The Stability of Demand for Money in the Proposed Southern African Monetary Union

This study investigates the stability of demand for money in the proposed Southern African Monetary Union (SAMU). The study uses annual data for the period 1981 to 2015 from ten countries making-up the Southern African Development Community (SADC). A standard function of demand for money is designed and estimated using a bounds testing approach to co-integration and error-correction modeling. The findings show divergence across countries in the stability of money. This divergence is articulated in terms of differences in cointegration, CUSUM (cumulative sum) and CUSUMSQ (CUSUM squared) tests, short run and long-term determinants and error correction in event of a shock. Policy implications are discussed in the light of the convergence needed for the feasibility of the proposed SAMU. This study extends the debate in scholarly and policy circles on the feasibility of proposed African monetary unions

Financial liberalization and long-run stability of money demand in Nigeria

A stable money demand function is essential when using monetary aggregate as a monetary policy. Thus, there is need to examine the stability of the money demand function in Nigeria after the deregulation of the financial sector. To achieve this, the study employed CUSUM (cumulative sum) and CUSUMSQ (CUSUM squared) tests after using autoregressive distributive lag bounds test to determine the existence of a long run relationship between monetary aggregate and its determinant. Results of the study show that a long-run relationship holds and that the demand for money is stable in Nigeria. In addition, the inflation rate is found to be a better proxy for an opportunity variable when compared to interest rate. The main implication of the study is that interest rate is ineffective as a monetary policy instrument in Nigeria

Financial liberalization and long-run stability of money demand in Nigeria

A stable money demand function is essential when using monetary aggregate as a monetary policy. Thus, there is need to examine the stability of the money demand function in Nigeria after the deregulation of the financial sector. To achieve this, the study employed CUSUM (cumulative sum) and CUSUMSQ (CUSUM squared) tests after using autoregressive distributive lag bounds test to determine the existence of a long run relationship between monetary aggregate and its determinant. Results of the study show that a long-run relationship holds and that the demand for money is stable in Nigeria. In addition, the inflation rate is found to be a better proxy for an opportunity variable when compared to interest rate. The main implication of the study is that interest rate is ineffective as a monetary policy instrument in Nigeria

Does tourism development contribute to human capital development in Africa?

The literature has been awash with alternative explanations for structural and economic transformation in more recent years. Growth drivers are myriad in empirical depictions and enquiries into deeper causal relationships has preoccupied development discourse. Particularly, the contributory role of tourism development in job creation, thereby increasing the standard of living, national output, foreign exchange earnings and revenue to the government through taxation have been brought into sharper view by extant studies. To this end, the developmental gains arising from expansion of activities in the tourism industry has equally blossomed. This is particularly the case in Africa owing on one hand to the high influx of tourists into the continent as well as the relative size of tourism receipts to gross domestic product (GDP) for key continental destinations on the other hand. Hence, the central question is how has tourism development influenced overall economic development in the African context? To pursue this train of inquisition, this study examined the effect of tourism development on human capital development in Africa. Precisely, the study uncovered the role of tourism in influencing human capital development using data on a panel of twenty-five (25) African countries covering the period from 1998 to 2014. System General Moment Method (GMM) estimation techniques was deployed in the study in a requisite bid to account for endogeneity and unlike previous work human capital is decomposed into education and health to facilitate clearer understanding on the specificity of the impacts of tourism development in the economy. The study findings showed that tourism development vis-à-vis tourist arrival and tourism receipt had positive and significant effect on human capital development in Africa. This result is found to be robust to the choice of human capital indicator albeit with certain variations contingent on model specification. Thus, appropriate policies that will make the continent\u27s tourist sites attractive to tourists need to be implemented

The Long Run Stability of Money Demand in the Proposed West African Monetary Union

This study examines the stability of money demand in the proposed West African Monetary Union (WAMU). The study uses annual data for the period 1981 to 2015 from thirteen of the fifteen countries making-up the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). A standard money demand function is designed and estimated using a bounds testing approach to co-integration and error-correction modeling. The findings show divergence across ECOWAS member states in the stability of money demand. This divergence is informed by differences in cointegration, stability, short run and long term determinants, and error correction in event of a shock

The Long Run Stability of Money in the Proposed East African Monetary Union

This study investigates the stability of money in the proposed East African Monetary Union (EAMU). The study uses annual data for the period 1981 to 2015 from five countries making up the East African Community (EAC). A standard money demand function is designed and estimated using a bounds testing approach to co-integration and error-correction modeling. The findings show divergence across countries. This divergence is articulated in terms of differences in CUSUM (cumulative sum) and CUSUMSQ (CUSUM squared) tests, short run and long term determinants and error correction in event of a shock. Specifically, the results show that the demand for money is stable in the cases of Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania based on the CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests, while for the remaining countries (Kenya and Uganda) only partial stability is apparent. In event of a shock, Kenya will restore its long run equilibrium fastest, followed by Tanzania and Burundi

The Long Run Stability of Money Demand in the Proposed West African Monetary Union

This study examines the stability of money demand in the proposed West African Monetary Union (WAMU). The study uses annual data for the period 1981 to 2015 from thirteen of the fifteen countries making-up the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). A standard money demand function is designed and estimated using a bounds testing approach to co-integration and error-correction modeling. The findings show divergence across ECOWAS member states in the stability of money demand. This divergence is informed by differences in cointegration, stability, short run and long term determinants, and error correction in event of a shock

Impacts of COVID-19 on sustainable development in Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic affected all countries in the world, including high-income countries in Europe and North America, and low-income countries in Africa and South America. It led to the partial closure of most economic and social activities. The pandemic created disruptions that led to significant economic loss. In 2020, huge amounts, unbudgeted expenses, were invested globally as epidemic control expenses. The spending was targeted at returning normalcy to the world as quick as possible. This paper reviews the sustainable development goals and presents implications in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The evidence emanating from the review informed the recommendation that the sustainable development goals shape and inform recovery plans from COVID-19. It emphasizes that lingering issues around climate change induced by anthropogenic activities such as greenhouse gas emission and deforestation place a demand on countries to bring the solutions to issues addressing biodiversity crises and income inequalities. The paper concludes that the coronavirus pandemic demonstrates that countries will only be able to protect themselves from global pandemics if health systems are strengthened through adequate funding