Human Development In Africa Research Articles

Linear and non-linear effects of infrastructures on inclusive human development in Africa

The objectives of this paper are to verify the linear and the non-linear effects of infrastructural development on inclusive human development in Africa. The results of the system GMM estimations show a positive effect of infrastructural development on inclusive development across all the infrastructural development indexes employed, except the ICT infrastructural composite index which presents an insignificant negative effect. Besides, a non-linear effect of infrastructures on inclusive development was established across all the infrastructure indicators except for the ICT indicator. Negative thresholds for complementary policies are established for the African Infrastructure Development Index (AIDI) and the transport index while positive thresholds are apparent for the electricity index and the water and sanitation infrastructure index (WSS). Accordingly, in order to sustain the positive incidence of the AIDI and transport index on human development, complementary policies should be engaged to avoid an overall negative effect on human development when the indexes are respectively, 31.12% and 25.56%. In the same vein, the electricity index and WSSI should exceed critical levels of respectively 49.79% and 41.92%, to engender an overall positive effect on inclusive human development.

The Role of Finance in Inclusive Human Development in Africa Revisited

This study investigates direct and indirect linkages between financial development and inclusive human development in data panels for African countries. It employs a battery of estimation techniques, notably: Two-Stage Least Squares, Fixed Effects, Generalized Method of Moments and Tobit regressions. The dependent variable is the inequality adjusted human development index. All dimensions of the Financial Development and Structure Database (FDSD) of the World Bank are considered. The main finding is that financial dynamics of depth, activity and size improve inclusive human development, whereas the inability of banks to transform mobilized deposits into credit for financial access negatively affects inclusive human development. Policies should be tailored to improve mechanisms by which credit facilities can be provided to both households and business operators. Surplus liquidity issues resulting from the inability of banks to transform mobilized deposits into credit can be resolved by enhancing the introduction of information sharing offices (like public credit registries and private credit bureaus) that would reduce information asymmetry between lenders and borrowers. This study complements the extant literature by assessing the nexus between financial development and inclusive human development in Africa.

Oral Traditions and Human Development in Africa: Lessons from the Ibibio- -Speaking People of Nigeria

Oral Traditions and Human Development in Africa: Lessons from the Ibibio- -Speaking People of Nigeria

Remittances, Official Development Assistance, and Human Development in Africa: An Empirical Analysis

ABSTRACTRemittances are important sources of household income and foreign exchange in many developing countries. Official development assistance (ODA) also constitutes another major source of external finance for receiving countries, although it is on a relative decline. While the contributions of ODA and remittances to economic growth in developing countries have been a subject of numerous empirical studies, there is a paucity of comparable analysis on their implications for human development, especially in the context of Africa. This study assesses the relative contributions of ODA and remittances to human development outcomes in 35 African countries over three decades using panel-data estimation methods. The approach of the study includes exploring the factors that may condition the relationship between the two financial flows,on the one hand, and human development, on the other. The results of the study suggest that both ODA and remittances exerted modest favorable effects on human development in the typical country of study. The relationship between the two flows and human development index (HDI) remains positive when their coefficients are allowed to shift across different groups of the sample. However, differences are observed in their magnitude and statistical significance, suggesting the presence of factors that condition the said relationships. Accordingly, the HDI effect of ODA seems to be affected by the level of real GDP per capita, the quality of institutions, and the size and degree of instability of ODA flows. Official development assistance flows are found to exert at least as much marginal effect as remittances; and low but stable flows of ODA seem to have larger positive effect on human development than high but fluctuating ODA flows. The results of the study also suggest that recipients would benefit more from the inflows of remittances and ODA, among others, by improving the quality of their institutions.

Investigating the role of disaggregated economic freedom measures and FDI on human development in Africa

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to investigate the role of disaggregated economic freedom measures in the foreign direct investment (FDI) and human development nexus.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a panel data of 32 selected African countries from 1996 to 2017. A dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) with fixed effects and instrumental variable (IV) econometric techniques was used to address issues of endogeneity and serial correlation commonly associated with panel time series data.FindingsThe Results indicate that FDI without accounting for absorptive factors has a positive but insignificant effect on human development for the selected African countries. However, FDI has a positive and significant effect on human development when interacted with measures of economic freedom such as investment freedom, business freedom and financial freedom. In contrast, yet plausible, FDI has a negative influence when interacted with property rights, trade freedom, government integrity and tax burden.Practical implicationsThe study posits that to attract FDI into Africa with the purpose of improving human development, relevant absorptive capacities such as business, investment and financial freedom environment are critical. However, excessive capital flight and government interference through taxation and abuse of property rights should be controlled if the continent seeks to promote human development through FDI.Originality/valueThe novelty and originality of the study, are evident in the use of disaggregated measures of economic freedom as comprehensive absorptive capacities to examine how they complement FDI to impact on human development in Africa.

Youth Vulnerability and the Challenge of Human Development in Africa

Abstract This paper offers a philosophical response to an aspect of the youth question in Africa – the question of youth vulnerability and its consequences on the human development outcome. To achieve the desired goal, first, I stretch the concept of pathogenic vulnerability from being more than ordinarily vulnerable to being far more than ordinarily vulnerable. Second, I identify two elements of African cultural structure – primacy of community over the individual and the belief that elders always possess superior knowledge over the youth – that influence and restrict capacity/capabilities in African youth and therefore make their transition to adulthood defective. Consequently, the African youth is deprived of the special opportunity to develop, encounter and explore the various character options from which he/she learns, selects and forms her identity. Third, I argue that these restraints of capacity/capabilities make African youths far more than ordinarily vulnerable to human development outcome.

Social media and inclusive human development in Africa

This study investigates the relationship between social media and inclusive human development in 49 African countries for the year 2012. Social media is measured with Facebook penetration whereas inclusive human development is proxied by the inequality- adjusted human development index. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares, Tobit and Quantile regressions. Ordinary Least Squares provided baseline results, Tobit regressions account for the limited range in the outcome variable while Quantile regressions are engaged to control for initial levels of inequality-adjusted human development. From Ordinary Least Squares and Tobit results, Facebook penetration is positively associated with inclusive human development. Quantile regressions confirm this positive nexus and further establish that the positive association is slightly higher in magnitude in the above-median sub-sample. From a comparative assessment, it is apparent that with the exception of the resource-wealth sub-samples, higher levels of Facebook penetration are associated with comparatively higher levels of inclusive human development. Accordingly, the positive association between Facebook penetration and inclusive human development is: (i) a positive function of income levels and (ii) more apparent in Middle East and North African countries (compared to Sub-Saharan African countries), English common law countries (compared to their French civil law counterparts), and coastal countries (in relation to landlocked countries).

Inclusive human development in sub-Saharan Africa

PurposeThis study aims to assess the role of income levels (low and middle) in modulating governance (political and economic) to influence inclusive human development.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical evidence is based on interactive quantile regressions and 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2000-2002.FindingsThe following main findings are established. Firstly, low income modulates governance (economic and political) to positively affect inclusive human development exclusively in countries with above-median levels of inclusive human development. It follows that countries with averagely higher levels of inclusive human development are more likely to benefit from the relevance of income levels in influencing governance for inclusive development. Secondly, the importance of middle income in modulating political governance to positively affect inclusive human development is apparent exclusively in the median while the relevance of middle income in moderating economic governance to positively influence inclusive human development is significantly apparent in the 10th and 75th quantiles. Thirdly, regardless of panels, income levels modulate economic governance to affect inclusive human development at a higher magnitude, compared to political governance. Policy implications are discussed in light of the post-2015 agenda of sustainable development goals and contemporary development paradigms.Originality/valueThis study complements the extant sparse literature on inclusive human development in Africa.

Introduction to the special section by the guest editor

Bame Nsamenang’s contributions to scholarship on human development in Africa were grounded in the epistemological insight that psychology is a reflexive enterprise, and that its application in Afri...

Foreign Aid Complementarities and Inclusive Human Development in Africa

This study complements existing literature by assessing how various types of foreign aid complement each other in boosting inclusive human development in Africa. (a) When ‘aid to social infrastructure’ is moderated with other aid types, ‘action on debts’ is substitutive whereas ‘aid to the production sector’, ‘aid for program assistance’ and humanitarian assistance are complementary. (b) ‘Aid to the production sector’ (‘action on debt’) is complementary (substitutive) to ‘aid for economic infrastructure’. (c) Whereas ‘action on debt’ is a substitute to ‘aid to the production sector’, ‘aid for social infrastructure’ and ‘aid for economic infrastructure’ are complementary. (d) ‘Action on debt’ is a substitute for ‘aid to the multi-sector’. (e) While ‘aid for social infrastructure’ and ‘action on debt’ are substitutive to ‘aid for program assistance’; humanitarian assistance is complementary. (f) The following are substitutes to ‘action on debt’: ‘aid for economic infrastructure’, ‘aid to the production sector’, ‘aid to the multi-sector’ and ‘program assistance’. (g) ‘Aid for social infrastructure’ and ‘program assistance’ are complementary to humanitarian assistance. The findings reveal various patterns that inform policy makers on the relevance of sequencing aid types to enhance inclusive development. Future research should focus on country-specific studies.

Foreign Aid Complementarities and Inclusive Human Development in Africa

This study complements existing literature by assessing how various types of foreign aid complement each other in boosting inclusive human development in Africa. (a) When ‘aid to social infrastructure’ is moderated with other aid types, ‘action on debts’ is substitutive whereas ‘aid to the production sector’, ‘aid for program assistance’ and humanitarian assistance are complementary. (b) ‘Aid to the production sector’ (‘action on debt’) is complementary (substitutive) to ‘aid for economic infrastructure’. (c) Whereas ‘action on debt’ is a substitute to ‘aid to the production sector’, ‘aid for social infrastructure’ and ‘aid for economic infrastructure’ are complementary. (d) ‘Action on debt’ is a substitute for ‘aid to the multi-sector’. (e) While ‘aid for social infrastructure’ and ‘action on debt’ are substitutive to ‘aid for program assistance’; humanitarian assistance is complementary. (f) The following are substitutes to ‘action on debt’: ‘aid for economic infrastructure’, ‘aid to the production sector’, ‘aid to the multi-sector’ and ‘programme assistance’. (g) ‘Aid for social infrastructure’ and ‘programme assistance’ are complementary to humanitarian assistance. The findings reveal various patterns that inform policy makers on the relevance of sequencing aid types to enhance inclusive development. Future research should focus on country-specific studies.

Situated understanding of human development in Africa: Systematic inquiries at the nexus of psychology, social science and history

Gustav Jahoda contended that mainstream psychology’s contribution to our understanding of human experience has been impoverished by a neglect of culture. Over a long series of publications, he argued that the disciplines of psychology, anthropology and history have much to learn from one another, since socio-cultural and politico-economic contexts have influenced the formulation of theories and the dissemination of ideas about human nature. In light of his analyses, I argue in this article that systematic inquiries aspiring to generate a situated understanding of human development in Africa should acknowledge and seek to synthesize the complementary strengths of different academic disciplines. And I recommend that African researchers resist the pressure of an enduring Western cultural hegemony embedded in the methodological dictates of many international scholarly, professional and administrative organizations. Such pressure often threatens to do epistemological violence to indigenous modes of thought preferred by local families and communities in whose care African children are growing up. I end by briefly describing some African studies that illustrate ways in which researchers can address the challenge of resisting oppressive hegemony without losing the opportunity to learn from the wisdom accumulated by human development researchers in other socio-cultural and historical contexts.

Current strategies are inadequate to curb the rise of tobacco use in Africa.

Recently, there have been significant advances in the battle against tobacco use in Africa, with achievements including ratification of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and the passing of tobacco control legislation in several countries. Many African countries have achieved measured success, while Uganda, South Africa and Mauritius have accomplished significantly more in their efforts to curb tobacco use. Nevertheless, few African countries meet the standards of the individual WHO FCTC articles with regard to comprehensive implementation. Africa has lower rates of tobacco taxation, weaker smoke-free policies and fewer restrictions on tobacco advertising compared with other world regions. These shortcomings have enabled the tobacco industry to expand its markets on the continent by capitalising on economic growth, changing social norms and population demographics. Consequently, tobacco use is increasing in Africa, with smoking prevalence having risen 57% between 1990 and 2009 compared with western Europe, where it decreased substantially during the same period. Rapid smoking uptake in Africa has led to tobacco-related conditions emerging as increasingly important public health problems. African nations are unlikely to meet the 2025 goal of a 30% relative reduction in tobacco use, as advocated by the World Health Assembly in 2013 and identified as the 'most urgent and immediate priority' intervention to reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs). While there has been some progress, the current commitment of most African countries to the WHO FCTC has not translated into effective delivery of tobacco control policies and programmes. Strong tobacco control policies, which are among the most effective population-based strategies for NCD prevention, are needed. These include introducing higher tobacco excise taxes, stronger smoke-free policies, graphic warnings on cigarette packages, bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and anti-smoking mass media campaigns. Furthermore, tobacco industry interference needs to be actively addressed by monitoring its activities and exposing misconducts, thereby changing attitudes to the industry. Technical support, capacity building and adequate financing are needed in Africa to enable countries to competently manage legal challenges to tobacco control and deal with the subversive tactics of the industry. Civil society and the media - major players in holding governments accountable for responsible stewardship - need to educate and pressurise African politicians and governments to implement and enforce effective tobacco control policies. Otherwise, if unchecked, the widespread uptake of tobacco use will be a threat not only to health but also to sustainable human development in Africa.

Increasing Foreign Aid for Inclusive Human Development in Africa

In the light of evidence that poverty has been decreasing in all regions of the world with the exception of Africa, where about 45% of countries in sub-Saharan Africa did not achieve the Millennium development goal extreme poverty target, this study assesses whether increasing foreign aid improves inclusive human development. The investigation is on 53 African countries for the period 2005–2012. The empirical analysis is based on (1) the generalised method of moments (GMM) to control for persistence in inclusive human development, simultaneity and time-invariant omitted variables and (2) Instrumental Variable Tobit Regressions to control for simultaneity and the limited range in the dependent variable. The adopted foreign aid variables are: ‘humanitarian assistance’, ‘action on debt’ ‘aid for social infrastructure’, ‘aid to the productive sector’, ‘aid to the multi sector’, ‘aid for economic infrastructure’ and ‘programme assistance’. The following findings are established. From the GMM specifications, there are (1) synergy effects from ‘aid to the productive sector’ and a positive net effect from ‘programme assistance’ and (2) negative net impacts from ‘aid to social infrastructure’ and human assistance, albeit with positive marginal effects. From Instrumental Variable Tobit regressions (1) there is a synergy effect from ‘aid for economic infrastructure’ and (2) there are negative net impacts from ‘aid for social infrastructure’, ‘aid to the productive sector’ and human assistance, albeit with positive marginal effects. Policy implications are discussed.

Globalization and Inclusive Human Development in Africa

Abstract This study extents the literature on responses to a recent World Bank report on the African poverty tragedy by assessing the effect of globalisation on inclusive human development in 51 African countries for the period 1996–2011. Political, economic, social and general globalisation variables are used. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) and Instrumental Quantile Regressions (IQR). While estimated coefficients are not significant in GMM results, for IQR, globalisation positively affects inclusive human development and the favourable effect is higher in countries with high initial levels of inclusive development. The main economic implication is that in the post-2015 development agenda, countries would benefit more from globalisation by increasing their levels of inclusive development.

Increasing Foreign Aid for Inclusive Human Development in Africa

In the light of evidence that poverty has been decreasing in all regions of the World with the exception of Africa, where about 45 percent of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa did not achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) extreme poverty target. Therefore, this study assesses whether increasing foreign aid improves inclusive human development. The investigation is on 53 African countries for the period 2005-2012. The empirical analysis is based on (i) the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) to control for persistence in inclusive human development, simultaneity and time-invariant omitted variables and (ii) Instrumental Variable Tobit Regressions to control for simultaneity and the limited range in the dependent variable. The adopted foreign aid variables are: ‘humanitarian assistance’, ‘action on debt’ ‘aid for social infrastructure’, ‘aid to the productive sector’, ‘aid to the multi sector’, ‘aid for economic infrastructure’ and ‘programme assistance’. The following findings are established. From the GMM specifications, there are (i) synergy effects from ‘aid to the productive sector’ and a positive net effect from ‘programme assistance’ and (ii) negative net impacts from ‘aid to social infrastructure’ and human assistance, albeit with positive marginal effects. From Instrumental Variable Tobit regressions (i) there is a synergy effect from ‘aid for economic infrastructure’ and (ii) there are negative net impacts from ‘aid for social infrastructure’, ‘aid to the productive sector’ and human assistance, albeit with positive marginal effects. Policy implications are discussed.

Water crisis in Africa: myth or reality?

Water is an issue that relates to all aspects of human development in Africa, including health, agriculture, education, economics, and even peace and stability. But the perception that Africa has perpetual water scarcity and is heading towards water crisis is challenged by a significant number of water professionals. Although most agree that Africa suffers from economic water scarcity, physical water scarcity could possibly be controlled with better water management. The large amount of international aid granted annually to Africa is a subject of criticism. This article examines the water crisis in Africa, whether it is a myth or reality, and reasons thereof, and suggests remedial measures.

Globalization and Inclusive Human Development in Africa

This study extents the literature on responses to a recent World Bank report on the African poverty tragedy by assessing the effect of globalisation on inclusive human development in 51 African countries for the period 1996-2011. Political, economic, social and general globalisation variables are used. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) and Instrumental Quantile Regressions (IQR). While estimated coefficients are not significant in GMM results, for IQR, globalisation positively affects inclusive human development and the beneficial effect is higher in countries with high initial levels of inclusive development. The main economic implication is that in the post-2015 development agenda, countries would benefit more from globalisation by increasing their levels of inclusive development.

Capacity building through investment in people: key to Africa ' s development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a prologue to the issue of development in Africa and the critical need to build capacity through investment in people. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews relevant literature on the seminal issues of defining human development, promoting human development in Africa, new development deal for Africa and investment in human capital as key to human development. In addition, the paper provides a brief overview of the articles focusing on capacity building in Africa. Literature pertinent to the topic of development in Africa is provided. Findings – Understanding the meaning of development and human development in particular is not only a necessary but a sufficient condition to designing strategies and policies aimed at promoting human development in Africa. As established in this guest editorial, Knowledge, entrepreneurship and the mastery of information and communication technologies in this century should become Africa ' s best competitive advantage. Instead of people in Africa being consumers of knowledge they should strive to produce knowledge based on their indigenous, cultural, political and socioeconomic perspectives. To do this, African governments must be willing and able to invest in quality education. Originality/value – This paper introduces this special issue on capacity building for Africa ' s development. It reviews the literature on the meaning of development and human development, promoting development in Africa, new development deal for Africa and investment in human capital as key to human development and it gives an overview of the five papers included in this special issue.

Human development in Africa: A long-run perspective

Long-run trends in Africa's wellbeing are provided on the basis of a new index of human development, alternative to the UNDP's HDI. A long-run improvement in African human development is found that it falls short of those experienced in other developing regions. A closer look at Africa reveals the distinctive behaviour north and south of the Sahara, with Sub-Saharan Africa falling behind other developing regions and North Africa catching up. Education has been human development's driving force over time. Since the late 1980s, stagnating life expectancy largely due to the spread of HIV/AIDS and the arresting effect of economic mismanagement and political turmoil on growth, help to explain Africa's falling behind. Human development advancement since the mid-twentieth century is positively associated to being a coastal and resource-rich country and negatively to political–economic distortions. The large country variance of the recovery during the last decade suggests being cautious about the future's prospects.