Context Of African Countries Research Articles

Sanctions and cryptocurrency: a catalyst for digital adoption?

Purpose This paper aims to propose a causal relationship between the imposition of international sanctions and the level of cryptocurrency adoption, drawing on a comprehensive data set of global cryptocurrency metrics. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a data set that includes the global cryptocurrency adoption index, as compiled by Bhimani et al. (2022) and Chinalysis (2020), along with various socioeconomic factors such as democracy, education, the GINI index, GDP per capita, the Human Development Index, the Corruption Perception Index, regulatory quality, control of corruption, the Economic Freedom Index and the Network Readiness Index. In addition, this paper incorporates a global sanctions database developed by Felbermayr et al. (2020). To determine causal relationships, this study constructs an instrumental variable aimed at plausibly isolating the endogenous effects of sanctions on cryptocurrency adoption. Findings Using a robust empirical strategy that includes an instrumental variable approach, this research establishes a causal link between the number of sanctions and the level of cryptocurrency adoption. The findings suggest that sanctions can act as a significant motivator for countries to adopt cryptocurrencies, especially in regions with high levels of economic inequality and generalized trust, such as Africa. In addition, this study found that conflicts occurring between 1500 and 1599 could predict cryptocurrency adoption in Africa. The civil conflicts occurring between 1960 and 2017 also show a relationship with higher levels of cryptocurrency usage across the African continent. Originality/value The analysis further distinguishes the heterogeneity of these relationships across different nations, with a special emphasis on the unique context of African countries and the implications of ongoing civil conflicts.

Covid-19: Addressing health systems deficits and peculiarities in the african region

Covid-19: Addressing health systems deficits and peculiarities in the african region

‘If parents are punished for asking their children to feed goats’: Supervisory neglect in sub-Saharan Africa

SummaryIn the United States and the United Kingdom supervisory neglect of children is premised on a construction of childhood which characterises children as essentially vulnerable and in need of constant care and protection by parents. This Western conception has been transmitted to the countries of the sub-Sahara via the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, the socio-economic and cultural context of African countries differs significantly from those of the United Kingdom and the United States. The incorporation of a Western hegemonic idea of childhood into the national laws of African countries creates fundamental contradictions in the application of criteria for adjudging the adequacy of parental supervision in the sub-Sahara. Drawing on secondary data, this article explores these contradictions and proposes alternative considerations in the conceptualisation and assessment of supervisory neglect.FindingThe combined effects on households in the sub-Sahara of economic conditions, ascribed gender roles and the reciprocal duties held by children to assist their families, contest established indicators and thresholds for supervisory neglect. The concept of societal neglect together with the application of the Haddon Matrix provides a more apposite framework for reducing the risk of significant harm to children.ApplicationAll African countries, excepting Somalia, have introduced the Convention on the Rights of the Child through domestic legislation. The findings of this study are pertinent to policy-makers and social workers in the sub-Sahara. They also invite Western scholars to critically engage with dominant notions of supervisory neglect and re-appraise its applicability in cross-national contexts.

Does Intra‐African Trade Reduce Youth Unemployment in Africa?

AbstractThis study empirically estimates the effect of Africa's intra‐regional trade on the burgeoning youth unemployment in the continent. This is necessary since very few studies have been undertaken in the particular context of African countries. To the best of our knowledge there are no studies exploring the intra‐African trade–youth unemployment nexus in Africa. We investigate both the aggregate and gender‐specific impacts. Our empirical estimates, using available cross‐sectional time series data over the period 1980 to 2010, suggest that higher levels of intra‐African trade reduce both the aggregate, female and male youth unemployment in Africa. In addition, our results show that domestic investment rate, institutionalized democracy, secondary education, inflation, economic growth, and higher urbanization tend to reduce youth unemployment both on the aggregate and gender‐differentiated and therefore are good for youth unemployment reduction in the continent. On the other hand, higher real per capita GDP and to a lesser extent credit to the private sector have a significant positive effect on youth unemployment in Africa. Government consumption expenditure and foreign direct investment have an insignificant effect on both the aggregate level and the gendered level of youth unemployment in Africa. Based on these results, some policy recommendations are proffered.

The adjustment speed of debt maturity structures: Evidence from African countries

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to examine the adjustment speed of debt maturity structures within the context of African countries. Dynamic adjustment models using system GMM proposed by Blundell and Bond (1998) were employed to analyze data pertaining to 986 non-financial firms drawn from nine African countries. We find evidence that firms in Africa adjust their debt maturity structures to a target. Our results also indicate that the legal protection afforded to investors and the efficiency of the legal system enhance the pace at which firms in Africa rebalance their debt maturity structures. The evidence shows that firms in richer and fast growing economies experience comparatively rapid adjustments to their debt maturity structures than is the case in poorer and slow-growth economies. In addition, the size and growth prospects of firms positively enhance adjustment speed while the distance from optimal maturity structures deters the rebalancing pace. These findings signify the role that agency, bankruptcy and transaction costs, liquidity pressure and financial flexibility play in the maturity structures decision of firms in Africa.

Globalization and economic development in Zimbabwe: A new model for sustainable development.

The process of development is both subversive and addictive. It is subversive because it undermines the status quo and challenges some vested interests. It is also addictive because choice, freedom, knowledge and greater material gain once tasted raises expectations for more of the same expectations that are not easily managed politically. Globalization has become the necessary consequence of economic development which is in pursuit of the modern market economies. As a result there is the development of interconnectedness of the economies in the global village. Failure to link up with the global village is tantamount to economic suicide. It is against this backdrop that African economies cannot afford to be dormant since a nation with a closed economy with no linkages with the rest of the global village will collapse. This research paper is centered on the concept of globalization and economic development in Zimbabwe. Besides reflecting on the impact of globalization on development and democratization, this article explores the various contradictions that arise out of the relationship between these concepts. It also highlights the peculiar challenges that underlie and further complicate this relationship in the specific context of African countries. Any meaningful discussion of these relationships and the attendant contradictions and challenges however, first requires a clear understanding of the relevant concepts. In view of the central focus of this article, it is not only appropriate but also necessary to begin by defining the key concepts. This is not an easy task, considering the diversity of interpretations of the terms 'globalization', 'development' and 'democracy'. Nevertheless, it is to conceptual issues that we first turn our attention.

From population to HIV: the organizational and structural determinants of HIV outcomes in sub‐Saharan Africa

BackgroundThere exists no consistent explanation for why some countries are successful in combating HIV/AIDS and others are not, and we need such an explanation in order to design effective policies and programmes. Research evaluating HIV interventions from a biomedical or public health perspective does not always take full account of the historical and organizational characteristics of countries likely to influence HIV outcomes. The analysis in this paper addresses this shortcoming by testing the impact of organizational and structural factors, particularly those resulting from population interventions, on HIV outcomes at the country level in sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsThe primary independent variables are factors that originated from efforts to slow population growth: whether a country has a long-time affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and whether a country has a population policy. Additional structural factors likely to impact HIV outcomes include the level of wealth, the level of cultural fractionalization, and the former colonial power. The present study uses multivariate regression techniques with countries in sub-Saharan Africa as the unit of analysis, and four measures of success in addressing HIV: the change in prevalence between 2001 and 2009; the change in incidence between 2001 and 2009; the level of overall antiretroviral coverage in 2009; and the level of antiretroviral coverage for prevention of vertical transmission in 2009.ResultsCountries with the greatest declines in HIV prevalence and incidence had older International Planned Parenthood Federation affiliates and had adopted population policies, even after controlling for age of epidemic, level of antiretroviral coverage, and funding for HIV. Population policies are also important predictors of levels of overall antiretroviral coverage and of coverage of HIV-positive pregnant women to prevent vertical transmission. Structural factors with significant impacts include wealth, cultural fractionalization and former colonial power.ConclusionsThe organizational and structural context of African countries is strongly predictive of HIV outcomes. This finding implies that policy and programmatic efforts should be put towards strengthening existing organizations and perhaps even creating new ones. The fact that cultural fractionalization also influences HIV outcomes suggests that efforts must be put towards identifying ways to reach political consensus in diverse societies.