The Chinese Model Of Infrastructure Development In Africa

PUBLICATIONS POLICY BRIEF & ALERTS Mar 11, 2018

A Note On The Economic Downturn In Sub-Saharan Africa

The recent movements in the dollar-naira exchange rate, following the removal of the currency peg, has stimulated ongoing debate in the media that South Africa has regained its position as the largest economy in Africa. The prevailing notion is that the depreciation of the naira and simultaneous appreciation of the rand against the US dollar implies that South Africa’s GDP has surpassed that of Nigeria. However, this argument needs some re-examination, given that the value of the GDP (in current US$) is sensitive to the choice of exchange rate and GDP figures used for its computation. This piece situates the present argument in the context of recent commodity market crisis and its implications for the two largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa

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PUBLICATIONS POLICY BRIEF & ALERTS Mar 11, 2018

Examining Nigerias Learning Crisis: Can Communities Be Mobilized To Take Action?

Until recently, policy design and interventions in basic education were unduly focused on increasing school enrollment in developing countries, with little attention on improving the quality of learning. Using two states in Nigeria – Lagos and Kano, this paper examined the extent to which School Based Management Committees (SBMCs) mobilized actions (collective and private) to improve school-level accountability, and how this affected school performance and learning outcomes. The study finds that increasing citizen clients‘ participation and voice via SBMCs can improve educational outcomes by strengthening accountability. When functional, their activities remarkably raise intermediate outcomes (i.e., school resources and enrolment), however, there is no evidence to suggest that they improve children‘s learning outcomes.

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PUBLICATIONS POLICY BRIEF & ALERTS Aug 22, 2017

An Analysis Of The Nigerian Economic Growth And Recovery Plan

This Paper examines the response of the Nigerian government to the ongoing recession in the domestic economy, particularly in the context of the recently released Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) for 2017-2020. It also provides an analysis of key questions regarding the suitability, achievability, and prospect of the ERGP. The second section of the brief runs through the state of the Nigerian economy with a focus on the cause and drivers of the ongoing recession. The third section reviews the objectives, implementation strategy, and expected outcomes of the ERGP over the medium-term. The fourth section weighs on the potentials of the ERGP by analyzing some pertinent questions: Is the proposed recovery plan and policies well-targeted to address prevailing economic crises in Nigerian economy?

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PUBLICATIONS POLICY BRIEF & ALERTS May 17, 2017

Understanding The Ongoing Recession In Nigeria:A Synthesis Of The Events And Policy Options

In the second quarter of 2016, the Nigerian economy witnessed its first recession in twenty years due to the interplay of several external and internal factors. The recession has continued until date and has given rise to relentless unemployment rate and job losses, double digit and soaring inflation, currency depreciation and widening gap between parallel market and official exchange rates, amongst other adverse effect on individuals and firms in the country. Thus, there is a need to take a deeper look into the nature of the present recession as well as the impact of monetary and fiscal policy responses thus far, in order to shed light on the way forward towards tackling the recession and ensuring sustainable economic growth. This paper analyses the ongoing recession in the Nigerian economy to provide insights into the interplay of events and recommendations for policy.

The Chinese Model Of Infrastructure Development In Africa

Infrastructural development is a key step in providing a competitive business environment for African economies. It provides the backbone for poverty reduction strategies and programmes designed to improve the livelihood of the poor. Africa is in dire need of infrastructural development. The absence of quality infrastructure in the continent holds back per capita economic growth by 2 percentage points each year and depresses firm productivity by as much as 40 percent (Escribano et al., 2008 and Kelly, 2012). Estimates suggest that around USD 90 billion is required to close Africas infrastructure gap annually until 2020 (AICD, 2010).

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