Globalization and the Rise of Militant Islamic Social Movement Organizations: The Case of UAMSHO (Awakening) Group in Zanzibar.

This dissertation set out to explore how specific aspects of globalization affect the growth and development of particular militant neo-fundamentalist social movements and in what ways globalization affect the resources and collective identity of these movements. To examine this, I conducted ethnographic and archival research and in-depth interviews with 40 activists in the UAMSHO (AWAKENING) group in Zanzibar, which is associated with the rise of violent activities since the first multiparty elections, held in 1995. Most of these activities have been associated with the UAMSHO (AWAKENING) group, that adheres to strict neo-fundamentalist views of Islam, and which calls for Zanzibar to secede from Tanzania, the union with the mainland. In this research, I found that in the context of political turmoil and economic challenges, resource flows from both public and private financiers from the Middle-Eastern States, has deeply shaped UAMSHO\u27s collective identity and mobilization patterns that has increasingly emphasized on revolutionary Islamic neo-fundamentalism ideals

The growth of regionalism in Sub-Saharan Africa

In this thesis I will explain how Sub-Saharan Africa has struggled through globalization and interdependence. I will discuss the major theories, which have evolved in the integration literature since the 1960\u27s after the independence of these former colonies. In addition, I will show how scholars in the field of international relations and cooperation have attempted to define and redefine Integration and resolved conceptual confusion facing students and scholars in this field. Furthermore, I will show why the applicability of traditional integration theories, which have worked well in such regions as Europe, and applied in Sub-Saharan Africa, failed to produce the same satisfactory results. Also, I will discuss the ideas of some integration theorists from Sub-Saharan Africa, who came with their own frameworks for the integration to work in the region. I will explain the applicability of other frameworks such as dependency theories and developmentalism, which have been used to explain Third world conditions, Sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Further, I will explain why integration among developing countries depends on the effects of successful creation of regional markets (whether they are bilateral or multilateral) and the prospective gains from trade liberalization. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Price Adjustment Behaviour of Manufacturing and Service Sector Firms in Tanzania: A Survey Evidence of Price Stickiness

Price stickiness is one of the key assumptions of New Keynesians macroeconomic models used to support monetary policy analysis and medium term macroeconomic forecasting by central banks. However, there has been little micro level evidence to back this assumption in developing countries which are characterized by regular economic shocks. This study is therefore designed to investigate price adjustment behavior of manufacturing and service sector firms in Tanzania. More specifically, this paper examines the existence, extent and direction of price stickiness in Tanzania, establish factors which are associated with sluggish adjustment of nominal prices and explore whether companies in Tanzania react to demand and cost shocks symmetrically. The survey method was used to study different aspects of pricing behavior among selected companies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The preliminary results of the study suggest that: (i) majority of surveyed firms change price of main product/service yearly or more than a year, indicating that the overall prices are sticky in Tanzania, but the degree of price rigidity is lesser than in most of developed countries; (ii) price increases are substantially more prominent in Tanzania than price decreases implying that prices are generally sticky downward; (iii) implicit and explicit contracts theories are important in explaining price stickiness, while menu costs appears insignificant to companies; (iv) price adjustment is asymmetrical, companies are more prompted by shocks that lead to profit losses than those that led to profit gains. Our micro level survey results support the modeling of inflation dynamics in Tanzania based on the assumption of price stickiness. The study therefore serves as an evidence based green light for the Bank of Tanzania to continue embark on Forecasting and Policy Analysis System (FPAS) framework which is grounded on new Keynesian assumptions to support forward looking monetary and exchange rate policy analysis and medium term forecasting. Keywords: New Keynesian Economics, Forecasting, DSGE models, Price stickines

Exchange Rate Volatility and Its Implications on Macroeconomic Variables in East African Countries

The study examines the extent of exchange rate volatility and its impact on key macroeconomic variables such as exports, FDI inflows, interest rate and inflation in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. The GARCH model is used to compute the extent of exchange rate volatility while the Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique or pooled mean group (PMG) estimator was used to estimate the effects of exchange rate volatility on selected macroeconomic variables. The results indicate that volatility in the exchange rate is a real issue in all the sampled countries and is fundamentally driven by exports and FDI dynamics for the period under consideration. The results indicate a positive impact of the exchange rate volatility to export performance and lending rates in the long run. Exchange rate volatility appears to be detrimental to both export performance and leads to a reduction in lending rates in the short run. Also, the response of FDI to exchange rate volatility seems to be negative in the long run while in the short run the response from the volatility of real exchange rate seems is insignificant. Though not significant, the volatility of the exchange rate appears to have a positive impact on inflation. The study recommends that policymakers need institute mitigation measures which could smooth out excessive exchange rate volatility to minimize its likely impact on the economy. The study also indicated a need for the EAC countries to consider adopting inflation targeting monetary policy framework in order to contain inflation at the appropriate level

Incivility of Nurses in Uganda: Causes and Skills Needed to Cultivate Civility

The research was undertaken to establish the causes of incivility and skills needed for cultivating civility among practising nurses. Workplace incivility is a common phenomenon. Unfortunately, not much is known about it in Uganda’s health sectors and this motivated this research.    A qualitative approach was used and a total of 195 respondents were interviewed to establish their experiences with nurses in public and private hospitals around Kampala. The qualitative data was thematically analysed. Incivility was found to be higher in the public than in the private hospitals, and with diverse causes. The lowest rates were in the Christian-founded not-for-profit facility. Interpersonal skills were found to be most needed to cultivate civility. Nursing administrators are instrumental to cultivating civility. They and other stakeholders are, however, cautioned that all these take commitment and careful planning if better outcomes are to be realised from the nurses and the health sector in general. Keywords: incivility, nurses, health sector, Uganda

HIV subtype diversity worldwide.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To provide a summary of the current data on the global HIV subtype diversity and distribution by region. HIV is one of the most genetically diverse pathogens due to its high-mutation and recombination rates, large population size and rapid replication rate. This rapid evolutionary process has resulted in several HIV subtypes that are heterogeneously globally distributed. RECENT FINDINGS: Subtype A remains the most prevalent strain in parts of East Africa, Russia and former Soviet Union countries; subtype B in Europe, Americas and Oceania; subtype C in Southern Africa and India; CRF01_AE in Asia and CRF02_AG in Western Africa. Recent studies based on near full-length genome sequencing highlighted the growing importance of recombinant variants and subtype C viruses. SUMMARY: The dynamic change in HIV subtype distribution presents future challenges for diagnosis, treatment and vaccine design and development. An increase in recombinant viruses suggests that coinfection and superinfection by divergent HIV strains has become more common necessitating continuous surveillance to keep track of the viral diversity. Cheaper near full-length genome sequencing approaches are critical in improving HIV subtype estimations. However, missing subtype data and low sequence sampling levels are still a challenge in some geographical regions. VIDEO ABSTRACT: http://links.lww.com/COHA/A14

Modelling and Forecasting Inflation in Tanzania: A Univariate Time Series Analysis.

Modelling and forecasting inflation remains a vital concern in most of developing country economies. Moreover, better understanding of country’s inflation situation and future inflation can facilitate the policy makers to adopt appropriate policy measures to curb the problem. The study supplements the financial programming framework of the Bank of Tanzania by ascertaining the model that incorporates some key behavioural properties that are necessary in forecasting inflation. The study employs the Box-Jenkins (1976) methodology that involves stages of identification, estimation, diagnostic checking, and forecasting of a univariate time series. Findings of the study suggest that during the sample period the monthly inflation rate in Tanzania was non-stationary at level but stationary after taking the first difference, results indicate also that the model that contains AR (1, 3, 8, and 15) and MA (1 and 12) components outperformed other models in both in-sample and out-sample forecasts. Six months out-of-sample inflation forecasts are also provided by the study. The study recommends the government through the Bank of Tanzania to adopt the flexible form of inflation targeting so as to improve the design and performance of monetary policy towards attainment of price stability. Results also indicate that inflation is expected to rise in the next six months; hence there is a need for government to react immediately to these inflationary pressures through appropriate fiscal and monetary policies