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Articles by Abebe Shimeles
Le FMI ne fait pas assez pour soutenir l'Afrique : des milliards pourraient être mis à disposition par le biais des droits de tirage spéciaux
Lors du sommet des Nations unies sur le climat en 2021, le Premier ministre de la Barbade, Mia Mottley, avait appelé à une utilisation plus importante et plus efficace des droits de tirage spéciaux (DTS), l'avoir de réserve du Fonds monétaire international (FMI). Le droit de tirage spécial est un actif de réserve international créé par le FMI. Il ne s'agit pas d'une monnaie : sa valeur est basée sur un panier de cinq monnaies, dont la plus importante est le dollar américain, suivi de l'euro.
Africa: IMF Isn't Doing Enough to Support Africa - Billions Could Be Made Available Through Special Drawing Rights
At the 2021 UN Climate Summit, Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley called for more and better use of special drawing rights (SDRs), the International Monetary Fund's reserve asset. The special drawing right is an international reserve asset created by the IMF. It is not a currency--its value is based on a basket of five currencies, the biggest chunk of which is the US dollar, followed by the euro. It is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members.
IMF isn’t doing enough to support Africa: billions could be made available through special drawing rights
Climate Change, Climate Change Finance, COP29, Economy & Trade, Financial Crisis, Global, Green Economy, Headlines, Sustainable Development Goals, TerraViva United Nations Climate Change Finance Reprint | | Print | BOSTON, USA & CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Oct 25 2024 (IPS) - At the 2021 UN Climate Summit, Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley called for more and better use of special drawing rights (SDRs), the International Monetary Fund’s reserve asset.
IMF isn’t doing enough to support Africa: billions could be made available through special drawing rights
At the 2021 UN Climate Summit, Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley called for more and better use of special drawing rights (SDRs), the International Monetary Fund’s reserve asset. The special drawing right is an international reserve asset created by the IMF. It is not a currency – its value is based on a basket of five currencies, the biggest chunk of which is the US dollar, followed by the euro. It is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members.
Motivating businesses to pay taxes: Evidence from Ethiopia
Reminding businesses that tax authorities are watching does increase tax revenue collected, but only while the intervention lasts Read “Threat of audits and tax morale in Africa: Evidence from randomized field experiment in Ethiopia” by Abebe Shimeles, Daniel Gurara, and Firew Woldeyes here. Low-income countries collect notably less tax revenue than high-income countries, often due to lower state capacity to collect taxes as well as low levels of public trust in how the collected funds are used.
OP-ED: The Covid-19 pandemic has tested Africa to the limits – but there are many signs of hope
Illustrative image | Sources: Flickr / Gilbert Sopakuwa | Gallo Images While the sheer destructive impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to resonate across the African continent, devastating economies and lives, we should not ignore the lessons learnt and the uplifting stories. Never have Africans come together the way we have during this catastrophic situation – we have seen the best of humanity through this trying period.
Africa in the news: Buhari-Trump meeting, third termism spread, and Kenya updates
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari visits U.S. President Donald Trump On Monday, April 30, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria met with President Donald Trump at the White House. Buhari is the first African head of state to visit the White House since President Trump took office.
A house of justice for Africa: Resurrecting the SADC Tribunal
Not long ago, the SADC Tribunal, the Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community, was a proud landmark in the pristine Windhoek cityscape in Namibia. Much hope was vested in the court, whose mission was to effectively and efficiently ensure compliance and resolve disputes related to the interpretation and application of SADC treaty and subsidiary legal instruments.
Lessons from Marvel’s Black Panther: Natural resource management and increased openness in Africa
Last weekend, Marvel’s “Black Panther” was released in theaters around the world. The highly anticipated movie directed by Ryan Coogler brought in an estimated $427 million worldwide and $242 million domestically, making it the second-largest-earning Marvel Cinematic Universe movie behind “The Avengers,” and the fifth-largest opening weekend of all time behind “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015), “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017), “Jurassic World” (2012) and “The Avengers” (2012).
Africa in the news: Mozambique’s constitutional reforms in, Dakar’s education funding summit, and U.S. sanctions on South Sudan and DRC
Mozambique plans constitutional reforms to secure peace deal and joins Economic Partnership Agreement between EU and SADC In a national address on Wednesday, February 7, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi announced changes for the country’s constitution, changes which will increase the likelihood of striking a peace deal with the country’s largest opposition group, the Mozambican National Resistance (the armed wing of which is known as Renamo).
Foresight Africa viewpoint - Africa’s bold move towards integration: The Continental Free Trade Agreement
After weathering the tumultuous year that was 2016, Africa’s economies ended 2017 on a positive note, with an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent and projected increase in 2018 and thereafter. A number of African countries are growing at above 6 percent as foreign direct investment inflows surge. Commodity prices continued to recover in 2017, and global growth and trade are gaining momentum. With these tailwinds, the continent is looking toward 2018 with renewed and improved prospects.
Figure of the week: Africa’s Visa Openness Index
On Thursday January 11, the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings released its annual Foresight Africa report, highlighting six key priorities for the continent in the year 2018. The first chapter of the report, Unleashing Africa’s inner strengths: Institutions, policies and champions, discusses strategies for tackling the continent’s challenges more effectively.
Foresight Africa viewpoint - The global dividends of Africa’s industrialization
Many experts are lamenting the fate of advanced economies, still at risk of secular stagnation—a prolonged period of insufficient growth that can only be addressed by unconventional monetary policy and unsustainable financial conditions.
Setting the record straight on China’s engagement in Africa
Since 2000, China has emerged as Africa’s largest trading partner and a major source of investment finance as well. Large numbers of Chinese workers and entrepreneurs have moved to Africa in recent years, with estimates running as high as one million. China’s engagement with Africa has no doubt led to faster growth and poverty reduction on the continent.
Foresight Africa viewpoint - African economies and global value chains
Global value chains (GVCs), in which production crosses at least one border and usually more than one, now make up about two-thirds of global trade. GVCs are a key reason China has been able to increase its role in trade so quickly and pull a large number of workers out of agriculture into labor-intensive manufacturing. But now labor-intensive GVCs are starting to leave China because of China’s rising wages and move up the value chain. Much of the movement is to nearby Vietnam or Bangladesh.
Foresight Africa viewpoint - Understanding the patterns and causes of African migration: Some facts
The horrific images of African migrants drowning in the Mediterranean broadcasted live into the homes of millions of people has captivated the attention of the world in recent years, prompting many leaders to do “something about it.” These images also give the impression that Africa is a crumbling and hopeless continent from which its young and strong are so desperate they risk their lives to escape.
Made in Africa: manufacturing and economic growth on the continent
In this week’s episode, John Page, a senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program, assesses the potential role of several economic strategies in transforming Africa’s industrial development for the global economy. “Between now and about 2030, the estimates are that as many as 85 million jobs at [the] bottom end of manufacturing will migrate out of China.
Seeds of a ‘green revolution’ in Africa?
It’s been quite a while since I was so excited to discover a single data point. In glancing through the World Development Indicators database last week, I realized that Cote d’Ivoire’s reported cereal yields surpassed 3 tons per hectare (t/ha) in 2013. This marks the first time a mainland sub-Saharan African country (excluding temperate zone South Africa) has ever crossed the 3 t/ha threshold. It might be a big deal. Why does 3 tons matter?
Africa in the news: Zimbabwe’s political crisis, new U.S.-Africa engagement, and African airlines’ restructuring and expansion
Zimbabwean military takes control of state institutions Political tensions within Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party came to a head this week after months of factional infighting. In the early morning of Wednesday, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces took custody of President Robert Mugabe and his family. The army also took control of the national Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Mugabe’s Harare offices, and the Police Support Unit.
Innovate or fail: The options open to Africa for implementing the SDGs and Agenda 2063
Innovation should be given the place it deserves during this year’s Africa Week, which is organized on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly Debates on Africa’s Development and focuses on Supporting an Integrated, Prosperous, People-centered, Peaceful Africa: Towards the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Innovation is recognized as a major force for economic growth and development.
Helping solve Africa’s poverty puzzle
This blog is the third of a four-part series highlighting themes from “ The Last Mile in Ending Extreme Poverty ,” a book published this month by Brookings Institution Press. As President Obama embarks on his fourth trip to Africa this week, he may reflect on his State of the Union address of 2013.
Africa in the News: Tanzania seizes diamond shipment, Biafra separatists clash with Nigerian army, and South African Airways cuts flights
In diamond news: Tanzania seizes $15 billion diamond shipment and Zimbabwe enriches political elites with diamond revenues The Tanzania government continues to make strides toward increasing its control over the country’s mining sector, a process started after the 2015 election of President John Magufuli. The marriage between the Tanzanian government and mining companies has been under a fair amount of pressure. For instance, in July, gold mining company Acacia was fined a $190 billion tax bill.
Future Development Reads: The brittle consensus on Africa’s prospects
Seventeen years ago, The Economist called Africa the hopeless continent. A decade later it ate its words, and popularized a new slogan: Africa rising. In 2013, to erase any doubts about its opinion about Africa, the magazine headlined its special report, A hopeful continent. Optimism has pervaded prognostications about Africa for more than a decade.
Africa in the News: Electoral tensions arise in Mali and Congo, Ivorian president reshuffles cabinet, and Somalia’s internet returns
Tensions over elections fester in the Republic of the Congo, while Mali weighs expanding presidential power and creating an autonomous Tuareg region Two million citizens in the Republic of the Congo will head to the polls for the first round of parliamentary elections this coming Sunday. Though no violence is expected, tensions simmer as opposition parties are claiming that the elections are being held under “unfair” circumstances.
Africa in the news: Audit reveals depth of Mozambique’s debt, Nigeria launches tax amnesty program, and Ethiopian Airlines grows its fleet | Brookings Institution
Mozambique audit reveals $500 million of $2 billion in loans are missing Kroll, an independent auditing firm hired to investigate Mozambique’s state loans, presented a report on Saturday, June 24, detailing the extent and nature of the country’s debt.
Africa in the news: ‘Famine’ label somewhat lifted, Solidarity Summit hails refugees, and CAR signs an unstable ceasefire | Brookings Institution
The United Nations removed “famine” label from South Sudan and Somalia out of famine, but stresses the countries are still in extreme peril Earlier this week, the United Nations declared an end to the famines—which have been caused by multiple factors, including major conflict, high food prices, and low harvests—in South Sudan and Somalia. Despite this positive news, though, the U.N. and the humanitarian community stress that hunger, starvation, and food insecurity loom closely on the horizon.
Under the hot Sahel sun: “Post”-Boko Haram challenges in Niger and Nigeria | Brookings Institution
In late May, the world rejoiced as 83 Nigerian schoolgirls—kidnapped, along with 194 others, by the vicious jihadist insurgency Boko Haram in Chibok in April 2014 to be sex and labor slaves—rejoined their families. During the May 2017 reunion, Western press showed images of happy, colorfully-clad family members rushing to embrace them. Nigeria’s ailing president Muhammadu Buhari popped in for a photo op before departing again for treatment in London for his undisclosed illness.
Big Data and Sustainable Development: Evidence from the Dakar Metropolitan Area in Senegal
There is a lot of hope around the potential of Big Data—massive volumes of data (such as cell phone GPS signals, social media posts, online digital pictures and videos, and transaction records of online purchases) that are large and difficult to process with traditional database and software techniques—to help achieve the sustainable development goals.
Experts offer ideas for dealing with insecurity in Africa | Brookings Institution
Insecurity—across a range of measures, including human insecurity in conflict and food insecurity—is intensifying across swaths of Africa, including particularly in conflict zones such as Nigeria, Sudan, and Somalia. On May 19, the Africa Security Initiative of the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at Brookings hosted a discussion on conflict, famine, and security issues in Africa today, moderated by Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon.
Financing Africa’s infrastructure deficit: From development banking to long-term investing
Africa is the continent of the future. To realize its potential, Africa needs to reduce its massive infrastructure deficit to both achieve structural transformation and market integration. Africa is, however, constrained by its limited domestic revenue base and thus needs to tap into foreign finances. While progress has been made on the origination of large regional infrastructure projects, the needed scaling up of financing infrastructure has not yet materialized.
Made in Africa | Brookings Institution
Why is there so little industry in Africa? Over the past forty years, industry and business interests have moved increasingly from the developed to the developing world, yet Africa’s share of global manufacturing has fallen from about 3 percent in 1970 to less than 2 percent in 2014. Industry is important to low-income countries. It is good for economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction.
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