africa, and West Africa—yields no convincing evidence of a “wave” of democratization; countries next to each other differ considerably with regard to their Freedom House scores. This does not mean that democratization has necessarily stalled, but it does demonstrate that the prevailing vertical cleavages along ethnic, racial, or religious lines can make such a transition volatile, as suggested by the cases of Burundi, Mali, and even Kenya. While political competition in mature democracies, typically divided along horizontal group or class lines, tends to generate positive-sum outcomes, such competition in Africa easily turns into “prisoner’s dilemma” games. The uncertainty about the value of cooperation in such situations usually produces political “truces” that are easily abandoned if the costs of adherence exceed the benefits. Against the background of this prevailing political logic, this article calls for a new approach to conceptualizing notions of “institution” and “power” in the analysis of politics in the region.