Building on Nigeria’s potential, the national workshop will discuss the role of productive capacities and structural economic transformation. It will examine how productive capacities and structural transformation can best be placed at the centre of Nigeria’s national policies and strategies. It will also introduce UNCTAD’s Productive Capacities Index (PCI) as the critical tool to measure sectoral gaps in domestic productive capacities and to subsequently formulate adequate policy response and interventions.

UNCTAD’s assessment shows the limited improvements of Nigeria’s scores across various PCI components over the years. The Nigerian overall PCI score in 2018 was 21.65, representing a marginal increase from 18.9 in 2010. In fact, the value of some indicators, namely, transportation, ICT, and natural capital, has slightly declined. Moreover, Nigeria scored below the African average in six out of the eight PCI components. The better performing areas were private sector and natural capital. The performance was particularly dragged down by weakness in structural change, given high dependency on the oil sector, and the transport sector, an effect of cumulative years of under-investment in infrastructure.

Specific issues to be examined during the national workshop include:

• Levels of productive capacities in Nigeria as compared to other developing economies;
• Utilisation of the Productive Capacities Index (PCI) as the tool to evaluate gaps in productive capacities and binding constraints to structural transformation;
• Challenges to fostering productive capacities, diversifying the national economy and accelerating structural transformation in Nigeria; 
• Successful experiences and best practices in policy formulation and implementation for productive capacities and structural economic transformation and their implications for Nigeria.

Participants of the national workshop will include senior government officials, national, regional, and international experts in the field of economic development and representatives of the private sector and civil society, including academic institutions in Nigeria.

The workshop will consist of a segment for policymakers (15-16 September, 2022), back-to-back with statistical and methodological training for statisticians and development policy experts on the Productive Capacities Index (13-14 September, 2022).

Read More

Adequate health financing is a critical element of any strong healthcare system.  In Sub-Saharan Africa, financing and payment models for primary, secondary, and tertiary health care can be significant tools for improving issues of access, quality, and equity in care delivery.  While much effort is made to understand the financing approaches that may be optimal for health systems at large, little is known about financing mechanisms that may work best considering the dominance of out-of-pocket payment and, more importantly, the impact that unexpected, informal costs for care may have on health-seeking behaviour.  The abolition of user fees for public health facilities has become increasingly popular in many low-income countries, with results from numerous studies noting an increase in access and utilization for the poorest populations.  However, abolishing user fees often does not remove the cost of many goods and services related to a care episode.  Though some patients may pay no initial fees for a basic service such as an initial consultation, there are often treatment-related costs that are unknown to the patient.

Even with health insurance or under “free” social schemes, evidence suggests that many patients in Nigeria’s public health facilities still pay a significant amount of care-related costs.  The discrepancy between the expected free cost of care at public facilities and the actual cost of treatment often means that poorer patients pay as they are able to gather funds.  Abolition of user fees and fee exemptions may not effectively protect access to health services among the poor.  The majority of fee removal and exemption mechanisms have not meant an end to the existence of informal fees and other care-related costs. A better understanding is needed of the existence of fee removal mechanisms, whether they are able to increase access for the poor, or if other supplemental mechanisms may be necessary.

The project on strengthening institutions to improve public expenditure accountability is a 5-year project supported by DFID and managed by the Global Development Network (GDN) and Results for Development (R4D). CSEA is one of 14 institutions in the developing world that participate in the project. The project aims to support and strengthen the think tanks and research and policy institutions to engage in the analysis and monitoring of the quality of public expenditures, present research findings and policy alternatives for shaping policy debates. Under this project, CSEA will examine public expenditure in three areas of the Nigerian budget: health, education and water sectors.

Scope of the Project:  Review public expenditure efficiency for the Federal Government of Nigeria, as well as, two additional states – one in the North and another in the South of the country.

Time coverage: The project examines the Federal government budget for 2009 (as well as three preceding years: 2006, 2007 and 2008). The analyses will be updated for subsequent years during the project time period. At the end of the project period in 2013, results would have been obtained for a total of 8 years (2006-2013), thereby creating a useful database of micro-level information on budget allocations and expenditures in Nigeria.

Thematic areas: Examine four main areas under the research project, namely: Program Budgeting and Expenditure Analysis; Benefit Incidence Analysis; Cost Effectiveness Analysis; and Research-based Policy Options.

CSEA is one of the founding African partners of the GEGAfrica project. GEGAfrica comprises a network of African think-tanks and scholars working on issues of global economic governance and how they affect Africa, and particularly South Africa.

The aims of the GEGAfrica project are to undertake and promote research driven by African needs, to advise policymakers, and both stimulate and inform public and media interest on global economic governance. It is a joint initiative of the International Development Law Unit at the University of Pretoria and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA).