Does Lack of Innovation and Absorptive Capacity Retard Economic Growth in Africa?

This paper reviews the innovative capabilities and absorptive capacities of African countries, and investigates whether they have played significant roles in the region’s slow and episodic economic growth. Results from cross-country regressions covering 31 Sub-Saharan African countries suggest that growth in Africa is not simply a question of capital accumulation, fertility rates, aid dependency, and stable macroeconomic environment. It is also about strengthening the capacity of African countries to assimilate and effectively use knowledge and technology. Contrary to the views held by many analysts, the growth of African economies does not depend so much on their ability to innovate, but rather on their capacity to absorb and effectively use new technologies. Beyond technological issues, the paper confirms the stylized facts that the size of the government and political stability are important for the growth performance of African countries.growth, innovation, absorptive capacity, technology, Africa

Inter-Country Variations in Digital Technology in Africa: Evidence, Determinants, and Policy Applications

Africa, information technology, digital divide, index of information technology, information policy

Distributional Impact of Globalization-Induced Migration: Evidence from a Nigerian Village

One of the contentious issues about the globalization process is the mechanism by which globalization affects poverty and inequality. This paper explores one of the various strands of the globalization?inequality?poverty nexus. Using microlevel survey data from over 300 poor households in the small village of Umuluwe (about 30 miles west of the regional capital of Owerri) in Southeast Nigeria, the paper investigates whether individuals who migrate from the village to take advantage of the urban-biased globalization process do better than non-migrant villagers. The paper concludes that while the migrant villagers tend to earn slightly higher incomes than the non-migrant villagers, the poverty profiles of both categories of households are essentially the same. In other words, and contrary to conventional wisdom, globalization has not succeeded in alleviating poverty amongst the poor villagers who explicitly took advantage of the process. The paper argues that, by changing relative prices in the urban areas, structural adjustment appears to have eliminated any advantage that globalization may have bequeathed to the migrant villagers.migration, Nigeria, poverty, prices

Labor Migration And Rural-Suburban Symbiosis In Igbo Society

Two southeastern Nigerian villages were surveyed to study labor force migration in a traditional African society. A binary logit model was used to examine paid work differences between males and females in both Umuluwe (the ancestors’ village) and Obigbo (a suburban village) and paid work differences between the residents in the two villages. The results show a strong correlation between education and employment; and between education and the likelihood of migration to Obigbo. We found that each village plays its own symbiotic part in terms of economic activity, life stages of the villagers, and gender roles

Sustainable and Unsustainable Agriculture in Ghana and Nigeria: 1960 – 2009

Presented at GLOBELICS 2009, 7th International Conference, 6-8 October, Dakar, Senegal.Parallel session 3: Sustainability and technology adoption in agricultureThe agricultural sector of African economies has faced considerable challenges within the past 50 years or so. Although agricultural production on the continent rose by an annual average of 2% between 1965 and 1980 and has continued to increase by 1.8% annually since then, population growth of 2.9% per year has resulted in a per capita decline in agricultural production. From self-sufficiency in food production before the 1960s, many African countries have become net food importers, with a handful of them facing severe food shortages arising from drought, desertification, climate change and wars. In this paper we use the case of Ghana and Nigeria to explore some of the salient dynamics that have resulted in the current crisis in the agricultural sector of African economies. We argue that soil conditions, climate change, population growth, in combination with ineffective economic policies have contributed immensely to the sordid state of agriculture in Africa. We use historical and contemporary evidence gathered from Ghana and Nigeria during several visits to show how economic policies have interacted with biophysical and environmental factors to generate an unsustainable use of land, agricultural labor, and natural resources. Based on our field research, we propose an “agro-entrepreneurial” model of agriculture that combines sustainable farming practices with entrepreneurship. This model enables farmers to take advantage of emerging markets in the food value chain, as well as enhance their living standards and self-esteem