Local Economic Development In Africa Research Articles

On the empirics of microfinance institutions and local economic development in Africa

ABSTRACT The link between finance and growth is a well-researched area, yet this relationship at the local level has received little empirical scrutiny. We trace the operations of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Africa. We examine the role played by MFIs on local economic development using a model capturing both local geography and MFIs dynamics for the periods 1992–2015. Our sample is representative of 2,170 MFIs operating in 144 cities, 154 towns, and 14 villages in Africa. Using night time data to capture economic growth, our key hypothesis is that MFIs drive local economic progress. Conditioning on the geographical location of MFIs, we find that the presence and density of MFIs increase as the growth in light density and the estimate retains its statistical significance. The results suggest that MFIs operations may foster local economic activity.

Policy and institutional perspectives on local economic development in Africa: The Ghanaian perspective

Local economic development involves identifying and using primarily local resources, ideas and skills to stimulate economic growth and development, with the aim of creating employment opportunities, reducing poverty, and redistributing resources and opportunities to the benefit of local residents. Growth and development cannot take place in an institutional and legal vacuum. Local development and growth require an institutional and legal framework that allows development to take place in an orderly manner and in which agents know that the decisions they take and the contracts they make will be protected by law, and enforced. This paper examines the policy and institutional frameworks on local economic development in Ghana. The paper relies on desk research and secondary documents by critically examining and reviewing them. The findings show that over the years several institutions and policies have been put in place to help improve development at the local level. It is therefore important to build the local capacities and strengthen these institutions to be able to exploit local resources and to stimulate economic development at the local level. Key words: Local economic development, institutions, local government, poverty.

Local economic development in Africa: Global context and research directions

This paper locates local economic development research and practice in Africa in a global context. It provides an overview of the international development of local economic development (LED), of its contested definitions and theoretical status, and of existing scholarship on the topic of LED policy and practice specifically across sub-Saharan Africa. Currently there is much more LED research available for South Africa than for the other sub-Saharan African countries. The paper highlights the need for this imbalance to be redressed.