110 research outputs found
List of Countries that have adopted IFRS in Africa and Year the Country Publicly Announced the Adoption
This is a recently computed database of IFRS adoption rate in Africa and the years the public announcement was made. Apparently, the year the country begins the adoption of IFRS is the year the public announcement was made
MORE TRADE, MORE PROTECTION: INSIGHTS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE UNENDING CONTRADICTION
Despite the stance of the WTO and various RTAs, elements of trade protectionism
remain prevalent. This could be understood by the divergence between countries’
national interests and international trade protocols, which was reverberated during the
recent global financial crises. However, the contradiction has taken new turn following
new protectionist instruments. Furthermore, the implication of these instruments on
developing countries economy is prevalent. Thus, this study explores the likelihood to
engage in trade protection and the implication on developing country, focussing on
Africa. The study observes that in the first quarter of 2012 alone, the number of
protective measures amounts to 67, with bail out and trade defence accounting for as
much as 74%. Similarly, from 2009 to 2011, trade defence mechanisms and bailout
accounted for 25% of the protective measures; while tariff and non-tariff are also
frequently used, jointly constituting about 28.11%. The study reveals that a country’s
level of economic development is not a fundamental determining factor with regards to
its tendency to engage in trade protectionism. However, the study establishes among
others that as a country’s institutional quality improves, the less the tendency of being
involved in protectionism. Paradoxically, the more a country’s trade integration, the
higher its tendency towards protectionism, which might be alluded to the fact that when a
country trades more, it has more interest to protect as major complainants of trade cases
are also major traders. The study reveals that a country’s per capita income growth was
significantly and adversely affected by the contemporary protectionism. It impacts
negatively on trade balance; however, such impact was essentially significant for African
countries
Technology Diffusion and Economic Progress in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities
Application of appropriate technology has been noted as one of the distinguishing factors in growth disparities across countries. Thus, this study investigates the role of technological diffusion in economic progress in Africa. This was achieved using descriptive and empirical analyses based on imitator-innovator theoretical framework. The study established that the sub-regions in Africa with higher values in technological diffusion indicators experienced higher economic progress, which is a good indication of a significant positive relationship between economic progress and technological diffusion. Thus, the study concludes that if Africa must make contribution to the global knowledge economy and move on the path of economic
progress, the issue of technological diffusion through adequate investment on R&D, functional education, among others, needs to be addressed with all serious efforts
Promotion of Non-Oil Export in Nigeria: Empirical Assessment of Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund
The Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) was established in 1977 with the aim of enhancing commercial banks' loans to the agricultural sector in Nigeria with focus on agro-allied and agricultural production. Many years down the line, the country has witnessed poor participation in the international market with regards to non-oil export. The above stance was assessed with a view to establishing interaction between ACGSF and non- oil export using the Vector Auto-regressive (VAR) technique. The study found, among ..
Trade Outcomes in Africa’s Regional Economic Communities and Institutional Quality: Some Policy Prescriptions
The global economic crisis of 2007/2008 that threatened the economic/financial fabrics of most countries
has brought again the essence of strong institutional quality to the fore. This is particularly interesting as
it impacted on trade outcomes in many countries including those in Africa. For instance, merchandize
exports as a percentage of GDP for SSA reduced by 17.9% in 2007. Thus, this paper examines the
effectiveness of RECs in Africa with respect to trade outcomes using some indicators, which was achieved
using data from African Development Indicators, inter alia (1996-2008). Analyzing the data with
descriptive and statistical techniques established, among others, that the respective indicators of trade
outcomes, institutional quality were rather low and differed markedly across RECs in Africa. The study
recommends that improvement of institutional quality in tandem with enhanced infrastructural facilities
will play crucial roles in promoting trade outcomes in Africa’s RECs
Changing attitudes through information exposure: Experimental evidence on reducing agricultural burning in rural Nigeria
This study investigates the effectiveness of an education intervention that targets low‐income farmers regarding the consequences of agricultural burning. Agricultural burning is a major contributor to carbon emissions, second only to those from the energy sector. Using three treatment arms and a control group, I provided rural farmers in Nigeria with information on the social (health impacts, wildfire spread, biodiversity loss) and economic (income implications) consequences of agricultural burning. The third group received information that combined aspects from the first and second treatments, offering a comprehensive view of the effects of agricultural burning. The analysis suggests that exposure to this information prompts farmers to view agricultural burning as unacceptable, reducing their likelihood of engaging in this practice during the upcoming planting season. In addition, exposed farmers demonstrate a higher willingness to pay nominal fees for government services, such as weed disposal. This outcome demonstrates their support for sustainable farming practices, rather than resorting to burning. The influence of economic information is particularly noteworthy; farmers exposed to it demonstrate a higher willingness to pay such fees. Furthermore, the interventions led to a shift in farmers’ perceptions regarding the primary drivers of climate change, with increased recognition of human activity as the dominant factor. The study highlights how the gender of the farmer and their religious beliefs influence attitudes towards environmental protection. Specifically, male and less religious farmers tend to be more responsive to the interventions. These findings provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of “low‐cost” educational interventions in promoting sustainable agricultural practices among low‐income communities
INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARD, TRADE AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN SUB-SAHARA AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Since the promulgation of IFRS as a result of the metamorphosis of the International
Accounting Standard Board from the International Accounting Standard Committee in
2001, improved global capital flow and trade were identified as some of the outcomes
from using IFRS for global financial reporting practice. Due to the fact that IFRS includes
more realistic measure of accounting numbers and promotes better disclosure of
accounting transactions, it is adjudged as a better form of financial reporting practice.
Thus it reduces information asymmetry between preparers and users of financial information
and promotes better disclosure and lowers cost of monitoring of subsidiaries and
information barriers to cross border investments and trade. The rising global campaign
for developing countries, including those in Africa, to adopt IFRS, still requires further
examination as to its impact. More so, Africa is confronted by poor institutional framework
and accounting infrastructure, and based on this, the consequent effect of IFRS
adoption on trade and investment require empirical clarification. In essence, three important
questions were asked: (i) to what extent has IFRS adoption enhanced trade flow
of selected African countries? (ii) How has IFRS adoption impacted on the volume of
FDI inflow to selected African countries? (iii) to what extent has the development of the
accounting infrastructure in the selected African countries’ affected the influence of the
adoption of IFRS on trade and FDI inflow. In answering the research questions, a panel
data, consisting of 48 African countries were gathered and for the period 2002 – 2014.
The econometric model were sourced from different database including the World
Bank’s World Development Indicator, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Statistics and the Price Water House Coopers data on the extent of IFRS
adoption around the world. The data were estimated using three approaches: the Ordinary
Least Square regression, the Random Effect approach and the system GMM. The
three estimation methods are deemed important considering their merits and weaknesses;
thus, a multiplicity of methods will help for sensitivity checks. The key results
from the study include that African countries will benefit more from IFRS by improving
their institutional framework and more so through the development of accounting infrastructure
Global Economic crisis and Trade outcomes in OIC: The case of African members
Global economic crisis, which is characterised by price fluctuations across the world, has
generated several debates. The crisis is threatening the economic and financial fabrics of most
countries with varying degrees of effects due to differences in country’s structural framework.
This may have some implications on trade outcomes. For instance, merchandise exports as a
percentage of GDP for SSA reduced by 17.9% between 1995 and 2007. Thus, this paper
investigates the effects of global economic crisis on trade outcomes using some indicators,
namely: trade share in world market, trade per capita, and real growth in trade in selected OIC
Members in Africa. This was achieved by employing data sourced from World Trade Indicators
and World Development Indicators, which were analysed with descriptive analysis and
econometric techniques based panel data framework for the period 1995-2008. It was
established, among others, that trade outcomes of OIC Members in Africa are adversely and
significantly influenced by global economic crisis. The results, inter alia, call for inward-looking
alternatives such as pursuance of investment friendly ambience in enhancing their trade
outcomes
Women Behaviour Towards Microfinance Scheme: An Exploratory Study
There has been a crippling trend in female involvement in business
and some of the major challenges. This is traceable to weak and
insufficient capital available to them for start up. These have been a
major issue in the social sciences in developing strategies that would
enhance easy accessibility of women to capital. This paper aimed at
examining feminine interest and behaviour in taking advantage of
microfinance scheme available to them to run their business. A
structured questionnaire was used to obtain the primary data using
Lagos metropolis as a case study. Regression analysis was carried
out to measure the relationship between the independent variables
and dependent variable. The findings revealed that women are too
keen in using microfinance as an alternative to formal financial
institutions' credit. Based on this, we therefore recommend that the
government should create more awareness among women as regards
to the need to utilize micro finance as the best financing means for
their business development
School innovation for continuous learning in the period of a health shock and pupils’ mental wellbeing in Burkina Faso and Ethiopia
This study focuses on the psychological consequences of school innovation for ongoing learning during the COVID-19 lockdown, which includes teaching strategies that use both online and offline (e.g. telephone-based instruction) teaching methods. Based on survey data obtained from Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, as collected by UNESCO/IEA, it is evident that the existence of learning innovation in schools is associated with a significant reduction in the likelihood of children reporting poor mental health and experiencing negative emotions. The results indicate that the gender of teachers and students, and the location of the schools, play a significant role in influencing the outcomes
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