African Studies Commons^™

Institutionalizing Democracy In Africa: A Comment On The African Charter On Democracy, Elections And Governance, Patrick J. Glen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article provides an exegesis of the recently entered-into-force African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. Democracy has a decidedly mixed history in Africa and, despite a concerted effort by the African Union (AU), it has made only halting inroads in those states that are nondemocratic or struggling to consolidate democracy. That may change as more states ratify and implement the Charter, a comprehensive regional attempt to promote, protect, and consolidate democracy that entered into force in February 2012. This Charter, the culmination of two decades of African thinking on how democracy should develop on the continent, represents the AU’s …

No. 26: Social Media, The Internet And Diasporas For Development, Jonathan Crush, Cassandra Eberhardt, Mary Caesar, Abel Chikanda, Wade Pendleton, Ashley Hill

Southern African Migration Programme

The recent focus on diasporas by policy-makers researchers has highlighted the rich potential of migrants as a force for shaping development activities in their countries of origin. The study of diasporas in development presents researchers a number of significant challenges. As Vertovec and Cohen suggest, ‘one of the major changes in migration patterns is the growth of populations anchored … neither at their places of origin nor at their places of destination’. The fluid, multi-sited and multi-generational nature of diaspora groupings poses considerable methodological challenges of definition, identification, location, sampling and interviewing.

As the nature of African diasporas are constantly …

Hiv And Concurrent Sexual Partnerships: Modelling The Role Of Coital Dilution, Larry Sawers, Alan G. Isaac, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

Background: The concurrency hypothesis asserts that high prevalence of overlapping sexual partnerships explains extraordinarily high HIV levels in sub-Saharan Africa. Earlier simulation models show that the network effect of concurrency can increase HIV incidence, but those models do not account for the coital dilution effect (nonprimary partnerships have lower coital frequency than primary partnerships).

Methods: We modify the model of Eaton et al (AIDS and Behavior, September 2010) to incorporate coital dilution by assigning lower coital frequencies to non-primary partnerships. We parameterize coital dilution based on the empirical work of Morris et al (PLoS ONE, December …

No. 25: Complex Movements, Confused Responses: Labour Migration In South Africa, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

The end of apartheid undermined the rationale for apartheid-era immigration. Immigration from Europe (which had been declining in the 1980s) dwindled to almost nothing as the new government dissociated itself from the racist immigration policies of the apartheid era. At the same time, downsizing and mine closures in the 1990s led to a dramatic decline in employment opportunities for African migrants in the mining industry. Tens of thousands of local and foreign migrants were retrenched. Although the industry has recovered somewhat, and continues to employ some foreign workers, the overall numbers of temporary migrant workers remain far below the levels …

No. 24: South Africa's Two Diasporas: Engagement And Disengagement, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

The African diaspora is increasingly viewed as a key to realizing the development potential of international migration. At the same time, there remains considerable confusion about who exactly constitutes the diaspora and which groups should be targeted for “diaspora engagement.” For some, the diaspora consists of all migrants of African birth living outside Africa. The African Union’s definition of the African diaspora, for example, “comprises people of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality.” The World Bank goes a step further to distinguish between an involuntary and a voluntary, a historical and a contemporary, component …

The 6th International Conference On The State Of Africa: Challenges And Opportunities For Sustainable Development And Peace In Africa In The 21st Century, Sisay Asefa

International Conference on African Development Archives

No abstract provided.

Fiscal Federalism And Nigeria's Development: Comparative Perspectives From Canadian Fiscal Federalism, Olumide Victor Ekanade

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This paper evaluates the historical dynamics that have shaped the development of fiscal federalism in Nigeria and Canada over the years. It contends that certain contradictions have inhibited the efficient and equitable allocation of tax powers and expenditure responsibilities in Nigeria. These include Nigeria's defective federal structure, military rule, Presidential federalism, politicized sharing principles, and the parochial political culture. These absurdities now threaten the stability of the Nigerian federation. The paper submits that the Canadian Federation offers a viable option for renewal with principles such as autonomy of sub national units, the predominance of the civic culture, scientific equalization, and …

Household Dependence On Forest Income In Rural Zambia, Samuel M. Bwalya

Zambia Social Science Journal

This article estimates the contribution of forests and woodland resources to the incomes of households living around six local forest reserves earmarked for the Joint Forest Management programme in Zambia. It identifies the key factors that influence their decisions to engage in commercial exploitation of forest resources. The analysis shows that, in addition to the subsistence use of forest resources, rural households earn 30 % of their cash income from harvesting and selling forest products. The amount of forest income that households earn varies significantly across study sites and is influenced by market and household level factors as well as …

Book Reviews, Dick Jonsson, Bizeck Jube Phiri, Gear M. Kajoba, Obrian Ndhlovu

Zambia Social Science Journal

Reviews of:

Why Africa is Poor – and what Africans can do about it. By Greg Mills;

Living the End of Empire: Politics and Society in Late Colonial Zambia. Edited by Jan-Bart Gewald, Marja Hinfelaar and Giacomo Macola;

Left Behind: Rural Zambia in the Third Republic. By Jeremy Gould;

Gender Budgeting as a Tool for Poverty Reduction. By The African Capacity Building Foundation. African Capacity Building Foundation

Structural Differences In Rural Food Poverty Between Female And Male-Headed Households, Ceren Gürkan, Issa Sanogo

Zambia Social Science Journal

This article explores differences among female-headed households (FHHs) and male-headed households (MHHs) in terms of food poverty in Cameroon, Laos, Madagascar, Mauritania, and Tanzania. Stochastic dominance analysis shows that FHHs are more likely to be food poor related to MHHs, though this trend is less clear when looking only at food poor households. This ambiguity was clarified using discriminant function analysis. The results show that both female and male food poor households face the same obstacles to rural employment across the countries; barriers to access to land, productive assets, education, remittances and over-dependence on subsistence agriculture. Although further research is …

Vol. 2, No. 1 (May 2011) Table Of Contents

Zambia Social Science Journal

No abstract provided.

Tackling Poverty By Ethiopians Or Globalization Wave: A Book Review, Asayehgn Desta

Collected Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Crisis Of Unity In The 21st Century: The Unrealized Dream Of Pan-Africanism In Cameroon, Araba Sapara-Grant

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following is an analysis of how the sentiments of pan-Africanism, a notion formulated in the early 20th century, have failed to proliferate in Cameroonian society. As a concept based in the social, economic, and political solidarity of the African continent, the pan-African movement has often been a point of reference for intellectuals searching for a solution to the problems Africa currently faces, some of which include lack of political agency and stagnating economic growth. The beliefs promoted by pan-Africanists is that by joining together the collective potentials of all African people, the continent can become a global force, leaving …

An Exploration Of Alternative Means Of Financial Sustainability For The Church In Tanzania, East Africa: A Donor And Donee Perspective, Juvenalis Baltazar Asantemungu

Dissertations (1934 -)

This academic enterprise is a result of careful research and detailed work that was done for the benefit of the Church in Tanzania in particular but with general implications to the Church in Africa and the Church Universal. According to Kalilombe (2002), "Self-reliance of the local Church in Africa remains a crucial subject matter" (p.2). The Catholic Church in Tanzania, as is true in most of other Churches in Sub-Saharan Africa, has traditionally been dependent to some extent on financial gifts and foreign aid (donations). However, as the financial needs of the rapidly growing dioceses are increasing, subsidies and donations …

No. 54: Medical Xenophobia: Zimbabwean Access To Health Services In South Africa, Jonathan Crush, Godfrey Tawodzera

Southern African Migration Programme

Medical xenophobia refers to the negative attitudes and practices of health sector professionals and employees towards migrants and refugees on the job. There is considerable evidence that many officials (especially the police, home affairs officials, refugee determination officers and customs agents) bring xenophobic attitudes with them when they come to work. Those in the “helping professions” (such as teachers, social workers and health care professionals) also come into contact with migrants and refugees in the course of their jobs. They have the power to withhold services and they can certainly influence the way in which those services are delivered. This …

No. 56: Right To The Classroom: Educational Barriers For Zimbabweans In South Africa, Jonathan Crush, Godfrey Tawodzera

Southern African Migration Programme

This report examines the obstacles to access by Zimbabwean children and students to schools and tertiary institutions in South Africa. There is a common assumption in South Africa that these children and students have no right to an educa­tion in South Africa. In fact, this view contravenes various international human rights conventions to which South Africa is a signatory. At the regional level, it is inconsistent with the SADC Education Protocol. At the national level, it violates the South African Constitution as well as legislation and stated government policies concerning the access of all children in the country to education. …

No. 55: The Engagement Of The Zimbabwean Medical Diaspora, Abel Chikanda

Southern African Migration Programme

Despite the well-documented negative impacts of the ‘brain drain’ of health professionals from Africa, there is an argu­ment that their departure is not an absolute loss and that transnationally-oriented medical migrants (or diasporas) can act as development agents in their home countries. Financial remittances, in particular, are said to have significant transformative development potential. African countries are also expected to benefit from knowledge and skills transfer through the return of health professionals from abroad. Other diaspora engagement initiatives that do not require permanent return (such as short term work assignments, technological transfer to country of origin and ‘virtual’ participation of …

Democratic Strength And Terrorism: An Economic Approach, Brian P. Winter

CMC Senior Theses

There has been much literature about the economic effects of terrorism in democratic countries, but this literature often considers democracy to be a binary variable. This paper sought to explore how the effects might differ depending on the strength of a democracy. In the end, I found that the numbers of attacks and the effects of those attacks do not follow a linear path. The results for autocracies and anocracies require further analysis, but democracies have revealed interesting results. It seems that democracies as a whole have more terrorist attacks, but, within this group, the more democratic a country is …

Achieving Middle-Income Status By 2030: Is This The Most Appropriate Objective For Zambia?, Venkatesh Seshamani

Zambia Social Science Journal

On the backdrop of three important quotes and based on a wealth of underlying research, this article presents a systematic review of growth and development measurement in general and specifically in relation to Zambia’s prospects of achieving middle income status by 2030. It highlights what it takes to achieve middle income status and what the limitations of such ambitions are. In commenting about Zambia’s prospects, the article presents detailed cross-country comparisons with selected African economies. Attention is paid to aspects of economic (income) growth, human development and true human progress, using a range of international indicators in the analysis. Ultimately …

Japan’S Ticad: Alternative Global Framework For Africa’S Development?, Bertha Z. Osei-Hwedie, Kwaku Osei-Hwedie

Zambia Social Science Journal

Since 1993, Japan has sought to aid Africa’s development through the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). TICAD is a multilateral, donor-recipient framework within which Japan interacts with Africa on a range of development issues. It represents the Post Washington Consensus approach as an alternative donor strategy and development model, with the hope of replicating the East Asian development miracle in Africa. TICAD makes Japan an important source of development assistance to Africa and for facilitation of South-South cooperation. This article discusses TICAD’s principles, objectives and programmes. It focuses on TICAD’s achievements in terms of its impact on African …

Increasing Returns To Marketing In Zambian Maize Markets, Gelson Tembo, Thomas S. Jayne

Zambia Social Science Journal

The article investigates the existence of market externalities due to increasing returns to marketing. Panel data on 198 pairs of maize markets in Zambia and correlated random effects linear and tobit estimators were used to model the relationship between market externalities and producer-to-wholesale marketing margins. This article is one of the first to explicitly account for unobserved local market heterogeneity in a developing country context. The results suggest that Zambian smallholder maize markets are substantially specialized with significant margin-reducing own externality effects and insignificant cross-externality effects. The results also indicate that the unobserved market effects exert a systematic influence on …

Growth And Regional Integration: The Case Of The Southern African Development Community, Chris Mupimpila, Patricia Funjika

Zambia Social Science Journal

The neoclassical growth model is augmented with structural variables to analyse the determinants of economic growth in the Southern African Development Community. The results show that physical capital, exports, infrastructure, and human capital have a positive and significant effect on economic growth. However, inflation and external debt service have a negative but significant impact on economic growth in the region. In addition, the results suggest that the underdevelopment of the financial sector is a source of heterogeneity among member countries. Therefore, to promote growth and deeper integration in the region, it is necessary to address the underlying causes of inflation, …

Are Savings Working For Zambia’S Growth?, Chrispin Mphuka

Zambia Social Science Journal

This article analyses the effect of savings on economic growth in Zambia. Using vector auto regression, the article finds that economic growth ‘Granger’ causes domestic savings. This goes contrary to the neoclassical theory on the relationship between economic growth and savings. However, the article argues that a case of increasing domestic savings mobilization holds on the premise that doing so may influence growth indirectly by attracting partnerships with international capital thereby helping to inject new technology in the economy which is undoubtedly vital for growth. The argument is strengthened further by observing that East Asian countries have grown faster than …

Concurrent Sexual Partnerships Do Not Explain The Hiv Epidemics In Africa: A Systematic Review Of The Evidence, Larry Sawers, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

The notion that concurrent sexual partnerships are especially common in sub-Saharan Africa and explain the region’s high HIV prevalence is accepted by many as conventional wisdom. In this paper, we evaluate the quantitative and qualitative evidence offered by the principal proponents of the concurrency hypothesis and analyze the mathematical model they use to establish the plausibility of the hypothesis.

We find that research seeking to establish a statistical correlation between concurrency and HIV prevalence either finds no correlation or has important limitations. Furthermore, in order to simulate rapid spread of HIV, mathematical models require unrealistic assumptions about frequency of sexual …

Cooperative Strategies On Parallel Tracks: The Nepad And Agoa Initiatives, Guelmbaye Ngarsandje

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

In July 2001, at the 37th of the former Organization of African Unity, African heads of states launched the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), a combination of the Omega Plan from Abdoulaye Wade and The Millennium African Renaissance Partnership initiated by Thabo Mbeki, respectively presidents of Senegal and South Africa. This was an achievement of tasks given by their peers in Algiers in 1999. Previously to that, the Clinton administration initiated the African Growth and Opportunity Act passed in law in 1998. Though the two programs aim at African development, they did not take in account each other.

This …

Brain Drain, Waste Or Gain? What We Know About The Kenyan Case, Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Over the last three decades, Kenya and many other countries in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) have experienced rapid emigration to the developed world. The general view is that emigration from developing countries especially Africa has led to brain drain and brain waste. However, recent research on emigration from Mexico provides evidence of significant gains from emigration. This recent finding highlights the importance of looking at individual countries' diasporas. In this review paper, I focus on trends in the Kenyan diaspora. More importantly, I summarize what we know from the literature and data on Kenya with respect to issues of brain …

Africa's Debt Crisis: Perspectives On Nigeria's Escape From External Debt Trap, Solomon O. Akinboye

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

In sharp contrast with the image of an "oil-rich" country, Nigeria is paradoxically a heavily indebted poor country. While the country's oil production reached 2.5 million barrels per day in 2004, its total external debt stock at the end of 2004 was estimated at $35.9 billion. The debt crisis has been aggravated by the burden of debt servicing, which has absorbed the nation's budgetary and foreign exchange resources with deleterious impact on the critical sectors of the economy. The paper critically examines Nigeria's external debt profile and efforts toward its alleviation. It argues that the debt burden constitutes a major …

Africa's Contemporary Global Migrations: Patterns, Perils, And Possibilities, Paul Tiyambe Zeleza

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

The literature on international migration is dominated by economic and political perspectives. This paper begins with the culturalist readings to remind ourselves that there is more to international migration than the search for greener pastures or flight from political terror. It is about the movement of human beings, a story that is as old as humanity itself, going back to the great migrations within and out of Africa to populate the planet. But those who advance the culturalist perspectives also need to be reminded that in our contemporary world more often than not people migrate to sell their labor power …

At The Intersection Of Neoliberal Development, Scarce Resources, And Human Rights: Enforcing The Right To Water In South Africa, Elizabeth A. Larson

International Studies Honors Projects

The competing ideals of international human rights and global economic neoliberalism come into conflict when developing countries try to enforce socio-economic rights. This paper explores the intersection of economic globalization and the enforcement of 2nd generation human rights. The focus of this exploration is the right to water in South Africa, specifically the recent Constitutional Court case Mazibuko v City of Johannesburg. While a right to water can be constructed at the international level, the right disappears in the face of neoliberal development measures such as those that are instituted by democratic governments in developing nations faced with limited resources.

No. 23: Labour Migration Trends And Policies In Southern Africa, Jonathan Crush, Vincent Williams

Southern African Migration Programme

Since 1990, there have been major changes to longstanding patterns of intra-regional labour migration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). At the same time, new channels of migration to and from the region have opened. Labour migration is now more voluminous, dynamic and complex than it has ever been. This presents policy-makers with considerable opportunities and challenges. In order to understand the exact nature of these challenges, it is important to have a good grasp of current labour migration characteristics and trends. Unfortunately, reliable, accurate and comprehensive data on labour migration is not available. The quality and currency of …