Disabling the drivers of unequal growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

Fast growth and increasing levels of inequality have come to characterise many of Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic success stories. Understanding the drivers of unequal growth will require looking beyond the narrative of a ‘resource curse’ and exploring macro-economic factors that may also be inhibiting effectiveness of antipoverty programming. In this blog, Dr Daouda Sembene explores the impact of the BWIs-sponsored Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) on the promotion of pro-poor growth

Economic emergence is the new target for African countries, but how can it be achieved?

As African countries work towards the goal of achieving economic emergence, Daouda Sembene points out that the key challenge is developing a concrete action plan to shape reform

La convergence et les pays arabes

Rapport de rechercheNuméro de référence interne originel : a1.1 g 83

Institutions and poverty

This dissertation analyzes the effects of institutions on poverty by developing an innovative framework for embedding institutions into poverty analysis. In doing so, it makes a clear distinction between economic and political institutions. It reaches a number of key conclusions. First, stronger economic institutions are found to have direct positive effects on the incidence and severity of poverty measured at either at $1.25 or$2 a day. Moreover, economic and political institutions are also found to reduce poverty by stimulating economic performance. In this regard, poverty rates are found to decline faster in countries with presidential systems because they register stronger economic performance than countries with parliamentary systems. Similarly, economic performance and poverty reduction are found to be more significant under proportional representation. Finally, this study finds no evidence that the types of political regimes and electoral systems affect differently poverty through public policy and corruption

Convergence et divergence budgétaire en Afrique : le rôle des Communautés économiques régionales et des Unions économiques et monétaires

FERDI, document de travail P217, marsLa théorie de l’endogénéité des Zones Monétaires Optimales (ZMO) a identifié deux canaux de justification ex-post du critère de synchronisation des cycles : l’intensité commerciale et la convergence budgétaire des pays membres. Dans ce papier, nous analysons dans une perspective empirique le rôle des Unions Économiques et Monétaires africaines dans la convergence budgétaire des pays membres sur la période de 1990 à 2015. Les résultats de nos estimations montrent que les Communautés Économiques Régionales (CER) africaines réduisent significativement la divergence budgétaire des pays membres. En usant d’une approche séquentielle d’estimation, l’étude démontre que les Zones Monétaires africaines sont plus efficaces que les autres Communautés Économiques Régionales (CER) en matière d’accélération de la convergence des indicateurs budgétaires. Ces résultats mettent en lumière la vraisemblance et la pertinence de l’hypothèse d’auto-validation dans le temps des Unions Monétaires africaines existantes et prospectives malgré les faibles niveaux de synchronisation des cycles et d’intensité commerciale

Fiscal Convergence in Africa: What Role for Regional Economic Communities?

FERDi, Working paper P233, SeptemberThe literature on Optimal Currency Areas (OCA) has identified several channels for the ex post justification of common monetary areas based on the synchronicity criterion. These include trade, cross-border investments, mobility of factors, mobility of goods and services, and fiscal convergence of member countries. We focus on the later for the African continent. We analyze the role of African regional economic communities (RECs) in convergence of fiscal policies from 1990 to 2015. Our estimates show that African RECs reduce significantly fiscal divergence between countries. We further find that common monetary areas are more effective in fostering fiscal convergence. This result is in line with the argument of self-validation of monetary arrangements in Africa, despite low levels of cycle synchronization and trade intensity

Uterine Fibroids in Senegal: Polymorphism of MED12 Gene and Correlation With Epidemiological Factors

International audienceBackground: Mediator complex subunit 12 (MED12) is a part of the mediator complex, which is believed to regulate transcription. Our recent study showed that MED12 is mutated at high frequency and with different mutation frequencies in Senegalese women with uterine fibroids. However, the status of mutations has not been correlated to the epidemiological factors that are implicated in uterine fibroids.Methods: This study aimed to analyze status of MED12 mutations in Senegalese population. MED12 was sequenced in tumoral tissues and blood samples of 54 Senegalese women with uterine fibroids. Clinical and pathological data were obtained from the patient’s records and other parameters were recorded. Mutation Surveyor software version 5.0.1, DnaSP version 5.10, MEGA version 7.0.26 and Arlequin version 3.5.1.3 were used to determine the level of mutations and genetics parameters. To estimate the genetic variation according to the epidemiological parameters, the index of genetic differentiation (Fst) and the genetic structure like analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) were determined with Arlequin software version 3.5.1.3. The significance level (P-value) was 0.05.Results: Our results showed that MED12 is mutated at 88.89% (48/54) only in tumor tissues. The variants frequencies were not similar to those found in the Finnish populations. The Chi2 test indicates a statistically significant difference for the variants c.130G>C, c.130G>A, c.131G>A and for the Intronic Variant Site (p <0.05). This variable expression of the MED12 gene is further confirmed by the amino acid frequency between blood and tumor tissue with a statistically significant difference for alanine, glutamic acid, lysine, methionine, threonine, valine, tryptophan and tyrosine (p <0.05). In addition, the selection test indicates that codon 44 is under positive selection (p=0.0243) in cases of uterine fibroids. Genetic diversity according to risk factors such as parity and diet was observed in uterine fibroids in Senegal (p <0.05).Conclusion: Significant genetic diversity has been noted in uterine fibroids in Senegal. The codon 44 being under positive selection could be considered as a biomarker in uterine fibroids. Depending on the epidemiological parameters studied, parity and diet seem to be the risk factors most implicated in uterine fibroids in Senegal

Distribution of Plasmodium species on the island of Grande Comore on the basis of DNA extracted from rapid diagnostic tests

In the Union of Comoros, interventions for combating malaria have contributed to a spectacular decrease in the prevalence of the disease. We studied the current distribution of Plasmodium species on the island of Grande Comore using nested PCR. The rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) currently used in the Comoros are able to identify Plasmodium falciparum but no other Plasmodium species. In this study, we tested 211 RDTs (158 positive and 53 negative). Among the 158 positive RDTs, 22 were positive for HRP2, 3 were positive only for pLDH, and 133 were positive for HRP2 and pLDH. DNA was extracted from a proximal part of the nitrocellulose membrane of RDTs. A total of 159 samples were positive by nested PCR. Of those, 156 (98.11%) were positive for P. falciparum, 2 (1.25%) were positive for P. vivaxI, and 1 (0.62%) was positive for P. malariae. None of the samples were positive for P. ovale. Our results show that P. falciparum is still the most dominant species on the island of Grande Comore, but P. vivax and P. malariae are present at a low prevalence