Policies In African Countries Research Articles

American Effect on Chinese Control of African Cobalt

Cobalt is becoming the most important metal in the world due to its use in electric vehicles, phones and computers. This creates large competition between the United States and China for cobalt. China has dominated this commodity due to infrastructure policies in African countries; America’s political strategy to regain momentum has focused on hosting the U.S./African Leaders’ Summit. This study uses an event study methodology to analyze the U.S./African Leaders’ Summit and its effects on CMOC Group Limited and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Nanjing Hanrui Cobalt and Guangdong Dowstone Tech on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and Jinchuan Group and China Railway Group Limited on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The summit was found to have a minimal effect on these stocks at the 95% confidence level, but not enough to imply cause.

The role of unit labor costs in African manufacturing investment and export performance

AbstractSeveral studies have pointed out that manufacturing wages are relatively higher in African countries than in other countries at similar levels of development, and that this contributes to the continent's lower levels of manufacturing competitiveness. This paper derives unit labor costs (ULCs)—average wages relative to productivity—for two‐digit manufacturing sectors across a sample of 79 developed and developing countries, including 13 African countries, over the 1990–2015 period. We benchmark the ULCs to China and estimate the relationship between relative ULCs and manufacturing sector investment rates and export performance. We find that relative ULCs have a smaller association with exports in Africa relative to other developing regions. There is some evidence that investment responds to changes in relative ULCs in Africa; however, the estimated effects are smaller than in the full sample. Further, we find that for Africa, the level of labor productivity has a quantitatively stronger and more robust association with manufacturing performance than the level of real wages. The results have important implications for industrial policy in African countries.

Defense Diplomacy: The role of the French military bases in the African continent

This research seeks to study the role of military bases in activating defense diplomacy, with a focus on studying the case of France in the African continent, which relied on its military bases as a tool to implement its foreign policy. The research explains the concept of defense diplomacy and its relationship to military bases as an effective tool to strengthening bilateral relations between the state's parties. The research focuses on studying the effectiveness of military bases as a tool for activating French defense diplomacy, and studying the goals that French foreign policy seeks to achieve through its intervention or presence in the African continent. In addition to the geopolitical reasons that prompted France to move towards the African continent and plant its military bases. In order to complete this study and achieve its objectives, it adopts the historical approach and the descriptive analytical approach to search documents and studies related to the interpretation of French political behavior in the African continent. The study concludes that France is keen to protect its interests and achieve its external goals by employing various tools, including defensive diplomacy represented in its military bases in the lands of other countries. It also concludes that the nature of the historical stage that France went through and the exploitation of its bases and military presence in implementing its higher interests at the expense of the African people led to the failure of French foreign policy in African countries

The Trends in German Foreign Policy in African Countries

Today, Europe pays close attention to its relations with African countries. Germany is the locomotive of the EU and is also building its own policy towards African countries. During the chancellorship of Angela Merkel, several initiatives were proposed aimed at the development of economic relations with Africa. In 2021, Olaf Scholz became the chancellor of Germany. The article examines Germany’s policy towards African countries both before and during the chancellorship of Olaf Scholz. Africa is the key to Europe’s economic sustainability, especially as Europe has continued to separate from Russia economically and politically in the last years. In this context, Africa plays a significant role in meeting Europe’s pressing fossil fuel needs. Despite the European rhetoric to the contrary, in recent decades relations between Africa and Europe have stalled in the paradigm of charity rather than equal partnership. However, Europe now really needs a genuine strategic partnership with African countries in order to be able to negotiate on the energy and climate crisis, prevent future migration crises and compete with geopolitical rivals. The policy of “green energy” is a promising direction of German foreign policy towards the African continent. Against the background of already existing German initiatives towards Africa, the results of recent international summits on climate and the provisions of new initiatives in the field of green energy and climate conservation are considered. All this can become one of the main bridges for strengthening relations between Germany and African countries. In this regard, the article attempts to highlight the main prerequisites for the formation of modern German foreign policy in Africa and attempts to describe the establishment of German-African relations during the chancellorship of Angela Merkel and her successor Olaf Scholz.

Trade Liberalization Policy and Economic Growth in Africa: A Threshold Analysis

This paper use the dynamic growth framework to model the relationship between trade liberalization policy and economic growth of 42 African countries from 1995 to 2018. Banking on the heterogeneity of income and socioeconomic factor affecting trade policies in African countries, the paper opted for the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) technique which is sufficient for inference in a dynamic heterogeneous environment. The result tells that trade liberalization policy is beneficial to economic growth of African countries up to a certain threshold, beyond which it begins to cause the economy to under-heat. Thus, a confirmation of nonlinear relationship between trade liberalization policy and economic growth in African countries. The paper estimates a threshold value of 139.94% of total Trade to GDP; 345.32% of Export to GDP and 62.80% of Import to GDP. These findings champion that, for countries in Africa to benefit largely from trade, trade openness, export openness, and import openness should rover around the estimated threshold values. The paper documents certain conditions required to moderate the effect of trade liberalization policy on economic growth in African countries.

Crises, technology, and policy change

Public policy research investigates conditions and triggers of policy change in many ways. Technological developments and other innovations are part of these drivers but have to be seen in the context of other social, economic, and political conditions and developments. Although technological change is often a long-term process, policy change may occur only abruptly. This can be partly attributed to the fact that major policy changes are usually based on policy windows, which can be caused by crises, among other things. This issue of Review of Policy Research contributes to the understanding of the relationship between technology, crisis, and policy change. The issue opens with an article on the most discussed crisis in recent years, namely the COVID-19 pandemic. Osei-Kojo, Kenney, et al. (2022) present an analysis of policy documents in Ghana collected between March 2020 and May 2021. Public policy in African countries is one of the areas that have been comparatively little investigated so far, although there are some first applications of established frameworks like the ACF (Bandelow et al., 2022; Vecchione & Parkhurst, 2015). Osei-Kojo et al. identify four levels and diverse actors to be involved in COVID-19 mitigation in Ghana. By applying the collective learning perspective, the paper offers various theoretical, empirical, and methodological results with respect to the specifics of the policy process in Ghana. These include the interplay of formal and informal actors, missing evidence of trust as a basis for learning processes between actors, and the challenge of empirical research using solely document analysis. The second paper by Liu and Christensen (2022) deals with the institutionalization of emergency management in China. Liu and Christensen show peculiarities of Chinese politics that are likely to be found in a similar form in many areas: On the one hand, political institutions in China are based on specific solutions shaped by the country's particular culture and historical path. For example, emergency management in China has evolved from traditional disaster management, while in the West its origins lie in civil defense. However, similar challenges, such as virus pandemics, and increasing transnational exchange are contributing to transnational policy transfers to China. This leads to “hybrid reform patterns” with highly centralized and government-centered arrangements and particular strengths and challenges. Zhang (2022) develops a framework for comparing innovation governance processes. This approach takes into account different levels of complexity of key problems leading to four ideal patterns of innovation governance. The typology is applied to East Asian economies with Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan serving as ideal typological examples. Zhang concludes that the design of policy mixes must take into account institutional constraints and interests of state and non-state actors to be effective. Mallinson and Shafi (2022) discuss multiple opportunities and challenges resulting from smart home technologies (SHT) for both the policy process and policy research. From the public policy perspective, SHT can be interpreted as emerging policy subsystems that constitute policy actors, beliefs, networks, and decision-making processes. As these new subsystems still have to be established, SHT issues are addressed in several arenas, including constraints faced by policymakers from the particular institutions and identities of their original subsystems (like health, technology, or environment). Mallinson and Shafi propose the collaborative governance framework to deal with the need for overcoming barriers between actors. They emphasize the particular need for policy research to develop effective solutions for technologized and aging societies. Roberts and Schmid (2022) present three case studies of US federal government innovation and technology acceleration organizations from a “systems of innovations” perspective. Case 1 is the legally independent non-profit In-Q-Tel used by the CIA. Case 2 is the FBI's operational technology division (OTD) also used by state and local agencies. Case 3 is the federal government agency National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) used by several private and government entities. Although the article does not want to name a clear model for optimal organizational design, a comparison of the three approaches yields generalizable recommendations. Generally speaking, Roberts and Schmid suggest establishing linkages between experts and users, using good metrics, and fostering learning by boundary spanners for optimal innovation promotion. This issue of RPR not only illustrates the multiple connections between technical innovations, crises, and policy change. Above all, the regional diversity of these case studies shows that policy research continues to internationalize. This invites further exchange between the still North Atlantic public policy perspectives and the specific contributions from other parts of the world.

Catalyzing Clinical Implementation of Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine Interventions in Africa

Pharmacogenomics is considered to be the low-hanging fruit in the tree of genomic medicine with numerous examples of its successful implementation in the clinic. In this perspective, we provide details about the potential clinical application of pharmacogenomics in African populations by using relevant drug cases and high-throughput genomics approaches; involving numerous countries and stakeholders; and most importantly exploiting the existing knowledge of respective large-scale initiatives. We emphasize on the necessity of constructing appropriate frameworks for government policies in African countries. We also provide input about different initiatives in the field of genomics medicine implementation in Africa, not only for their potential for synergy and collaboration among them, but also as models for replication in other regions worldwide, aiming for healthcare improvement.

The Role of Scientific Research in the Policy-Making Process in African Economies

The central argument of this paper is that it is the responsibility of university and research institutions to undertake objective scientific research which can serve as the basis of formulating sound and sustainable socio-economic development policies in African countries. Unfortunately, scientific research as a tool of government policy has not been given adequate attention by policy-makers in many African Countries . In fact, the relationship between policy-makers and university / research and training institutions in the continent has not been very encouraging, particularly in those countries which have not established formal national structures for interface and dialogue. Thus, for scientific research findings to have the desirable impact on the policy-making process and the socio-economic development in Africa, it is recommended among other things that: first, African governments should provide adequate funding and infrastructure for research; second, African universities and research institutions should aim at excellence by improving upon the quality of their scientific research, and properly address their research endeavours to the contemporary issues, challenges, and problems of national development; third, an interface to promote collaboration and cooperation, build trust and confidence, and promote dialogue between policy-makers, university research and training institution backed by appropriate, adequate and broad database should be put in place. Keywords: Scientific Research; Policy-Making; Policy-Makers; University; Research Institutions, Interface; Africa DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/10-5-07 Publication date: May 31 st 2020

Building knowledge economies in Africa: an introduction

ABSTRACTKnowledge has emerged as a fundamental driver of economic growth and development by inter alia improving the effectiveness and efficiency of economic projects and boosting the process of finding new avenues of addressing developmental policy syndromes. Recent evidence suggests that Africa is on the threshold of significant and sustainable economic growth if its human and material resources can be effectively mobilised to support the process (Asongu & Tchamyou, 2019; Kuada & Mensah, 2018). Consequently, the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Framework aims to explore and support the extent to which current policies in African countries affect the knowledge development process (and thereby competitiveness) on the continent. A knowledge economy is an economy in which economic prosperity largely depends on the accessibility, quality and quantity of information available, instead of the means of production (Asongu, 2017a, 2017b). This themed issue of Contemporary Social Science-‘Building Knowledge Economies in Africa’ – consists of papers that focus on, but are not limited to, the four dimensions of the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index. These are: information and communication technology, education, economic incentives and institutional regime, and innovation (Tchamyou, 2017). The themed issue engages with high quality contributions which, taken together, address the drivers towards knowledge-based economies. This introduction provides a context for understanding the importance of building knowledge economies in Africa and summarises the main contributions to the themed issue. The paper ends by advising scholars and policy makers regarding the risks associated with a colonial view of knowledge- notably the importance of proposing knowledge-based policies while avoiding hegemonic paradigms and hierarchical constructs. In summary, the issue consists of a set of theoretically informed, empirically robust, policy-relevant and accessible articles for both specialists and non-specialists.

Building Knowledge Economies in Africa: An Introduction

Knowledge has emerged as a fundamental driver of economic growth and development by inter alia improving the effectiveness and efficiency of economic projects and boosting the process of finding new avenues of addressing developmental policy syndromes. Recent evidence suggests that Africa is on the threshold of significant and sustainable economic growth if its human and material resources can be effectively mobilised to support the process (Kuada & Mensah, 2017; Asongu & Tchamyou, 2019). Consequently, the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Framework aims to explore and support the extent to which current policies in African countries affect the knowledge development process (and thereby competitiveness) on the continent. A knowledge economy is an economy in which economic prosperity largely depends on the accessibility, quality and quantity of information available, instead of the means of production (Asongu, 2017a, 2017b). This themed issue of Contemporary Social Science-‘Building Knowledge Economies in Africa’ - consists of papers that focus on, but are not limited to, the four dimensions of the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index. These are: information and communication technology, education, economic incentives and institutional regime, and innovation (Tchamyou, 2017). The themed issue engages with high quality contributions which, taken together, address the drivers towards knowledge-based economies. This introduction provides a context for understanding the importance of building knowledge economies in Africa and summarises the main contributions to the themed issue. The paper ends by advising scholars and policy makers regarding the risks associated with a colonial view of knowledge- notably the importance of proposing knowledge-based policies while avoiding hegemonic paradigms and hierarchical constructs. In summary, the issue consists of a set of theoretically informed, empirically robust, policy-relevant and accessible articles for both specialists and non-specialists.

What is shaping the coronavirus pandemic in Africa?

CONTEXT: The low prevalence of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Africa has puzzled many experts. Some have attributed the low prevalence to the continent's inadequate testing capacity, whereas others have suggested other less substantiated evidence such as the preponderance of active global tuberculosis vaccination policies in African countries. Regardless of the true prevalence of COVID-19 in Africa, the pandemic is expected to exhibit a different pattern in Africa compared to other parts of the world because of the continent's peculiarities.AIM: In this article, we discuss the major factors that are currently shaping the pattern and prevalence of the outbreak in Africa.CONCLUSIONS: Based on this assessment, Africa will face an uphill battle against the COVID-19 pandemic with significant long-term effects.

Konceptualni okvir politike poljoprivrednih inovacija u zemljama afričkog kontinenta

The aim of the paper is to present a conceptual framework from which to develop an appropriate innovation policy in African countries. Particular emphasis is placed on agricultural innovation, their role in stimulating agribusiness and the overall development of the African continent. Increasing food production and bioenergy, improving agricultural economics, African farmers' incomes, reducing poverty and adapting to climate change are challenges that can be addressed or mitigated by innovations in the agricultural sector. Africa's agriculture is a highly unproductive sector as a result of lack of appropriate innovative technologies, credit, infrastructure, lack of knowledge, information and skills. Agricultural innovations in African countries relate to the invention of insecticides, resistant varieties, fertilizers, irrigation pumps, genetic programs, sustainable agricultural practices, etc. Across Africa, farmers are embracing "climate-smart" innovations. An example of the response to climate change is the raising of 200 million new trees. African countries need to improve educational system performance, science and technology, institutions, increase financial and human investment to build local technology capabilities and learn from the experiences of other innovative regions. Although most African countries have made significant progress in terms of agricultural innovation, the results are still not quite satisfactory.

Making sense of the new episode of great power rivalry in Africa through neorealist lenses: the Sino-US competition

This study reveals the implications for US interests of China’s extensive engagement with the continent. China’s strengthening ties with African countries challenge US foreign policy goals and vision for the continent in several ways. The first is China’s quest for African oil. The second concerns China’s non-interference policy in African countries’ domestic affairs. The third is the implications of China’s extensive engagement with Africa for US global hegemony.

Study considering the use of medicines in children receiving free care

IntroductionLa rationalisation de la prescription des médicaments est une préoccupation pour les politiques et systèmes de santé des pays africains. L'objectif de cette étude était d'analyser l'utilisation des médicaments chez les enfants de 0 à 5 ans dans un contexte de gratuité des soins.MéthodesIl s'agissait d'une étude transversale sur l'utilisation des médicaments, réalisée dans 20 centres de santé du 1er niveau de contact à Ouagadougou, sélectionnés de façon aléatoire. Le référentiel de l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) et du Réseau Internationale pour l'usage rational des médicaments (OMS/INRUD) a été utilisé pour l'analyse des données. Des statistiques descriptives ont été utilisées sous forme de moyenne et écart type. Les différences ont été mesurées à l'aide d'un test ANOVA.RésultatsAu total, 1206 prescriptions entre avril 2016 et mars 2017 ont été examinées. Le nombre de médicaments prescrits par ordonnance était de 2,9, le pourcentage de médicaments prescrits par nom générique était de 88,7% et 97,7% des médicaments prescrits étaient inscrits sur la Liste Nationale des Médicaments Essentiels (LNMCE). Le pourcentage de consultations ayant donné lieu à la prescription d'antibiotiques était de 83,2%, et 9,3% des prescriptions contenait au moins un produit injectable.ConclusionLa prescription irrationnelle concerne surtout l'utilisation des antibiotiques. Une vigilance particulière doit être faite au cours des soins des enfants de moins de 5 ans pour éviter la surconsommation des médicaments et l'émergence des résistances liées à l'utilisation des antibiotiques.

Africa’s Debt: Three Concerns, Three Remedies

Since 2014, almost all African countries have experienced an increase in public debt and a change in its nature. The ratio of public debt to GDP has doubled, and sovereign debt is changing from concessional credit provided by official agencies to market-based loans from private institutions. This paper attempts to answer three questions that are being asked with increasing urgency to avoid another debt crisis. First, has the quality of institutions and policies of African countries, critical to sustaining higher levels of debt, improved since the debt relief of the early 2000s? Second, will debt markets get to know emerging Africa well enough before the next crisis? Third, have the resolutions of recent defaults in Africa been orderly so that debtor governments are not herded into traps set by foreign creditors? Our calculations suggest that the answer to all three questions is ‘no’. To avoid another debt crisis, the paper recommends preventive measures that involve full transparency in debt accounting, greater realism in growth forecasts, and diligence in matching the region’s seemingly limitless public investment needs with weak public sector capacity to manage infrastructure investments. More specifically, we recommend that as a rule African governments treat increases in commodity prices as temporary — not permanent — shocks; that in deciding how to finance public investment, governments compare the marginal cost of funds from taxation with market terms of borrowing; and that governments avoid financing long-term infrastructure projects with short-term money from abroad.

Presidential term limits and fiscal policy in African countries†

This paper assesses the effect of the attempt by an incumbent to amend the section of the constitution related to the presidential term limits on fiscal policy. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that the process of modifying the constitution to run for a third term leads the incumbent to increase government spending as a tool for political patronage. Using a sample of 30 African countries over the period 1990–2010, our findings indicate an increase in government spending during the term in which the constitution was amended. In addition, we find evidence of the exacerbation of the political budget cycle during periods of expansion. However, this effect is not robust to alternative estimation strategies, including matching techniques. From the policy perspective, this study suggests that it is worth watching out not only for elections but also for constitutional changes that are a catalyst of fiscal indiscipline and can further weaken institutions that are positively correlated with countercyclical fiscal policies.

Energy Efficiency in West Africa Economies: Implication for Sustainable Energy Use

In recent years, energy efficiency figures prominently in energy policies of African countries. This study analyzes the total‐factor energy efficiency in West Africa economies over the period 1990‐2013 using DEA model. The empirical analysis is carried out in two steps. In the first step, energy efficiency scores are calculated. In the second step, excesses in energy and CO2 and shortfall in GDP are determined. Average energy efficiency scores over the study period showed that the five most energy‐efficient countries are Senegal, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Ghana, whereas the five least energy‐efficient countries are Guinea, Nigeria, Togo, Mali and Liberia. Energy efficiency scores with and without undesirable output are identical for Ghana, showing that she seem to be the best in sustainable energy utilization. Based on DEA scenarios, we found that, all the countries generate excesses in energy use causing shortfall in GDP. The DEA model highlights that if countries reduced excesses in energy use and CO2 as well as used efficiently capital and labor, they would have increased the GDP. A decrease of energy consumption from traditional biomass and a better exploitation of renewable energy from biomass will adjust energy consumption and improve energy efficiency and environmental quality.

Measuring innovation in the informal economy – formulating an agenda for Africa

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review options for measuring innovation in the informal sector and proposes an agenda for future work.Design/methodology/approachIt starts with a review of surveys of innovation in the formal business sector, and related definitions, as sources of questions and definitions which could be applied to the informal sector. Then, labor force surveys, and those that are combined with establishment surveys to measure informal sector activities, are examined with a view to adding questions, or modules, on the measurement of innovation in the informal sector. In addition, the advantages of using semi-structured interviews and ad hoc questionnaires in specific sub-sectors of the informal sector are explored.FindingsThe discussion leads to a possible agenda for future work on the development of policy relevant indicators of innovation in the informal economy. Two viable scenarios emerge: first, adding innovation questions to existing large-scale surveys of the informal economy; and/or second, conducting ad hoc questionnaire- and interview-based sectoral studies in selected countries.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed course of actions suffers from a few shortcomings: first, amending existing surveys as proposed here is always a challenging undertaking. A new survey questions have to be tested (cognitive and other testing); their deployment also depends on the willingness of countries to include new questions. Second, surveying the informal economy and applying proper sampling will remain an issue, no matter how good the survey design, and not matter how sincere the effort. Third, and finally, conducting these new survey techniques will require substantial resources over time.Practical implicationsIn the coming years, new efforts are planned to gather data and better measure innovation in developing countries, such as the third edition of the African Innovation Outlook. This will widen the scope of reporting and analysis to include coverage of innovations in the informal sector (AU-NEPAD 2014). The suggestions in this chapter are intended to lay important groundwork for future empirical work, to help develop appropriate indicators and support new approaches to innovation policy in developing countries. Pragmatic suggestions are formulated, pointing to potential opportunities and challenges.Social implicationsThe informal economy is a hugely important contributor to economic growth and social well-being in Africa and other developing countries. Better measurement and contributing to a better understanding of innovation in the informal economy will be important progress.Originality/valueThe contribution of the paper lies in the novel combination of tested approaches in informal sector surveys, on the one hand, and innovation surveys in the formal sector, on the other hand. The approaches provide ways forward to gain better understanding of the innovation in the informal economy, and to support innovation policy in African countries and beyond.

Exploring the agency of Africa in climate change negotiations: the case of REDD+

Emerging climate change regimes, such as the mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), are increasingly aiming to engage developing countries such as those in Africa, in sustainable development through carbon markets. The contribution of African countries to global climate negotiations determines how compatible the negotiated rules could be with the existing socioeconomic and policy circumstances of African countries. The aim of this paper is to explore the agency of Africa (African States) in the global climate change negotiations and discuss possible implications for implementing these rules using REDD+ as a case study. Drawing on document analysis and semi-structured expert interviews, our findings suggest that although African countries are extensively involved in the implementation of REDD+ interventions, the continent has a weak agency on the design of the global REDD+ architecture. This weak agency results from a number of factors including the inability of African countries to send large and diverse delegations to the negotiations as well lack of capacity to generate and transmit research evidence to the global platform. African countries also perceive themselves as victims of climate change who should be eligible for support rather than sources of technological solutions. Again, Africa’s position is fragmented across negotiation coalitions which weakens the continent's collective influence on the REDD+ agenda. This paper discusses a number of implementation deficits which could result from this weak agency. These include concerns about implementation capacity and a potential lack of coherence between REDD+ rules and existing policies in African countries. These findings call for a rethink of pathways to enhancing Africa’s strategies in engaging in multilateral climate change negotiations, especially if climate change regimes specifically targeted at developing countries are to be effective.

One continent--multiple predictions and strategies.

This fine and timely paper by Ferreira-Borges and co-workers 1 offers further insight into an important topic and addresses the probable severe health and safety consequences of drinking that lie ahead in Africa. By reviewing research papers from the past 15 years on alcohol consumption and alcohol policy in African countries, the authors make convincing arguments for why such consequences are to be expected. Thus, we are likely to witness epidemics of alcohol-related harm in Africa if current developments in economic growth and urbanization continue, and if they combine with strong alcohol industry interests and trade agreements and with governments’ limited priorities, resources and capacity to implement and enforce effective alcohol control policies. The paper also serves as a reminder of some previous publications, and similar concerns regarding expected large increases in alcohol consumption and related harms in developing countries have been presented. For instance, several years ago Caetano & Laranja 2 noted the expected consequences of multiple factors pushing up consumption in developing countries and compared this to a ‘perfect storm’. While these concerns apply implicitly to African countries as a whole, it seems obvious nevertheless that the various emerging risk factors that are likely to push up consumption differ considerably across the 53 African countries. For instance, economic growth, both current and accumulated, differs significantly between African countries 3. Urbanization rates also vary considerably 4, as do alcohol control policies 5. This suggests that the likelihood of rapid increase in consumption and related harms may vary substantially between African countries. Consequently, there is a need also for country specific assessments of expected trends in alcohol consumption and country specific identification of feasible ways to curb consumption. Such country-specific assessments may take into consideration a much broader range of factors than those identified in the review by Ferreira-Borges and co-workers 1. A few additional factors that also vary considerably between African countries seem relevant in this respect. First, corruption level is high in many African countries, yet it varies significantly 6. Corruption in parliament and legislature affects not only economic growth 7, but probably also the alcohol industry's possibilities to influence on national control policies. Secondly, the level of conflict is high in many African countries and affects the strength of governance and state institutions and thereby the resources and capacity to develop and enforce alcohol control policies 8. It is therefore likely that the alcohol industry perceives post-conflict states as potentially lucrative markets and take advantage of weak state capacity 8. Also with respect to conflict level, there is huge variation between African countries 9. Thirdly, strict informal social control of drinking due to religious norms is associated with higher abstinence rates and lower consumption levels. In many African countries, Islam is the prevalent religion and in these countries the prevalence of drinking tends to be low 10. Possibly, this is a factor that may slow down the effects of the many emerging risk factors for increased consumption and related harms. While there is clearly a need to identify and implement effective strategies to curb the forecasted increase in alcohol-related harm, this is probably more urgent in some African countries than others. None.