The Economic Origins of Twentieth Century Decolonisation in West Africa

This paper argues that the pattern of decolonisation in West Africa was a function of the nature of human capital transfers from the colonisers to the indigenous elites of the former colonies. Underpinning the nature of these human capital transfers is the colonial educational ideology. Where this ideology emphasized the notion of "assimilation", the system generally tended to produce elites that depended highly on the coloniser for their livelihood, hence necessitating a continuation of the imperial relationship even after independence was granted. On the contrary, where the ideology emphasized the "strengthening of the solid elements" of the country-side, the system tended to produce a bunch of elites that were quite independent of the coloniser and consequently had little to lose from a disruption of the imperial relationship at independence. The model raises several predictions based on a single assumption on the nature of the nationalist elite. The paper's contribution, is in providing a framework for understanding the different paths of decolonisation in Africa in general, but more specifically in the British and French West African empires, an approach which unites both the Eurocentric and Afrocentric perspectives.Decolonisation, Human Capital Transfers, Eurocentrism, Afrocentrism, West Africa

Does School Education Reduce the Likelihood of Societal Conflict in Africa?

This paper empirically tests the hypothesis that education, as measured by the average schooling years in the population aged 15 and above, reduces the likelihood of societal conflicts in Africa. It focuses on a sample of 31 African countries during 1960-2000 and uses both panel ordered probit and multinomial logistic estimation models. Using an aggregated measure of all intrastate major episodes of political violence obtained from the Political Instability Task Force (PITF) as proxy for conflict, and controlling for the extent of political participation, income inequality, labour market conditions, neighborhood e¤ects, different income levels, natural resource revenues, youth bulge, inflation, ethno-linguistic and religious fractionalisation and urbanisation; the results suggests that education e¤ectively reduces the likelihood of intra-state conflicts in Africa. This finding is robust to alternative model specifications and to alternative time frames of analysis. The evidence also suggests that, sound macroeconomic policies, by way of rapid per capita GDP growth, better export performance and lower in‡ation are means of effectively reducing the likelihood of conflicts while neighborhood effects are a significant driver of internal conflicts in African states. Therefore, in the battle to reduce the frequency of intrastate conflicts, African governments should complement investments in education with sound macroeconomic policies while seeking mutually beneficial solutions to all major internal conflicts, with a view to minimising their spill-over effects.School Education, Intra-state Con‡ict, Economic Development, Africa

How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa?

This paper investigates some of the existing hypotheses regarding the transmission of different colonial legacies to modern day economic growth. The fact that different colonial strategies were pursued by different colonizers in various territories suggests possible ramifications for current development paths. This paper attempts to understand why economic growth performance is different even among African countries, where former British colonies appear to do marginally better. It focuses on two key channels of transmission, namely education and trade. Thirty-six sub-Saharan African countries during the period 1960–2000 are considered using Hausman-Taylor estimation techniquein an annualized panel data framework. In contrast with the methodology of previous studieswhere only the initial conditions at independence were held to influence the post-colonialgrowth path, this study attempts to distinguish the direct …/colonial origin, education, institutions, Hausman-Taylor, sub-Saharan Africa

Assessment of Sharp Injuries among Cameroonian Dental Professionals

Objective To assess the prevalence of sharp injury among Cameroonian dental professionals. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study of 41 dental professionals recruited from 4 out of 10 provinces in Cameroon was conducted in the second half of 2009. A self-administered questionnaire was used to capture information on demography, nature, frequency and causes of sharp injury, post-exposure prophylaxis practice and methods of sharps disposal. Results Thirty-nine dental professionals (95.1%) had experienced sharp injury with 35.9% being once in the preceding 12 months. Needlestick was the most common sharp injury experienced by the respondents. Most of the injuries occurred during recapping of the needle. Activity during which injuries occurred was not significantly associated with type of practice. Twenty three (59.0%) respondents received post-exposure prophylaxis after sustaining sharp injury. Proper disposal of sharps in a special container was observed by 35 (85.4%) of the respondents. Conclusion The prevalence of sharp injuries among Cameroonian dental professionals was high. This justifies an urgent need for concerted effort to reduce sharp injuries in Cameroon dental practices through a comprehensive sharp injury prevention program including work place safety, employee training on guidelines adherence, safe recapping and disposal systems

Gas sensors using organic thin films at room temperature

The thesis describes work on the thin film deposition, characterization and gas sensing of three groups of organic materials: polyaniline, lutetium bisphthalocyanine and metallotetraphenylporphyrins. These materials were deposited by evaporation, spinning and using the Langmmr-Blodgetttechnique. Film characterization by dc conductivity, scanning electronmicroscopy, surface plasmon resonance, ultraviolet/visible and infrared spectroscopy is described. Gas-induced changes in devices coated with the thinorganic films were monitored at the molecxilar level using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and at the macroscopic level using a chemiresistor and surface plasmon resonance. The gases used have included NO(_x), H(_2)S, SO(_2), COand CH(_4) at room temperature and pressure. Devices made with the thinorganic films were reversibly sensitive to some of the gases at low concentrations (100ppm). Polyaniline is shown to exhibit a different chemical structure, reflecting the conditions of its deposition. Spun films were found to be in the emeraldine baseform, the evaporated films were physically and chemically similar toleucoemeraldine base while the Langmuir-Blodgett films were closer topemigraniline, the completely oxidized form of polyaniline. All the types of polyaniline films were sensitive to H(_2)S and NO(_x) concentrations down to4ppm. Only spun and evaporated films were responsive to SO(_2). The spun layers were most sensitive to SO2 and least sensitive to NO(_x)- In contrast, the evaporated layers were most sensitive to NO(_x)- The changes recorded in these measurements occurred after a delay time of few seconds, but were complete lyirreversible for exposure to high gas concentrations. However, no response was observed when exposed to CO or CH(_4) even at very high concentrations. Infrared spectroscopy studies indicated the irreversible changes, for example when exposed to NO(_x), are due oxidation of benzoid rings into quinoid structures. Lutetium bisphthalocyanine has been deposited by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. Using changes in conductivity, LB layers of lutetium bisphthalocyanine showed responses to NO(_x), H(_2)S and SO(_2) at concentrations below l00ppm. However, using surface plasmon resonance, only the NO(_x), induced changes could be measured at concentrations below l00ppm. These responses- occurred after a delay time of a few seconds and were partially reversible. Cobalt (II) methoxyltetraphenyl porphyrin has been deposited mainly by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. Gas induced changes in the film were monitored using changes in dc conductivity and surface plasmon resonance. In all cases, NO(_x) was reversibly detected, but at a much higher concentration (>100ppm)than for the other materials in this thesis

Analysis of Grain Supply Chain Performance Based on Relative Impact of Channel Coordinator's Objectives on Firm Level Objectives

A fuzzy multi-objective programming model is used to analyze the optimal decisions in a multi-objective grain supply chain in which the firm-level firm goals are conflicting with the channel coordinator's goals. The relative impact of the channel coordinator's goals on performance of the supply chain is determined through a linear weighting method. The study finds that prioritizing the channel coordinator's goals enhances the overall performance of the system.Industrial Organization,

Comparative Evaluation of the Performance of Spans of Control Designs in Grain Supply Chains

A fuzzy multi-objective linear programming model is used to analyze the performances of three spans of control designs that are observed in the U.S grain industry. Performance of the grain supply chain increases with amount of control and compromise.Crop Production/Industries,

A Theory of Colonial Governance

This paper considers conditions of optimality in a co-optive strategy of colonial rule. It proposes a simple model of elite formation emanating from a coloniser's quest to maximise extracted rents from its colonies. The results suggest multiple optimal solutions, depending on the specification of the production function, the governance technology chosen by the coloniser and the technological parameters of the model. For instance, in agrarian colonial societies, the results suggest that under a technology of governance by numbers, a large elite population is a direct reflection of a high productivity-enhancing technology by the coloniser. In contrast, under a governance technology by quality, the better the productivity-enhancing technology, the lower the quality of human capital that is transferred to the elite. Additionally, under a composite governance technology, and given non-linearity conditions defined by the productivity distance threshold, the better the productivity-enhancing technology, the smaller the optimal elite size that is chosen by the coloniser. An alternative set of results is obtained assuming an industrial economic set-up (or interdependent production). These results suggest that the long debate about the apparent superiority of one European colonisation experience over the other is much more intricate than is often perceived in the literature. The insight from the model is also useful in understanding why the stock of human capital available in countries emerging from colonisation varied considerably across colonial experiences and from one country to another.Optimality Conditions, Governance technology, human capital, elite, productivity