Report by the Boards of Directors of the African Development Bank African Development Fund covering the period of 1 January to 31 December, 1996

Repor

Tanzania Financial Sector Adjustment Programme Project Completion Report

https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/ADF-BD-IF-2000-204-EN-TANZANIA-PCR-FINANCIAL-SECTOR-ADJUSTMENT-PROGRAMME.PD

Governing food and agriculture in a warming world

In order to understand, how, why and whether the trade-offs and tensions around simultaneous implementation of the SDGs are resolved in ways which are both sustainable and equitable requires an appreciation of power relations across multiple scales of governance. We explore the politics and political economy of how the nexus around food-energy and water is being governed through initiatives to promote ‘climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA) as it moves from the global to the local. We combine analysis of how these interrelationships are being governed (and ungoverned) by key global institutions with reflection upon the consequences of this for developing countries that are being targeted by CSA initiatives. In particular, we look at Kenya as a country heavily dependent on agriculture, but also subject to some of the worst effects of climate change, and which has been targeted by a range of bilateral and multilateral donors with their preferred vision of CSA. We draw on strands of literature in global environmental politics (GEPs), political ecology and the political economy of development to make sense of the power dynamics which characterize the multi-scalar politics of how CSA is translated, domesticated and operationalized in practice

Public Debt Sustainability in Africa: Building Resilience and Challenges Ahead

The increased access of African countries to international capital markets has put public debt sustainability once again high on the continent´s policy agenda. Utilizing the "stabilizing primary balance" approach, we find that the primary balances exceeded those required to keep public debt at the 2007 level in about half of the countries studied. In several cases with high debt burdens, the balances were above those needed to reduce public debt-to-GDP to sustainable thresholds. In most countries the main driver of sustainability has been the interest rate - growth differential (IRGD), underscoring the importance of supporting growth and utilizing the borrowing space for growth-enhancing outlays. Fiscal policies will need to play a greater role in maintaining debt sustainability in the future, especially since the IRGDs are likely to narrow over the longer term. The recent developments such as the fall of the commodity prices and uneven global growth underscore the need for sound macroeconomic and risk management

Urbanization and international trade and investment policies as determinants of noncommunicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa

There are three dominant globalization pathways affecting noncommunicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): urbanization, trade liberalization, and investment liberalization. Urbanization carries potential health benefits due to improved access to an increased variety of food imports, although for the growing number of urban poor, this has often meant increased reliance on cheap, highly processed food commodities. Reduced barriers to trade have eased the importation of such commodities, while investment liberalization has increased corporate consolidation over global and domestic food chains. Higher profit margins on processed foods have promoted the creation of ‘obesogenic’ environments, which through progressively integrated global food systems have been increasingly ‘exported’ to developing nations. This article explores globalization processes, the food environment, and dietary health outcomes in SSA through the use of trend analyses and structural equation modelling. The findings are considered in the context of global barriers and facilitators for healthy public policy.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Public–Private Partnership in Tunisia: Enfidha Airport Assessment of an Infrastructure Achievement

One of the largest recent private-sector investments and the first airport private-sector concession in the Maghreb is Enfidha Airport, a key factor in the success of the Tunisian Government’s public– private partnership (PPP) strategy. However, since Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution, political and social turmoil is sweeping the country and worsening the economic indicators. This article aims to assess this PPP infrastructure, allowing us to determine if it is profitable in the long term and contributes therefore to the economic growth. The case study reveals the key role of the economic, social, and political environment in Tunisia, the dawn of the Arab Spring

Culture in sustainable infrastructure: the polycentric cultural framework model

The state of infrastructure and services is widely perceived as a measure of development and a major catalyst for growth in both developed and developing economies. However, financing, maintaining and replicating existing infrastructures in areas of need have been mostly ineffective. In view of the widespread failures and poor state of infrastructure and services, there is a need to review current delivery and procurement frameworks. Given that sustainable infrastructure is also an essential prerequisite for sustainable development, this paper presents a polycentric cultural framework for infrastructure and service delivery; a framework which emphasises the integration of infrastructure users, communities, public and private sectors throughout the process of conceptualisation to actual delivery of infrastructure, by taking the recipients’ culture, beliefs and values into account. The framework also emphasises the use of systemic referendum among stakeholders by way of the traditional consultative processes and the collaborative consensus paradigm to achieve an effective and sustainable delivery of infrastructure and services

Opportunity or necessity? Conceptualizing entrepreneurship at African small-scale mines

This article critically examines the policy environment in place for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing – in sub-Saharan Africa, with a view to determining whether there is adequate ‘space’ for the sector's operators to flourish as entrepreneurs. In recent years, there has been growing attention paid to ASM in the region, particularly as a vehicle for stimulating local economic development. The work being planned under the Africa Mining Vision (AMV), a comprehensive policy agenda adopted by African heads of state in February 2009, could have an enormous impact on this front. One of its core objectives is to pressure host governments into Boosting Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining by following a series of streamlined recommendations. It is concluded, however, that there is a disconnect between how entrepreneurship in ASM has been interpreted and projected by proponents of the AMV on the one hand, and the form it has mostly taken in practice on the other hand. This gulf must be rapidly bridged if ASM is to have a transformative impact, economically, in the region. © 2017 Elsevier Inc

Reductions in abortion-related mortality following policy reform: evidence from Romania, South Africa and Bangladesh

Unsafe abortion is a significant contributor to worldwide maternal mortality; however, abortion law and policy liberalization could lead to drops in unsafe abortion and related deaths. This review provides an analysis of changes in abortion mortality in three countries where significant policy reform and related service delivery occurred. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature, population data and grey literature on programs and policies, this paper demonstrates the policy and program changes that led to declines in abortion-related mortality in Romania, South Africa and Bangladesh. In all three countries, abortion policy liberalization was followed by implementation of safe abortion services and other reproductive health interventions. South Africa and Bangladesh trained mid-level providers to offer safe abortion and menstrual regulation services, respectively, Romania improved contraceptive policies and services, and Bangladesh made advances in emergency obstetric care and family planning. The findings point to the importance of multi-faceted and complementary reproductive health reforms in successful implementation of abortion policy reform

100 key research questions for the post-2015 development agenda

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) herald a new phase for international development. This article presents the results of a consultative exercise to collaboratively identify 100 research questions of critical importance for the post-2015 international development agenda. The final shortlist is grouped into nine thematic areas and was selected by 21 representatives of international and non-governmental organisations and consultancies, and 14 academics with diverse disciplinary expertise from an initial pool of 704 questions submitted by 110 organisations based in 34 countries. The shortlist includes questions addressing long-standing problems, new challenges and broader issues related to development policies, practices and institutions. Collectively, these questions are relevant for future development-related research priorities of governmental and non- governmental organisations worldwide and could act as focal points for transdisciplinary research collaboration