Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

African Studies Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Singapore Management University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication

Articles 1 - 21 of 21

Full-Text Articles in African Studies

Comparative Lessons In Sectional Title Laws: Mitigating Urban Inequality In South Africa, Edward S. W. Ti Jun 2022

Comparative Lessons In Sectional Title Laws: Mitigating Urban Inequality In South Africa, Edward S. W. Ti

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Urban inequality in South Africa is a formidable problem that is linked to the injustices of its historical apartheid past. This paper identifies sectional titles, a form of property ownership where proprietors wholly own their apartment unit while co-owning the land and common property, as critical to providing more affordable housing. Sectional title schemes mitigate urban inequality by giving a greater proportion of the country the opportunity to own legally secure, well-located dwellings while serving as a platform where communal living could take place. Two suggestions how sectional title legislation can further alleviate aspects of urban inequality are made (1) …


The Price Elasticity Of African Elephant Poaching, Quy-Toan Do, Andrei A. Levchenko, Lin Ma, Julian Blanc, Holly Dublin, Tom Milliken Oct 2021

The Price Elasticity Of African Elephant Poaching, Quy-Toan Do, Andrei A. Levchenko, Lin Ma, Julian Blanc, Holly Dublin, Tom Milliken

Research Collection School Of Economics

The objective of this paper is to provide an estimate of the elasticity of elephant poaching with respect to prices. Ivory being a storable commodity subjects its price to Hotelling’s no-arbitrage condition, hence allowing identification of the supply curve. The price of gold, one of many commodities used as stores of value, is thus used as an instrument for ivory prices. The supply of illegal ivory is found to be price inelastic with an elasticity of 0.4, with changes in consumer prices passing-through to prices faced by producers at a rate close to unity. Estimations based on a number of …


Evolution Of International Investment Agreements In Africa: Features And Challenges Of Investment Law “Africanization”, Makane Moïse Mbengue, Stefanie Schacherer Jan 2021

Evolution Of International Investment Agreements In Africa: Features And Challenges Of Investment Law “Africanization”, Makane Moïse Mbengue, Stefanie Schacherer

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

African States, African Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and the African Union have adopted a number of new investment instruments in recent years. Many of these instruments are highly innovative and mark a clear departure from old European-styled IIAs. The Africanization of international investment law or, in other words, the prise en main of African States and organizations to design the regulation of international investment according to their policy and development priorities has become an evident contemporary phenomenon. At the same time, the most innovative approaches can be found in intra-African IIAs, i.e., in IIAs concluded between two or more African …


How Does Energy Matter? Rural Electrification, Entrepreneurship, And Community Development In Kenya, Antoine Vernet, Jane N. O. Khayesi, Vivian George, Gerard George, Abubakar S. Bahaj Mar 2019

How Does Energy Matter? Rural Electrification, Entrepreneurship, And Community Development In Kenya, Antoine Vernet, Jane N. O. Khayesi, Vivian George, Gerard George, Abubakar S. Bahaj

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We examine the impact of rural electrification on individuals and businesses within a community in order to test a resource-based theory of entrepreneurship. We show that access to electricity increases average households’ income and entrepreneurial activities. The impact of electricity on entrepreneurial activity has wide-ranging implications for development policy in countries where access to electricity is sparse. Results show a significant difference in entrepreneurial opportunities with respect to firm formation, with the electrified site reporting more new micro-enterprises than the control site after implementation. Electrification affects both households’ income, individuals’ perceptions of their social position, and opportunities for business development. …


The Impact Of An Electrical Mini-Grid On The Development Of A Rural Community In Kenya, Abubakr Bahaj, Luke Blunden, Christopher Kanani, Patrick James, Issac Kiva, Zoe Matthews, Heather Price, Hildah Essendi, Jane Ealkingham, Gerard George Feb 2019

The Impact Of An Electrical Mini-Grid On The Development Of A Rural Community In Kenya, Abubakr Bahaj, Luke Blunden, Christopher Kanani, Patrick James, Issac Kiva, Zoe Matthews, Heather Price, Hildah Essendi, Jane Ealkingham, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Electrical mini-grids can provide electrification to rural communities far from the national network. However the benefits of such schemes are disputed. We observed changes in two matched trading-centres in Makueni County, Kenya, neither of which were initially electrified. During the study a solar photovoltaic mini-grid scheme (13.5 kWp) was constructed in one of the trading-centres. After electrification there were relative increases in the number of businesses and business income. Comparing the households in the areas around the trading centres, perceived wealth increased more around the electrified trading centre. Qualitative interviews indicated improvements in service provision by the local school and …


Africa: The Management Education Challenge, Howard Thomas, Michelle P. Lee, Lynne Thomas, Alexander Wilson Jun 2017

Africa: The Management Education Challenge, Howard Thomas, Michelle P. Lee, Lynne Thomas, Alexander Wilson

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The research evidence for this second volume of Africa: The Management Education Challenge is based primarily on around 40 in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews lasting about two to three hours. The interviewees were drawn from academia, business, media and government with expertise in management education.


Management Education Out Of Africa, Howard Thomas May 2017

Management Education Out Of Africa, Howard Thomas

Asian Management Insights

Is a distinctive African managementeducation model possible,achievable, or even advisable?


South Africa And Sexual Orientation Rights At The United Nations: Batting For Both Sides, Eduard Jordaan May 2017

South Africa And Sexual Orientation Rights At The United Nations: Batting For Both Sides, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In 2011 South Africa led the UN Human Rights Council to adopt the first-ever UN resolution on sexual orientation. In 2014, South Africa was the only African state to support the follow-up to the 2011 resolution. These actions create the impression that South Africa is strongly committed to the international advancement of sexual orientation rights. However, this article scrutinises South Africa’s actions on sexual orientation rights at the UN for the period 1995–2015 and will demonstrate South Africa’s inconsistency, its frequent failures to support sexual orientation rights internationally, and its various actions against the advancement of these rights. The article …


The African Group On The United Nations Human Rights Council: Shifting Geopolitics And The Liberal International Order, Eduard Jordaan Jul 2016

The African Group On The United Nations Human Rights Council: Shifting Geopolitics And The Liberal International Order, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

During the early years of the United Nations Human Rights Council, formed in 2006, the African Group obstructed efforts to scrutinize and improve human rights in specific countries, notably in the cases of Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, in recent years the African Group has become willing to address country-specific human rights violations, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire, Libya, and Eritrea. This article documents the African Group's shift and asks why it occurred. Against the backdrop of debates about whether the liberal international order can survive a decline in American dominance, the study of the African Group's …


Bringing Africa In: Promising Directions For Management Research, Gerard George, Christopher Corbishley, Jane N. O. Khayesi, Martine R. Haas, Laszlo Tihanyi Apr 2016

Bringing Africa In: Promising Directions For Management Research, Gerard George, Christopher Corbishley, Jane N. O. Khayesi, Martine R. Haas, Laszlo Tihanyi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Africa is beginning to capture the imagination of entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and scholars as an emerging market of new growth opportunities. Over 15 years, the continent has experienced an average growth rate of 5% (World Economic Forum, 2015: v). Out of its 54 countries, 26 have achieved middle-income status, while the proportion of those living in extreme poverty has fallen from 51% in 2005 to 42% in 2014 (African Development Bank, 2014a: 49). Although there are regional differences, the primary drivers of growth have been rapidly emerging consumer markets, regional economic integration, investment in infrastructure, technological leap-frogging, and the opening …


Social Justice And Human Rights In Education Policy Discourse: Assessing Nelson Mandela's Legacy, Abrehet Gebremedhin, Devin Joshi Jan 2016

Social Justice And Human Rights In Education Policy Discourse: Assessing Nelson Mandela's Legacy, Abrehet Gebremedhin, Devin Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Twenty years after South Africa's democratisation, Nelson Mandela's passing has prompted scholars to examine his legacy in various domains. Here we take a look at his legacy in education discourse. Tracing Mandela's thoughts and pronouncements on education we find two major emphases: a view of education as a practical means to economic development, and education as a means to social justice, human rights, and democracy. Assessing the legacy of these twin emphases, we conducted qualitative and quantitative content analysis of turning point documents in education policy and annual reports from the respective South African ministries of education over the last …


The Un, Regional Sanctions And Africa, Andrea Charron, Clara Portela Nov 2015

The Un, Regional Sanctions And Africa, Andrea Charron, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Africa is the continent most targeted by sanctions. During the Cold War, when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was all but paralysed, the only sanctions regimes that the UN imposed were directed at countries located on the African continent: Southern Rhodesia and South Africa, penalized for their apartheid regimes. In the post-Cold War era, Africa has continued to register the highest frequency of sanctions, applied not only by the UN but by other organizations as well. Africa’s own regional bodies, such as the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), are active in wielding …


Expanding Context To Redefine Theories: Africa In Management Research, Gerard George Mar 2015

Expanding Context To Redefine Theories: Africa In Management Research, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

As a scholarly field matures, theories emerge that guide paradigms and shape consensus in academic discourse. Management theories reflect a shared consensus on how individual behaviors or organizational actions result in a certain set of outcomes and under specific conditions. Clearly, theory is paramount to guiding whether models of potential relationships bear out and how and why we would expect a relationship or specific outcome. Yet much of this theory is derived from cumulative empirical evidence from a ‘context’ that has remained a silent partner in our quest for a theoretical contribution. A growing number of papers emphasize the theoretical …


South Africa: Building For The Future, Singapore Management University Feb 2015

South Africa: Building For The Future, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Africa’s second-largest economy seeks to get back on the road to growth


Kinship In Entrepreneur Networks: Performance Effects Of Resource Assembly In Africa, Jane N. O. Khayesi, Gerard George, John Antonakis Nov 2014

Kinship In Entrepreneur Networks: Performance Effects Of Resource Assembly In Africa, Jane N. O. Khayesi, Gerard George, John Antonakis

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We examine the relationship among structural social capital, resource assembly, and firm performance of entrepreneurs in Africa. We posit that social capital primarily composed of kinship or family ties helps the entrepreneur to raise resources, but it does so at a cost. Using data drawn from small firms in Kampala, Uganda, we explore how shared identity among the entrepreneur's social network moderates the relationship between social capital and outcomes. A large network contributed a higher quantity of resources raised, but at a higher cost when shared identity was high. We discuss the implications of these findings for the role of …


South Africa And Abusive Regimes At The Un Human Rights Council, Eduard Jordaan Apr 2014

South Africa And Abusive Regimes At The Un Human Rights Council, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There is some dispute over the extent to which South Africa has become a defender of regimes that abuse human rights. This article sheds further light on this question by focusing on South Africa's positions during the UN Human Rights Council's engagement with human rights problems in six countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel, North Korea, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Sudan. In five of the six chosen cases. South Africa's attitude ranged from reluctant to obstructive of efforts to defend human rights. In only one case-Israel-was South Africa willing to bring to bear the full weight of the council's power. …


South Africa, Multilateralism And The Global Politics Of Development, Eduard Jordaan Apr 2012

South Africa, Multilateralism And The Global Politics Of Development, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

South Africa was recently included as a member of the BRICS grouping. South Africa's formal association with the powerful original members suggests that it possesses some international clout. Although South Africa pursues an active foreign policy, for example, as a region organizer, notably through New Partnership for Africa's Development, and as an issue leader championing development-related concerns, the normative direction of South Africa's international involvement has been unclear and often contradictory. This article illustrates how South Africa adheres to and departs from liberal principles when involved in the global politics of development. Middlepowership and domestic politics are identified as two …


When Does The Socio-Cultural Context Matter? Communal Orientation And Entrepreneurs' Resource Accumulation Efforts In Africa, Jane N. O. Khayesi, Gerard George Sep 2011

When Does The Socio-Cultural Context Matter? Communal Orientation And Entrepreneurs' Resource Accumulation Efforts In Africa, Jane N. O. Khayesi, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We examined the effect of entrepreneurs’communal orientation and social capital on entrepreneurs’ acquisition of resources, and the cost of raising those resources. Using an errors-in-variables estimation in a sample of 242 Ugandan entrepreneurs from Kampala, we find that shared identity is positively associated with the quantity of resources raised by entrepreneurs, whereas shared identity and communal orientation are associated with a higher cost of raising resources. Further, communal orientation positively moderates the relationship between kin composition and the quantity of resources raised; whereas communal orientation negatively moderates the relationship between trust, shared identity, and resources. In contrast, a high communal …


Aid Suspensions As Coercive Tools? The European Union’S Experience In The African-Caribbean-Pacific (Acp) Context, Clara Portela Aug 2007

Aid Suspensions As Coercive Tools? The European Union’S Experience In The African-Caribbean-Pacific (Acp) Context, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since the signing of the Cotonou Agreement in 2000, the European Union (EU) has suspended development aid towards a number of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in response to breaches of Human Rights and democratic principles by activating the so-called Human Rights clause (article 96). The present article analyses the use by the EU of aid suspensions as political tools and their efficacy in achieving the desired policy goals, in an attempt to identify and explain the determinants leading to the success of these measures. The investigation finds that the use of development aid suspensions is frequently effective. Classical …


Political Dialogue And Human Rights In The Framework Of The Cotonou Agreement, Clara Portela Jul 2007

Political Dialogue And Human Rights In The Framework Of The Cotonou Agreement, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present study analyses the use of the political instruments for the protection of Human Rights, democracy and the rule of law under the Partnership Agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African-Caribbean–Pacific (ACP) countries embedded in the Cotonou Agreement: the consultations under article 96, intensified and regular political dialogue. It briefly outlines the legal provisions of the revised treaty, reviews recent practice, and looks into the involvement of civil society and parliamentary bodies in the political dialogue.


Man And Law In Urban Africa: A Role For Customary Courts In The Urbanization Process, David Nathan Smith Jan 1972

Man And Law In Urban Africa: A Role For Customary Courts In The Urbanization Process, David Nathan Smith

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Among lawyers concerned with the development process in Africa,two assumptions are commonly made: (1) that urbanization is a one dimensionalphenomenon leading inexorably to urbanism on a westernmodel, and (2) that customary law and customary dispute-settling institutionshave no place in urban Africa.