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1782. Are the Chinese in Africa More Innovative than the Africans? Comparing Chinese and Nigerian Entrepreneurial Migrants' Cultures of Innovation
- Author:
- Dirk Kohnert
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Global and Area Studies
- Abstract:
- The remarkable influx of Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in West Africa has been met with growing resistance from established African entrepreneurs. Whether the former have a competitive edge over the latter because of distinctive sociocultural traits or whether the Chineseʹ s supposed effectiveness is just a characteristic feature of any trading diaspora is open to question. This comparative exploratory study of Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants in Ghana and Benin provides initial answers to these questions. Apparently, the cultural stimuli for migrant drivers of change are not restricted to inherited value systems or religions, such as a Protestant ethic or Confucianism; rather, they are continually adapted and invented anew by transnational migration networks in a globalized world. There is no evidence of the supposed superiority of the innovative culture of Chinese entrepreneurial migrants versus that of African entrepreneurial migrants. Rather, there exist trading diasporas which have a generally enhanced innovative capacity vis‐à‐vis local entrepreneurs, regardless of the national culture in which they are embedded. In addition, the rivalry of Chinese and Nigerian migrant entrepreneurs in African markets does not necessarily lead to the often suspected cut‐throat competition. Often the actions of each group are complementary to those of the other. Under certain conditions they even contribute to poverty alleviation in the host country.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- Africa and China
1783. Cargo Cult in Africa: Remittances and the State in Tanzania
- Author:
- Peter Hansen
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper examines remittance and diaspora policy formation in Tanzania as cargo cult. Both migration-development policy formation and cargo cults express the belief in the miraculous transformation of the local by the arrival of wealth emanating from the outside. The paper is based on ethnographic research in Dares Salaam, and adds to our understanding of the links between migration and development in Tanzania, and to our understanding of the relationship between remittances and the state, where the underlying cultural values, ideas and imaginaries expressed in remittance policies and thinking have been ignored.
- Topic:
- Development and Economics
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Tanzania
1784. Cocaine and Instability in Africa: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean
- Author:
- Davin O'Regan
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The dollar value of cocaine trafficked through West Africa has risen rapidly and surpassed all other illicit commodities smuggled in the subregion. Experience from Latin America and the Caribbean demonstrates that cocaine traffic contributes to dra¬matically higher levels of violence and instability. Co-opting key government officials is the preferred modus operandi of Latin American cocaine traf¬fickers. African governments need to act urgently to protect the integrity of their counternarcotics institutions to prevent this threat from developing deeper roots on the continent.
- Topic:
- Crime and Narcotics Trafficking
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Latin America, and Caribbean
1785. The African Union in Darfur: Understanding the afro-arab response to the crisis
- Author:
- A. Sarjoh Bah
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- Darfur, an arid region in western Sudan, has become synonymous with genocide, though many have been reluctant to describe the situation there in such terms, not least the African Union (AU). As the conflict between Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) raged on for over two decades, long-standing tensions in Darfur were neglected. Meanwhile, negotiations led by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) culminated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005, marking the end of Africa's longest running civil war; a conflict that had claimed the lives of approximately two million people and displaced millions more. However, the marginalisation of Darfur meant that the celebrations marking the end of the north-south conflict were short-lived, as news of mass murder involving government soldiers and their infamous militia allies, the Janjaweed, eclipsed the much celebrated deal. In Darfur, the Government and Janjaweed were pitted against the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the two groups that had taken up arms against the Islamist government in early 2003.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Peace Studies, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, Middle East, and Arabia
1786. The Design and Effects of Monetary Policy in Sub-Saharan African Countries
- Author:
- Mohsin S. Khan
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Since the 1990s there have been a number of major changes in the design and conduct of monetary policy. In a globalized environment, there is less time to adjust to shocks and greater need to achieve closer convergence of economic performance among trading partners. As a result, a number of developing countries have adopted exchange rate regimes with more flexibility, and thereby greater scope for monetary policy. Notable examples include a number of sub-Saharan African countries moving from fixed exchange-rate regimes to more flexible regimes and the adoption of formal or informal inflation targeting regimes by some of these countries. These changes have triggered considerable debate on how monetary policy should be conducted and the effects it has on the real economy.
- Topic:
- Economics and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- Africa
1787. Cameroun : les dangers d'un regime en pleine fracture
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- After 28 years of the Biya presidency, Cameroon faces potential instability in the run up to the presidential elections scheduled for late 2011. Constitutional and legal uncertainty; rivalries between the regime's leading figures; the government's attempts to control the electoral process; the rupture of the political contract between leaders and the population; widespread poverty and frustration; extensive corruption; and the frustration of a large part of the army all point to the possibility of a major crisis. To escape this Biya and his government must restore the independence of the body responsible for elections; institutionalise an impartial fight against corruption and ensure the military's political neutrality. They must also urgently establish the institutions envisaged by the 1996 constitution, so that a power vacuum and the potential for violence can be avoided in the event of a transition, including an unexpected one such as the death of the 77-year-old president in office. Cameroon's most influential partners, particularly France and the U.S., should actively support such measures to avoid unrest.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Democratization, Politics, and Political Power Sharing
- Political Geography:
- Africa
1788. Egypt and the Darfur conflict
- Author:
- Øystein Rolandsen and Jacob Høigilt
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- The conflict in Sudan's western province of Darfur has revived even as the peace talks in Qatar between Sudan's government and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) seem to have collapsed. Egypt has hitherto refrained from involvement in negotiations to end the conflict, a strategy that has contributed to further diminishing Cairo's already weakened status as a major player in regional politics and diplomacy.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Diplomacy, Ethnic Conflict, and War
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, Arabia, and Egypt
1789. UN peacekeeping in the Congo: when is the job done?
- Author:
- Ingrid Samset
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- On 28 May 2010, the United Nations Security Council made a critical decision on the future of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monuc) – the largest and most costly such operation in the world. The Council decided to reduce the number of peacekeepers by 2,000, and to transform Monuc into a stabilisation force, renamed Monusco.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Civil War, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa and United Nations
1790. The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on the Budgets of Low-Income Countries
- Author:
- Katerina Kyrili and Matthew Martin
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The financial crisis has hit developing countries hard, driving millions more people into poverty and reversing several years of rapid progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For most of the poorest people, the impact will depend on what governments do with their budgets–how much they spend to fight against the crisis, protect the poorest, and revive progress towards the MDGs. This report examines what 56 low-income countries have done in 2009 and are planning to do in 2010. It is unique in drawing on budget documents issued in June–December 2009, and therefore in being able to describe what is happening in detail, in order to look ahead to 2010 and beyond. This study is particularly timely as the deadline for countries to reach the MDGs is now only five years away.
- Topic:
- Development, Poverty, Third World, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa