Durant la décennie à venir, la population mondiale va se concentrer en milieu urbain et d'ici 2050, 90% de la population croissante additionnelle se situera essentiellement en zones urbaine sur les continents Asiatique et Africain. Cette évolution va entrainer une forte croissance des villes et de nombreuses mutations urbaines. Face à la hausse de ces pressions anthropiques, un questionnement est nécessaire : comment orienter cette croissance vers un développement durable des villes ? Une des réponses envisageables est le concept d'Infrastructures Vertes (IV). Il induit, au travers de grands principes, une approche paysagère afin d'améliorer la cohabitation entre la nature et l'Homme. Ce concept appliqué aux villes, génère différents services, pour un meilleur développement de celles-ci. Cette notion d'IV a fortement été étudié dans les pays du Nord mais très peu dans ceux du Sud. Or, on constate que les plus fortes pressions urbaines à venir, se manifesterons dans ces derniers. C'est pourquoi cette recherche s'intéresse à la ville de Lubumbashi, située en milieu Sub-saharien, en République Démocratique du Congo. Ce travail, articulé autour d'une approche paysagère, permet d'identifier si les couloirs de végétation observés, au sein de la ville de Lubumbashi, peuvent avoir la fonction d'Infrastructures Vertes. Pour se faire, trois grandes parties ont été développées à l'aide d'objectifs établis pour cette recherche. La première partie identifie cartographiquement la structure générale de ces couloirs. Cela permet d'observer la présence d'un réseau interconnecté d'espaces qui génèrent une continuité surfacique. La deuxième partie se base sur ce réseau afin de déterminer au travers de sorties de terrains et d'analyses photographiques, la composition de ces couloirs, pour définir les milieux qui les composent. Cette approche a permis de définir leurs rôles au sein de la ville et de constater la présence d'une continuité écosystémique s'organisant autour du réseau hydrique urbain. L'identification de plusieurs milieux a induit la troisième partie et à s'intéresser de manière plus détaillée aux paysages qui les composent. Ceci a permis de comprendre leurs singularités ainsi que leurs caractéristiques. La découverte d'espaces repliés sur eux-mêmes a mené vers l'étude de leurs limites, afin d'observer les interactions qu'elles possèdent avec la ville. Leurs mises en valeur a fait ressortir qu'elles sont très peu perceptibles depuis le milieu urbain. Cette recherche a permis d'attester le statut d'Infrastructures Vertes pour ce réseau de couloirs végétalisés, mais seulement de manière non officielle. En effet, l'incapacité de définir objectivement la présence de certains principes, empêche d'affirmer totalement l'hypothèse de base. Cependant, il en ressort qu'elles possèdent un immense potentiel. Leur prise en considération doit être faite au plus vite pour conserver l'ensemble des opportunités qu'elles offrent. ; Over the coming decades the world's population will be concentrated in urban areas. By 2050, 90% of the additional population on the Asian and African continents will be mainly located in urban areas. This evolution will certainly lead to strong urban growth and transformation. The increasing of anthropogenic pressures are raising questions about the necessity to direct cities development through a sustainable development? One of the possible answers is the concept of Green Infrastructure. Through major principles, it induces a landscape approach for improving the coexistence between Nature and Human. This concept, applied to cities, generates different services, improving their own development. This notion of Green Infrastructure has been strongly studied in Northern countries but barely in the South. However, we can see that the greatest urban pressures will occur in the Southern countries. This is why this research focuses on the city of Lubumbashi, located in sub-Saharan Africa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This work, based on a landscape approach, is searching if the vegetation corridors observed in the city of Lubumbashi can have the function of Green Infrastructures. Three main parts were developed using objectives established for this research. The first part identifies on maps, the general structure of these corridors. This analysis reveals the presence of an interconnected space network that generate surface continuity. The second part is based on this network with the aim to identify the environmental composition of the corridors thanks to field trips and photographic analysis methods. This approach tries to define their roles in the city and to observe the presence of an ecosystem continuity organized around the urban water network. The third part is going more in details to describe the landscape composition of the several environments identified previously. The goal is to have a better understanding of landscapes singularities and characteristics. The discovery of withdrawn spaces led to the study of their boundaries and to observe the interactions that they have with the city. These interactions have shown that they are not very noticeable from the urban environment. This research tries to certify the status of Green Infrastructure for this network of vegetated corridors, but only in an unofficial way. Indeed, the inability to objectively define the presence of certain principles prevents the basic hypothesis from being fully affirmed. However, it appears that they have immense potential. They must be taken into account as soon as possible to preserve all the opportunities they offer.
Located in Central Africa, Cameroon is considered the driving force of the sub-region due to its strategic location in the center of the African continent. During the last five years, the country has been under the constant threat of a large range of disasters like floods, droughts, landslides, epidemics, etc. In such a context, the government is implementing several strategies for Disaster Risk Reduction in the country. Under the lead of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, the Directorate of Civil Protection, coordinates Disaster Risk Reduction activities through a network of over 379 decentralized institutions and international partners (Ayanji, 2004). Despite a high level of deployment, these activities still prove to have a low level of efficiency on the field. Results from the literature review suggest that this may be due to strategies for public education and public awareness that do not mirror stakeholders' needs, capacities, and background. There is a need to: (1) identify the failures of the pre-existing public education and public awareness strategy, (2) assess the educational needs and capacities of each category of actors, (3) select adequate instructional methods and tools and (4) ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the newly proposed strategy. The aim of this work, which is a three-year PhD project funded by the AXA Research Fund, is therefore to propose a public education and public awareness model adapted to the Cameroonian context, using Technology Enhanced Learning to strengthen capacities and competencies of stakeholders involved in the problem of climate change. The study makes use of a mixed method approach. From the literature review, four categories of actors involved into the climate change education process in the country have first been identified namely (1) government, (2) educational institutions, (3) Non-Governmental Organizations and (4) communities. A sample population has been driven from each category using the Respondent Driven Sampling method. Then data were collected during a six-month field trip in Cameroon, using semi-structured interviews (McNamara, 1999), qualitative survey (Fowler, 2009), direct observation (Bernard, 2006) and focus group discussion (Krueger & Casey, 2009). Findings from data analyses, performed using Epi info software for quantitative data and MAXQDA software for qualitative data show that: the educational strategy is not clearly defined; there is a lack of adequate infrastructures; technologies available are not properly used: either they are not evenly accessible, or when accessible they do not match learners' capacities and competencies. Finally, quality criteria for the evaluation of the existing educational strategy are not met, thus failing to ensure it sustainability. The conceptual solution proposed in this work makes use of the concept of learning communities, especially Community of Practice as proposed by Lave and Wenger (1991) to develop an information and knowledge sharing community system to establish best practices for improving community resilience to climate change impact. This Community of Practice will operate essentially offline with a selected domain, a well-defined and structured community, and a practice that makes use of identified technologies already available among communities and, most importantly, that mirrors the Cameroonian socio-cultural context. One unexpected factor that had to be taken into consideration while determining adequate technology tools, is the actors' perception, or rather say actors' (un)acceptance of "new technologies", which render the design of the instructional model quite challenging. ; Kamerun ist ein Land in Zentralafrika. Aufgrund seiner strategischen Lage in der Mitte des afrikanischen Kontinents, gilt das Land als die treibende Kraft der Sub-Region. Während der letzten fünf Jahre wurde Kamerun Opfer von ständigen Bedrohungen einer Vielzahl von Katastrophen wie Überschwemmungen, Dürren, Erdrutsche, Epidemien, usw. In diesem Kontext hat die Regierung eine Reihe von Strategien zur Verringerung der Katastrophenrisiken imstande gebracht. Dies wurde unter der Leitung vom Ministerium der territorialen Verwaltung und Dezentralisierung und vom Amt für Katastrophenschutz durchgeführt. Weiterhin nahmen mehr als 379 dezentrale Institutionen und internationale Partner an diese bedeutende Aktion teil (Ayanji, 2004). Die bei diesem Großeinsatz getroffenen Maßnahmen haben aber bisher eine sehr geringe Effizienz auf dem Feld gebracht. Eine nähere Betrachtung im Zusammenspiel mit entsprechender Literatur lassen folgendes vermuten: die Strategien zur Sensibilisierung sind auf die Bedürfnisse, Kapazitäten und Hintergründe der Akteure nicht angepasst. Demnach sind folgende Tatsachen in Betracht zu ziehen: (1) Identifikation der Ausfälle der bevorstehenden Awareness-Strategie; (2) Bewertung den pädagogischen Bedürfnissen und Kapazitäten der einzelnen Kategorien von Akteuren; (3) Auswahl geeigneter Unterrichtsmethoden und Tools; (4) Gewährleisten der Wirksamkeit und Nachhaltigkeit der neu vorgeschlagenen Strategie. Diese Arbeit stammt aus einem dreijährigen Promotionsprojekt finanziert von der AXA Research Fund. Das Ziel der Arbeit ist der Vorschlag eines Awareness-Modells, das an dem kamerunischen Kontext angepasst ist, und das die Bildungstechnologie zur Stärkung der Kapazitäten und Kompetenzen der beteiligten Akteure des Klimawandels nutzt. Aus der Literatur sind vier Kategorien von Akteuren identifiziert worden: Die Regierung, Bildungseinrichtungen, nationale und internationale Organisationen, Gemeinschaften. Die Studie folgt einer Mixed-Method Forschung. Eine Stichprobe wurde aus jeder Kategorie von Akteuren mit Schneeballauswahl-Methode gezogen. Dann wurden Daten während einer 6-monatigen Studienreise in Kamerun gesammelt. Diese wurde in Begleitung mit semi-strukturierten Interview (McNamara, 1999), qualitativen Erhebung (Fowler, 2009), direkter Beobachtung (Bernard, 2006) und Gruppendiskussion (Krueger & Casey, 2009). Die Daten wurden analysiert mit Epi-info Software für quantitative Daten und MAXQDA Software für qualitative Daten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen Folgendes: - Die pädagogische Strategie ist nicht klar definiert - Mangel an angemessenen Infrastrukturen - Die verfügbaren Technologien sind nicht vorhanden und teilweise falsch eingesetzt. Sie sind entweder nicht gleichmäßig verwendet oder sie stimmen mit den Fähigkeiten der Lernenden nicht überein. - Qualitätskriterien für die Bewertung der bestehenden Ausbildungsstrategie sind nicht erfüllt Die vorgeschlagene konzeptionelle Lösung, die in dieser Arbeit verwendet wird, benutzt das Konzept der Learning Communities, insbesondere "Community of Practice" wie von Lave und Wenger (1991) beschrieben. Ziel ist es, ein Informations- und Wissensaustausch Community-System zur Förderung bewährter Verfahren im Sinne der Verbesserung der Gemeinschaft gegenüber Auswirkungen des Klimawandels zu schaffen. Diese Community of Practice wird offline mit einer ausgewählten Domäne, eine gut definierte und strukturierte Gemeinschaft, und eine gut gestaltete Praxis funktionieren. Ein unerwarteter Faktor, der bei der Bestimmung der angemessenen Technologie-Tools berücksichtigt werden müsste, ist die Wahrnehmung der Akteure oder besser gesagt die (Un-)Akzeptanz der "Neuen Technologien" durch die Akteure. Dies macht das Design des Instruktionsmodells zu einer richtigen Herausforderung.
Organisation und Management zur verbesserten Wassernutzung in der Landwirtschaft des Sudan - eine empirische Studie Der Sudan, das größte Land Afrikas, kann stellvertretend gesehen werden für die Probleme, die den afrikanischen Kontinent bewegen. An erster Stelle ist die Ernährungssicherung für eine steigende Bevölkerungszahl anzusehen. Bei Betrachtung der Dürre-Probleme dieser Region, die ihren Höhepunkt Mitte der 80er Jahre hatten, wird das Thema Bewässerung zunehmend zu einem Pfeiler, wenn es um die Verbesserung der Nahrungsmittelversorgung geht. Dieser Sub-Sektor spielt, historisch gesehen, eine wichtige Rolle für die Produktion von Nahrungsmitteln und landwirtschaftlichen Exportprodukten im Sudan. Jedoch gibt es zunehmende Anzeichen dafür, daß die Ausdehnung der Bewässerungssysteme generell in Konfrontation mit einer beschränkten Verfügbarkeit von Fremdwährung und Wasserressourcen stehen wird. Die erste Beschränkung ist abhängig von der Leistungsfähigkeit der sudanesischen Wirtschaft und die zweite von den Plänen anderer Länder. Da der erste Faktor seinen kritischen Punkt erreicht hat, ist es klar, dass Wasser, und nicht andere Ressourcen, die entscheidende Rolle bei der Entwicklung der Bewässerungssysteme spielen wird. Somit ist es notwendig, wenn die sudanesische Landwirtschaft entwickelt werden soll, das Management der Wassernutzung und die damit verbundenen organisatorischen Rahmenbedingungen zu vervollkommnen. Folglich war es die Hauptaufgabe der Studie, die Faktoren, die dem Ziel einer wirtschaftlichen Wassernutzung hinderlich sind, herauszuarbeiten. Die Studie teilt sich in zwei Abschnitte. Der erste Teil setzt sich mit den theoretischen Rahmenbedingungen relevanter Konzepte und Ansätze auseinander. Es werden die verschiedenen Aspekte, die Einfluß auf die Leistungsfähigkeit von Bewässerungssystemen haben, hervorgehoben. Dabei werden besonders Technologie und Umwelt betont. Zusätzlich werden die Bedeutungen und Bedingungen des Institutionellen Wandels diskutiert. Der zweite Teil der Studie widmet sich der Empirie, d.h. den Methoden und Ergebnissen der Feldforschung. Diese wurde in zwei Bewässerungs-Schemes durchgeführt: New Halfa Scheme in Ostsudan und Gendettu Scheme im Norden des Landes. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie zeigen auf, daß ein umfassender Entwicklungsansatz alle natürlichen Ressourcen einbeziehen muß. Weiterhin dürfen auch die politischen Verhältnisse im Umfeld der Schemes nicht vernachlässigt werden. Das Ergebnis weist besonders auf die Frage hin, in welchem Ausmaß Partizipation anwendbar ist in den bürokratisch organisierten Bewässerungs-Systemen in Ländern mit ähnlichen Bedingungen. Es konnte festgestellt werden, daß auch die sozioökonomische Dimension beachtet werden muß, wenn die Effizienz der Bewässerung betrachtet wird, d.h. Produktivität und Rentabilität müssen in die Kalkulationen miteinbezogen werden. In diesem Zusammenhang ist es von von äußerster Wichtigkeit, der Modernisierung entsprechender Technologien und der Einbeziehung unterstützender Institutionen große Bedeutung zukommen zu lassen. Die zentrale Schlußfolgerung dieser Studie ist also, daß die Effizienz der Wassernutzung auch die gleichzeitige effiziente Nutzung anderer Ressourcen und Inputs, die von zuliefernden Institutionen zur Verfügung gestellt werden, erfordert. Zusätzlich ist anzumerken, daß das Nichtvorhandensein von Pächter-Partizipation und die Vorherrschaft der Interessen der Scheme-Verwaltung, als Repräsentanten des Staates, der Effizienz entgegenwirken, das heißt, daß sich die Effizienz der Wassernutzer und die des Staates diametral gegenüberstehen. Besonders hervorgehoben werden muß die mangelnde Kommunikation zwischen den verschiedenen Beteiligten der Schemes. Dieser Punkt führt die Aufmerksamkeit direkt zur Rolle der Bauernorganisationen als Verbindung zwischen den Wassernutzern und dem Scheme Management. Die Schlussfolgerung, die aus dieser Analyse gezogen werden kann, ist, daß die Bauernorganisationen ihre Aufgaben unabhängig wahrnehmen müssen. Schließlich betont die Studie, daß zur Erreichung der Ziele, die mit der Erhebung von Bewässerungsgebühren verbunden sind, gleichzeitig instutionelle Veränderungen erforderlich sind. ; Organization and Management for Efficient Irrigation Water-Use – An Empirical Study in the Sudan Sudan, the largest country in Africa, symbolizes the problems challenging the continent. The most threatening one is food security for an increasing population. Considering the drought conditions that built up in the area – culminating in the mid 1980s – irrigation became a cornerstone to boost food supplies. This sub-sector has historically played a substantial role in the production of food and cash crops in Sudan. However, there is now growing evidence that the opportunities for the further lateral expansion of irrigation schemes will be faced by the limitations of the availability of foreign currency and the availability of water resources. The former is dependent on the performance of the Sudanese economy and the later is, in addition, interdependent with the plans of other countries. Though the first limitation has reached a critical level, it is recognized that water rather than other resources will be the main determinant of irrigation development. Thereby, if Sudanese agriculture is to develop, there is a need to improve the utilization of available water through improving its management and the organizational contexts in which this is practiced. Within this area of interest, the major task of the study has been to map the factors that hinder this goal. The study is divided into two parts. The first deals with the theoretical framework of key concepts and relevant issues. It discusses, however, the different aspects that have an influence on the performance of irrigation systems and emphasizes, in particular, those of technology and the environment. In addition, the meaning and conditions of institutional change are also discussed in detail. The second part of the study, the analytical section, comprises the methodology and the results of field work which has been conducted under two irrigation bureaucracies – the New Halfa Scheme in the eastern part of Sudan, and the Gendettu Scheme in the north. The results of the study stressed the need for a comprehensive development approach which considers all natural resources. Furthermore, within the special reference to the environment of the schemes, it has been found that the political conditions are of particular importance. This result highlights the question as to what extent participation is applicable in bureaucratic irrigation schemes in countries that have similar conditions. The study also comes to the conclusion that irrigation water efficiency has a socio-economic dimension and therefore has to be linked with productivity and profitability. In this connection, modernizing the relevant technologies and sustaining the integration with support institutions are of relevant importance. Consequently, a central conclusion of this study is that the efficiency of water utilization also requires, at the same time, the efficient utilization of other resources and inputs supplied by support institutions. In addition, the absence of tenants' participation and the dominance of the schemes administrations goals, as representatives of the state, have resulted in a contradictory efficiency; the efficiency of water users vis-à-vis the efficiency of the state. Concerning communication, a yawning gap has been registered between the different actors of the schemes. This focus has tended to direct attention to the role of farmers' organizations in the articulation between water users and scheme management. The conclusion that could be drawn from this analysis is that farmers' organizations need to play this role independently. Finally the study stresses that, to achieve the goals for charging for irrigation water, these need to be accompanied by institutional changes.
Russia's war against Ukraine has accelerated international competition for influence in Africa. Structural weaknesses and post-pandemic instabilities continue to threaten achievements in the fields of democratic governance, peace and security, as well as development. We present a select list and analysis of "ten things to watch" in Africa in 2023. Politics: Democratic quality will depend on the nature of polls, as the electoral calendar is heavily packed. Important general elections that could trigger social unrest are scheduled in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Peace and security: Against the backdrop of continued structural-conflict risks, Jihadism and related ethno-regional tensions pose a major security challenge that may spill over to neighbouring states, especially from the Sahel to West African coastal countries. The recent ceasefire in Ethiopia's Tigray Region could be a first positive step towards peace. International arena: Amid Russia's war against Ukraine, many African governments were reluctant to join the international coalition condemning the Putin regime. Continued Western pressure on African countries to isolate Russia fosters African agency. At the same time, we expect to see an intensifying "new scramble for Africa" that includes both China and Middle Eastern countries. Socio-economic development: African countries will slowly rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic's socio-economic effects, but high poverty, inequality, and government debt hamper economic growth. Progress on joint efforts to counter the climate crisis remains slow. Western support for African countries in their struggle for democracy, peace and security, as well as development requires a "new start" that focuses on prevention rather than ad hoc responses to current crises. The European Union and United States should avoid lapsing into Cold War habits of only assisting African governments if they "break away" from Russia. Germany needs to formulate a sound Africa policy that balances values and national interests with realistic assessments of the policy's potential in light of bigger players like China.
This thesis is entitled "Essays on Public Debt, Growth and Development in Africa" and consists of a set of four essays, three of which are empirical. The first essay provides a literature survey on public debt and economic growth, specially focused on Africa. Since the beginning of the 1990s, public debt has been a real barrier to the economic growth of African economies and has since become part of the agenda and concern of policy makers, economists and researchers. A considerable number of theoretical and empirical studies have been produced over decades, addressing the impact of public debt on the economic growth of these countries. The results are consensual and point generally to an inverse relationship between the two variables i.e. public debt negatively affects economic growth from a given level. Krugman (1988) and Sachs (1989) agree that high levels of public debt mitigate the economic growth of developing countries through investment. This position is further corroborated by Mbale (2013) who referring to African countries argues that public debt crowds out credit to the private sector and constitutes a barrier to capital accumulation and private sector growth. Buchanan (1958) and Modigliani (1961) also share the view that in addition to the crowding out effect, the increase in public debt positively affects the long-term interest rate. Generally, the increase in public debt negatively affects economic growth. Fosu (1996) Irons and Bivens (2010) are decisive in concluding that high debt levels jeopardize economic growth, a position shared by Ezeabasili et al (2011), Escobar and Mallick (2013) and Zouhaier and Fatma (2014). Regarding the impact of fiscal policy on the economic growth of African countries, Devarajan et al. (1996) consider, after empirical analysis, that an increase in public spending has a positive and significant impact on economic growth. Nurudeen and Usman (2010) argue that an increase in public spending is not immediately converted into economic growth, whereas Nworji et al. (2012) show that current and capital expenditures do not have a significant negative impact on Nigeria's economic growth. This view is supported by Engen and Skinner (1997) who concluded that public expenditure and the tax burden negatively and sharply affect economic growth. Babadola and Aminu (2011) provide complementary evidence and recommend that increased public spending on health and education should promote growth. The survey also highlights the inverse relationship between economic growth and government debt, compounded by the problem of debt overhang, preventing these countries from leveraging their economies. Additionally, the literature on the relationship between public deficits and economic growth is also not consensual. In fact, although the economic theory postulates that fiscal deficit contributes inevitably to debt accumulation, which through debt overhang affects negatively economic growth, there are other strings of economic thoughts that advocate that African countries would not reach economic growth without increasing debt. The second essay is empirical and analyzes the implications of public debt on economic growth and inflation in a group of 52 African economies between 1950 and 2012. The overall analysis was focused on the relationship between the limits of public debt as a percentage of the GDP, economic growth, and inflation. African economies achieve their highest performance in terms of average rates of economic growth (6.39%), while the limits of public debt as a percentage of the GDP are in the second intervals (30 - 60%) with an average inflation rate of 8.17%. From this limit, any increase in public debt is converted into a reduction of the average growth rates of economies and into an increase in average inflation rates. The findings show, unequivocally, that there is an inverse relationship between these two macroeconomic variables, depending on the levels of indebtedness. Briefly, the analysis concludes that the highest average growth rates are achieved when the public debt is in the second interval. When this ratio is situated in the third interval the average rates of economic growth suffer a drop of 1.32 percentage points and 1.64 percentage points when this ratio exceeds 90%. These results are much lower than those found by Reinhart and Rogoff in the essay "Growth in Time of Debt", for which an amount of debt equivalent to 60% of GDP causes a drop in the annual growth rate of around 2 percentage points. The third essay empirically assesses the traditional determinants of economic growth in African economies over the period 1950 to 2012, using growth regression techniques in which the explanatory variables are: public debt per capita, investment ratio, government ratio, capital stock per capita, and the Human Capital Index. The method used takes into account observed and unobserved heterogeneity. The regression results show strong evidence of a positive impact of the growth rate of capital stock to economic growth of African countries. The growth rate of the government to GDP ratio is also important in all but one of the regressions in which appears, and its growth is harmful for economic growth. Human capital has a positive relationship with economic growth in regressions that don't include public debt. However, the cross country impact of these two variables on the growth rate of the economies (positive to some and negative to others) is not uniform, so that appropriate policies for one country may be seriously misguided in another. Concerning public debt, we found that it is not significant and therefore it has no impact on the economic growth of African countries. The growth rate of real GDP per capita also depends (negatively) on its past value, i.e., the lower the real GDP per capita the higher will be its growth rate. We have also tested two proxies for institutions, which did not deliver significant results. The software used for the regressions is STATA, version 13. The fourth essay is devoted to an exploratory analysis of the main economic, social and institutional determinants of development in Africa, using a main component analysis for categorical data and cluster analysis and taking into account the years 1996 and 2014 as the oldest and most recent, respectively. This methodology allowed the agglomeration of the African countries into four differentiated clusters, being the countries constituting the clusters of 1996 distinct from those of the year 2014. The results point out to a positive association between the social, economic and institutional determinants of development which is reflected in the fact that countries with better institutional performances also show better indicators of economic and social achievement. The results also draw the attention of policy makers and development strategists to the need for an integrated approach to the development process, in order to achieve greater and more efficient integration of the different development determinants. The software used is IBM-SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), version 23.0. ; Esta tese intitula-se "Essays on Public Debt, Economic Growth and Development in Africa" e é constituída por um conjunto de quatro ensaios, sendo três de natureza empírica. O primeiro ensaio ocupa-se da revisão da literatura sobre a dívida pública e o crescimento económico no contexto das economias africanas. A dívida pública constitui desde os princípios dos anos noventa do século passado uma verdadeira barreira para o crescimento económico das economias africanas e desde então passou a fazer parte da agenda e da preocupação dos decisores políticos, dos economistas e de uma massa crítica de investigadores cada vez mais interessada. Um manancial de estudos teóricos e empíricos foi produzido ao longo dessas décadas abordando o impacto da dívida pública no crescimento económico desses países. Os resultados são consensuais e apontam, genericamente, para uma relação inversa entre as duas variáveis ou seja a dívida pública afeta negativamente o crescimento económico a partir de um determinado nível. Krugman (1988) e Sachs (1989) concordam que níveis elevados da dívida pública hipotecam o crescimento económico dos países em vias de desenvolvimento por via do investimento. Esta posição é ainda corroborada por Mbale (2013) que referindo aos países africanos defende que a dívida pública crowds out o crédito destinado ao sector privado e impede a acumulação do capital e o crescimento do sector privado. Buchanan (1958) e Modigliani (1961) também partilham a opinião de que para além do efeito crowding out, o aumento da dívida pública influencia diretamente o aumento da taxa de juros a longo prazo. Em suma, o aumento da dívida pública afeta negativamente o crescimento económico. Fosu (1996) Irons e Bivens (2010) são decisivos em concluir que níveis elevados de dívida comprometem o crescimento económico, posição partilhada também por Ezeabasili et al (2011), Escobar and Mallick (2013) e Zouhaier e Fatma (2014). Relativamente ao impacto da política fiscal no crescimento económico dos países africanos, Devarajan et al (1996) consideram, após análises empíricas, que um aumento das despesas públicas tem um impacto positivo e significante no crescimento económico. Nurudeen e Usman (2010) argumentam que um incremento das despesas públicas não é imediatamente convertido em crescimento económico, enquanto Nworji et al. (2012) mostram que as despesas correntes e de capital não têm significativo impacto negativo no crescimento económico da Nigéria. Opinião díspar é defendida por Engen and Skinner (1997) que concluíram que as despesas públicas e a carga fiscal afetam negativamente e de forma acutilante o crescimento económico. Babadola e Aminu (2011) trazem evidências complementares e recomendam que o aumento das despesas públicas na saúde e educação promovem o crescimento. O segundo ensaio faz uma análise empírica sobre os limites do endividamento público, o crescimento económico e a inflação nas economias africanas, partindo de uma base de dados que cobre o período entre 1950 e 2012, envolvendo um conjunto de 52 economias, dividido em três áreas geográficas, designadamente: (1) Africa do Norte, (2) Africa Sub-Sahariana e (3) Comunidade para o Desenvolvimento da Africa Austral (SADC). O estudo conclui que, para o conjunto das economias africanas, as melhores performances em termos de taxas médias de crescimento económico (6,39%) são alcançadas quando os limites da dívida pública em percentagem do PIB se encontram entre os 30-60% do PIB e a taxa média de inflação for igual a 8.17%. Qualquer incremento da dívida pública a partir deste limite, provoca uma redução das taxas de crescimento médio das economias e um aumento das taxas médias de inflação. O ensaio traz-nos ainda uma evidência inequívoca de que existe uma relação inversa entre o crescimento económico e a inflação, em função dos níveis de endividamento. A principal conclusão do ensaio é a de que maiores taxas de crescimento médio das economias são alcançadas quando a dívida pública se encontra entre os 30 e os 60% do PIB. Se este rácio aumentar e se enquadrar entre os 60 e os 90% do PIB, as taxas médias de crescimento económico caem 1,32 pontos percentuais e 1,64 pontos percentuais quando excede os 90% do PIB. Trata-se, efetivamente, de valores inferiores aos obtidos por Reinhart e Rogoff no ensaio "Growth in Time of Debt" em que a dívida pública equivalente a 60% do PIB provoca uma queda do crescimento económico em cerca de 2 pontos percentuais e uma redução até 50% para valores da dívida pública superiores a 90% do PIB. Nota-se ainda que, no que diz respeito à taxa de inflação os resultados obtidos são idênticos aos de Reinhart e Rogoff ".nas economias emergentes, níveis elevados da dívida coincidem com elevadas taxas de inflação" (Reinhart and Rogoff, 2010). Um artigo resultante deste ensaio foi publicado no South African Journal of Economics, uma revista científica internacional pertencente ao Journal Citations Report e ao ranking do CEFAGE. O terceiro ensaio, intitulado "Explaining Growth in African Countries – What Matters?", analisa a relação entre dívida pública, stock de capital, consumo público em percentagem do PIB, Formação Bruta do Capital Fixo (BCF) em percentagem do PIB e o Índice do Capital Humano enquanto determinantes do crescimento e o próprio crescimento económico em 52 economias africanas entre 1950 e 2012. Tratando-se de um conjunto preciso de países e, por conseguinte, de uma regressão limitada, utilizou-se um modelo de painel de efeito fixo. Os coeficientes heterogéneos foram estimados utilizando o Modelo de Correção de Erros, de forma a envolver as propriedades das séries temporais e a própria dinâmica dos dados em painel. O software utilizado para as regressões é o STATA versão 13. O ensaio traz sólidas evidências, em todas as regressões efetuadas, de que a taxa de crescimento do stock de capital afeta positivamente o crescimento económico dos países africanos. Por outro lado, o capital humano manifesta uma relação positiva com o crescimento económico nas regressões que não incluem a dívida pública. No que se refere à dívida pública, o ensaio mostra que o seu impacto no crescimento económico dos países africanos não é significante. Testamos ainda duas proxies para as instituições mas os resultados não foram significativos. O quarto ensaio dedica-se à análise exploratória dos principais determinantes económicos, sociais e institucionais de desenvolvimento em Africa, utilizando uma análise de componentes principais para dados categóricos e análise de clusters e tendo em conta os anos de 1996 e 2014 como ano mais antigo e mais recente, respetivamente. Esta metodologia permitiu a aglomeração dos países africanos em quatro clusters diferenciados, sendo os países constituintes dos clusters de 1996 distintos dos do ano 2014. Os dados foram tratados com recurso ao software estatístico IBM-SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), versão 23.0. Os resultados do ensaio apontam para uma associação positiva entre os determinantes sociais, económicos e institucionais do desenvolvimento. Esta associação traduz-se no facto de que os países com melhores performances institucionais manifestam também melhores indicadores de realização económica e social. Os resultados chamam também a atenção dos decisores políticos e dos estrategas de desenvolvimento para a necessidade de uma abordagem integrada do processo de desenvolvimento, visando uma maior e mais eficiente integração dos diferentes determinantes do desenvolvimento. A tese está organizada em capítulos que constituíram a base para artigos científicos submetidos a revistas internacionais, dai que embora relacionados entre si nos temas abordados e tendo como fio condutor um contributo para o desenvolvimento da economias dos países de Africa, cada capitulo é autocontido, tendo também o autor optado por incluir listas bibliográficas em cada um dos capítulos.
"Women judges are playing increasingly prominent roles in many African judiciaries, yet there remains very little comparative research on the subject. Drawing on extensive cross-national data and theoretical and empirical analysis, this book provides a timely and broad-ranging assessment of gender and judging in African judiciaries. Employing different theoretical approaches, the book investigates how women have fared within domestic African judiciaries, as both actors and litigants. It explores how women negotiate multiple hierarchies to access the judiciary, and how gender-related issues are handled in courts. The chapters in the book provide policy, theoretical and practical prescriptions to the challenges identified, and offer recommendations for the future directions of gender and judging in the post-Covid-19 era, including the role of technology, artificial intelligence, social media, and institutional transformations that can help promote women's rights. Bringing together specific cases from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa, and regional bodies such as ECOWAS and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and covering a broad range of thematic reflections, this book will be of interest to scholars, students and practitioners of African law, judicial politics, judicial training, and gender studies. It will also be useful to bilateral and multilateral donor institutions financing gender sensitive judicial reform programs particularly in Africa"--
Sanctions are frequently applied by the UN Security Council (UNSC) as well as regional organizations. While the objectives sought often vary, a frequent commonality is that they target African states. Indeed, Africa is the most frequently targeted continent by the UNSC and regional organisations including the African Union, Economic Community of West African States and the European Union. However, little attention has been paid to the confluence of this sanctions activity by these different organizations. This article seeks to address this gap in the research. While the UNSC continues to focus on sanctioning to end hostilities, the regional organizations have assigned themselves unconstitutional changes to government as the principal reason to sanction African states. Drawing on data from the Targeted Sanctions Consortium (TSC), this article suggests that: 1) regional organisations are leading UNSC activity more often than is appreciated in the literature; 2) the UNSC has of late been expanding its sanctioning activity to consider issues of democracy and good governance; 3) the UNSC uses sanctions to endorse the activity of African regional organizations to deal with crises on the continent; and 4) UNSC and regional sanctions are intimately tied to crisis management in Africa. (International Affairs (Oxford) / SWP)
