Highlight

In this episode, RISE research fellow Julius Atuhurra speaks to CSEA's Director of Research, Dr. Adedeji Adeniran, about CSEA’s education research journey that has evolved from an initial focus on education financing to studying more nuanced topics, including: education system diagnosis, data quality, community engagement, policy analysis tools, and curriculum effectiveness. He highlights the need to fully grasp what transpires inside the classroom and how that is influenced by interactions happening outside the classroom. He also explains RISE Nigeria’s primary focus on demand-side actors and discusses findings from their recent study on primary-level curriculum effectiveness in Nigeria.

https://riseprogramme.org/podcast/adedeji-adeniran

The moderating role of regulatory quality in the relationship between ICT and financial development in Africa is investigated in this study. We employ data from 38 African countries from 2003 to 2020. For the analysis, a two-step system GMM is used. Our findings demonstrate that ICT and regulatory quality are essential for financial development. The net effect of ICT and regulatory quality on financial development is positive, implying that regulatory quality moderates upwards the nexus between ICT and financial development. 

_{The journal was written by Isiaka Akande Raifu, Ismaila Adeleye Okunoye and Alarudeen Aminu}

READ MORE

The pandemic undermined the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The prosperity of the Global South, including Nigeria, depends on universal quality education at the foundation level. This article highlights how the pandemic reversed the gains realised since 2015. It describes how technology and partnership could help build back the educational sector to achieve inclusive quality learning.

Educational inequality describes the disparity in education opportunities among socio-economic, regional, and cultural groups. In Nigeria, for example, the school completion rate among children from wealthy households and the southern region is 63% and 34% higher than those from low-income families and the northern part. Such educational inequalities contribute to widening disparity in opportunities. People with low or little education are more likely to work in the informal sector and low-wage employment.

This Blog was first published here by the Southern Voice.

Persistently high levels of unemployment have emerged to become a key policy challenge in Nigeria. Between 2010 and 2018, the unemployment rate rose from 5 percent to 23 percent. Worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy is simply not generating enough jobs for labor entrants, particularly women and youth. In 2020, the national unemployment rate stood at 33 percent, while 52 percent of women remained unemployed and 42 percent of youth (aged 15-34 years) were without jobs.

Moreover, the contribution of the manufacturing sector to formal sector employment has also been low and stagnant, averaging 11.4 percent between 2011 and 2021. Estimates show that Nigeria’s manufacturing sector accounts for less than 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), and as a result, the sector employs only a small proportion of the labor force.

Given that traditional sectors like manufacturing alone can no longer sustain economic development and generate sufficient job opportunities, attention is now shifting toward alternative sectors that can support growth and create jobs, for example: agro-processing, financial and business services, information and communications technology (ICT), tourism, formal trade, and transport. These “industries without smokestacks” (IWOSS)—as they have been termed in a growing body of literature—are often service-based sectors that closely mimic manufacturing in their tradability, proclivity to absorb large numbers of low-skilled employees, and potential for technological change and productivity growth.

In our recent report, published jointly by the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings and the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa, we find that these industries without smokestacks are indeed already surpassing manufacturing and other traditional sectors in creating jobs and generating economic growth in Nigeria.

Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to arguably the most challenging global health crisis in modern times. Its impact has been felt by most sectors of the global economy, resulting in economic decline around the world. Governments have committed at least $12 trillion towards a recovery stimulus with a focus on immediate needs, including healthcare, job security and food security. However, studies show that the economic response to the COVID-19 crisis has also reinforced negative environmental trends, as few governments have used COVID-19 stimulus packages to transform the economic trajectory of their countries in a way that responds positively to climate change and enhances environmental sustainability. This despite the fact that climate change is one of the biggest threats facing humanity today. With properly designed stimulus packages that are climate friendly, countries can build back in a way that is more sustainable, resilient and inclusive.

Read more

This article was first published by SAIIA