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21. Mitigating Radicalism in Northern Nigeria

Author:
Michael Olufemi Sodipo
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Northern Nigeria has been the locus of an upsurge in youth radicalization and virulent militant Islamist groups in Nigeria since 2009. Nigeria's ranking on the Global Terrorism Index rose from 16 th out of 158 countries in 2008 to 6 th (tied with Somalia) by the end of 2011. There were 168 officially recorded terrorist attacks in 2011 alone. Bombings across the northeast prompted President Goodluck Jonathan in May 2013 to declare a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States. Many Nigerians have come to question whether the country is on the brink of a civil war.
Topic:
Security, Political Violence, Economics, Islam, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Africa, Nigeria, Somalia, Yobe State, Borno State, and Adamawa State

22. Investment Power in Africa: Where from and where to?

Author:
Anton Eberhard and Katharine Nawaal Gratwick
Publication Date:
03-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
Economic and social development depends critically on infrastructure, for which electricity may be among the most important inputs. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has among the lowest rates of electricity access in the world - less than 30 percent. Furthermore, excluding South Africa, SSA is the only region for which per capita consumption of electricity is falling. The total installed capacity in the region amounts to less than South Korea's, and this limited supply is costly and unpredictable, imposing heavy tolls on social and economic development. It has been estimated that about 7,000 megawatts (MW) need to be added each year (2005-2015) to meet suppressed demand and provide additional capacity for electrification expansion. Such an investment would cost approximately $27 billion per year. Presently, funding to the electricity sector (for capital expenditure) is estimated at just $4.6 billion a year; hence, an annual funding gap of more than $20 billion exists. Public sources - utility income and fiscal transfers - contribute only about one-half of current capital investments, highlighting the urgent need for increased private investment, including public-private partnerships. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the push towards private investment in electrical generation dates to the early 1990s, but the journey has not been smooth. Significant lessons may be identified, including: understanding the limited pool of investments, together with the importance of public stakeholders in equity and debt alike; the increasing application of partial risk guarantees (PRGs) to mobilize finance; and the emergence of more non-OECD partners. We note a number of success stories, including Kenya, South Africa and (potentially) Nigeria, whose policy innovations have replication potential in other Sub-Saharan African countries and beyond.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, South Korea, South Africa, and Nigeria

23. Clean Trade in Natural Resources

Author:
Leif Wenar
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The "resource curse" can strike countries that derive a large portion of their national income from exporting high-value natural resources, such as oil, gas, metals, and gems. Resource-exporting countries are subject to four overlapping curses: they are more prone to authoritarianism, they tend to suffer more corruption, they are at a higher risk for civil wars, and they exhibit greater economic instability. The correlations between resources and such pathologies as authoritarianism, corruption, civil conflict, and economic dysfunction are evident in the list of the five major African oil exporters: Algeria, Angola, Libya, Nigeria, and Sudan. The recent histories of mineral exporters support the correlations: for example, "blood diamonds" fueled Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war, and the continuing conflict in the metal-rich eastern Congo has caused up to 6 million deaths. The phenomenon is not solely African: Burma, Yemen, and Turkmenistan, for example, are also resource cursed. Moreover, poor governance in resource-cursed countries can engender follow-on pathologies, such as a propensity to cause environmental damage both domestically (for example, through the destruction of forests) and globally (through increased greenhouse gas emissions). Most research on the resource curse has focused on the institutions of exporting countries. This essay focuses instead on importing countries, especially those in North America and Europe. I survey how the resource curse impedes core interests of importing states. I then discuss how the policies of importing states drive the resource curse, and how these policies violate their existing international commitments. The second half of the paper describes a policy framework for importing states that can improve international trade in resources for both importers and exporters.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Sudan, Libya, Algeria, Burma, North America, Nigeria, and Angola

24. Full Issue

Author:
Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Ìrìnkèrindò: A Journal of African Migration
Institution:
Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration
Abstract:
CONTENTS Articles Omolúàbí: The Way of Human Being: An African Philosophy’s Impact on Nigerian Voluntary Immigrants’ Educational and Other Life Aspirations — Dolapo Adeniji-Neill................. 1 Liberian Immigrants in Rhode Island: The Trauma, the Bliss, and the Dilemma — P. Khalil Saucier, Ph.D.................................................................................................................... 29 Why Maine? Secondary Migration Decisions of Somali Refugees — Kimberly A. Huisman..... 55 “'Yo, Jose Dupard, pardo libre natural y vecino de esta ciudad': Masculinity, Race and Respectability in Spanish New Orleans — Megan Kareithi ............................................ 99 Economic Impact of Immigration on African Americans — Stacey-Ann Wilson, Ph.D............ 128 The African Immigrant Family in the United States of America: Challenges and Opportunities — Sulayman S. Nyang ......................................................................................................... 150 Art Papers Afrikea (2009) — Adejoke Tugbiyele ......................................................................................... 172 Altar and the Throne: The Last Fuck and the Sweet Taste of Victory (2010) — Adejoke Tugbiyele ........................................................................................................................ 176 Gèlèdé Tupperware Party — Adejoke Tugbiyele........................................................................ 179 Opinions Blacklisting of Nigeria as the New Den of Terrorists? The Perspective of a Nigerian Student in the U.K. — Olugu Ukpai ................................................................................................ 184 Poetry Lamentations to Oluorogbo — Ademola Araoye........................................................................ 213
Topic:
Economics, Education, Migration, Race, Terrorism, Immigration, Refugees, Philosophy, Family, Masculinity, and Poetry
Political Geography:
Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia, and United States of America

25. Are Borders Barriers? The Impact of International and Internal Ethnic Borders on Agricultural Markets in West Africa

Author:
Jenny C. Aker, Michael W. Klein, Stephen A. O'Connell, and Muzhe Yang
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
This paper addresses two important economic issues for Africa: the contribution of national borders and ethnicity to market segmentation and integration between and within countries. Market pair regression analysis provides evidence of higher conditional price dispersion for both a grain and a cash crop between markets separated by the Niger-Nigeria border than between two markets located in the same country. A regression discontinuity analysis also confirms a significant price change at the international border. The international border effect is lower, however, if the cross-border markets share a common ethnicity. Ethnicity is also linked to higher price dispersion within Niger; we find a significant intranational border effect between markets in different ethnic regions of the country. This suggests that ethnic similarities diminishing international border effects could enhance international market integration, and ethnic differences could contribute to intranational market segmentation in sub-Saharan Africa. We provide suggestive evidence that the primary mechanism behind the internal border effect is related to the role of ethnicity in facilitating access to credit in agricultural markets. We argue that the results are not driven by differences in price volatility or observables across borders.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Ethnic Conflict, and Markets
Political Geography:
Africa, West Africa, and Nigeria

26. When Does Rigorous Impact Evaluation Make a Difference? The Case of the Millennium Villages

Author:
Michael Clemens and Gabriel Demombynes
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
When is the rigorous impact evaluation of development projects a luxury, and when a necessity? We study one high-profile case: the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), an experimental and intensive package intervention to spark sustained local economic development in rural Africa. We illustrate the benefits of rigorous impact evaluation in this setting by showing that estimates of the project's effects depend heavily on the evaluation method. Comparing trends at the MVP intervention sites in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria to trends in the surrounding areas yields much more modest estimates of the project's effects than the before-versus-after comparisons published thus far by the MVP. Neither approach constitutes a rigorous impact evaluation of the MVP, which is impossible to perform due to weaknesses in the evaluation design of the project's initial phase. These weaknesses include the subjective choice of intervention sites, the subjective choice of comparison sites, the lack of baseline data on comparison sites, the small sample size, and the short time horizon. We describe how the next wave of the intervention could be designed to allow proper evaluation of the MVP's impact at little additional cost.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

27. Implementing The Fiscal Responsibility Act At The State Level In Nigeria

Author:
Vanessa Ushie
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
Fiscal responsibility acts have become increasingly common tools to enhance fiscal prudence and public expenditure transparency in many countries. In Nigeria, fiscal profligacy at the sub-national level has emerged as a major contributor to state corruption and macroeconomic instability.
Topic:
Corruption, Economics, Fiscal Policy, and Public Spending
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

28. Should Nigeria Establish A Sovereign Wealth Fund?

Author:
Menachem Katz and Cijeyu Ojong
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
This paper explores the issues relating to the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) in Nigeria consistent with best practices. Experience with established SWFs suggests that successful oil- based funds tend to be underpinned by a sound oil revenue management framework. The paper thus discusses the underlying issues of oil revenue management, the policy choices and SWF implementation issues.
Topic:
Economics, Oil, Sovereign Wealth Funds, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

29. Nigeria: Ogoni Land after Shell

Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The Nigerian government's 4 June 2008 decision to replace the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) as operator of oil concessions in Ogoni areas offers an opportunity for ending one of the longest-running conflicts between a multinational oil company and a local community in the Niger Delta. But to ensure that new friction does not develop between the Ogoni and Shell's successor company, it must be followed by a comprehensive program of consultations with local populations to address the remaining issues involved in oil production in this area, including environmental protection and distribution of revenues.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, and Oil
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

30. The Place Premium: Wage Differences for Identical Workers across the U.S. Border - Working Paper 148

Author:
Michael Clemens, Lant Pritchett, and Claudio E. Montenegro
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
We compare the wages of workers inside the United States to the wages of observably identical workers outside the United States—controlling for country of birth, country of education, years of education, work experience, sex, and rural-urban residence. This is made possible by new and uniquely rich microdata on the wages of over two million individual formal-sector wage-earners in 43 countries. We then use five independent methods to correct these estimates for unobserved differences between the productivity of migrants and non-migrants, as well as for the wage effects of natural barriers to international movement in the absence of policy barriers. We also introduce a selection model to estimate how migrants' wage gains depend on their position in the distribution of unobserved wage determinants both at the origin and at the destination, as well as the relationship between these positions. For example, in the median wage gap country, a typical Bolivian-born, Bolivian-educated, prime-age urban male formal-sector wage worker with moderate schooling makes 4 times as much in the US as in Bolivia. Following all adjustments for selectivity and compensating differentials we estimate that the wages of a Bolivian worker of equal intrinsic productivity, willing to move, would be higher by a factor of 2.7 solely by working in the United States. While this is the median, this ratio is as high as 8.4 (for Nigeria). We document that (1) for many countries, the wage gaps caused by barriers to movement across international borders are among the largest known forms of wage discrimination; (2) these gaps represent one of the largest remaining price distortions in any global market; and (3) these gaps imply that imply allowing labor mobility can reduce a given household's poverty to a much greater degree than most known in situ antipoverty interventions.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Nigeria, and Bolivia