Carol Newman
Dublin
Professor of Economics, Trinity College Dublin. Co-founder @Trinity_TIME. Chair of Board of @PEPnetwork. Associate Editor EER.
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Articles by Carol Newman
OPINION | Decades on, the labour distortions of apartheid persist
Each year South Africa commemorates Human Rights Day, marking the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, when police opened fire on people protesting against the pass laws. The day invites reflection on the many ways apartheid denied millions of South Africans their rights and opportunities. The passbooks are gone. Job reservation laws are gone. The racially tiered wage schedules are gone.
Training Tech Savvy Healthcare Providers
Vivian Sanchez, Chancellor of USAHS By Carol Newman Using a 3D printer to create a custom assistive device for physical therapy or having students in Miami interact with nursing home residents in New Jersey via telehealth exemplify the mindset that defines rehabilitative health sciences education at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences’ (USAHS) Miami campus.
Revisiting the size-productivity relationship with imperfect measures of production and plot size
1 INTRODUCTION Smallholder agriculture continues to account for a large proportion of income and employment in rural areas in developing countries (e.g., Davis et al., 2010, 2017).1 Growth in agricultural productivity is a fundamentally important channel for structural transformation and poverty reduction (Christiaensen et al., 2011; Diao et al., 2010; Timmer & Akkus, 2008).
Sesame Crisp Cookies
Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel When I first started my writing career some 20-plus years ago, I had the fortune of staying at a women’s writers’ colony on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound. I was given my own cabin in the woods, a sanctuary away from my regularly busy life. The colony’s resident cook kept a cookie jar full of sweet snacks to fuel our scribbles. One of my favorites was a thin sesame cookie. Back home, I figured out how to make it.
Unlocking Africa’s Business Potential
Africa welcomes business investment and offers some of the world’s highest returns and impacts Africa has tremendous economic potential and offers rewarding opportunities for global businesses looking for new markets and long-term investments with favorable returns. Africa has been one of the world’s fastest-growing regions over the past decade, and by 2030 will be home to nearly 1.7 billion people and an estimated $6.7 trillion worth of consumer and business spending.
Unlocking Africa’s Business Potential
Africa welcomes business investment and offers some of the world’s highest returns and impacts Africa has tremendous economic potential and offers rewarding opportunities for global businesses looking for new markets and long-term investments with favorable returns. Africa has been one of the world’s fastest-growing regions over the past decade, and by 2030 will be home to nearly 1.7 billion people and an estimated $6.7 trillion worth of consumer and business spending.
Learning by Exporting: The Case of Mozambican Manufacturing
Author Abstract In this article, we analyse the learning-by-exporting (LBE) hypothesis in the Mozambican context. Due to the presence of the ‘Born-Global’ phenomenon among exporters, we address the endogeneity introduced by self-selection, combining a generalised Blinder–Oaxaca approach with results from traditional matching techniques. Our results show that very few manufacturing firms export, and that export participation is highly persistent.
The distressing Debt Sustainability Framework of the IMF and World Bank
This week, the IMF and the World Bank will roll out their 2017 Low-Income Country Debt Sustainability Framework (LIC DSF). What should the DSF look like to be relevant for low-income developing countries (LIDCs) in Africa (listed in Annex Table 1 of the IMF’s March 2018 LIDC debt paper)? That’s a question I take on in my critique, where I conclude that the 2017 DSF is obsolete instead of the “significant overhaul” that is claimed.
Why is the number of poor people in Africa increasing when Africa’s economies are growing?
This is a question I hear asked a lot. 2015 marks the 20th year since sub-Saharan Africa started on a path of faster economic growth. During that period, growth has averaged 5.2 percent per year. Meanwhile, the number of people on the continent reportedly living under $1.25 a day has continued to creep upwards from 358 million in 1996 to 415 million in 2011—the most recent year for which official estimates exist. What can explain these divergent trends?
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 - Sub-Saharan Africa can multiply its success stories and donors can help
In 2014, the IMF hosted its “Africa Rising” conference in Mozambique. Three years later, Mozambique defaulted on its debt. Steven Radelet’s upbeat 2010 book on Emerging Africa opened with a glowing summary of Ghana’s achievements. By 2015, Ghana was back in an IMF program due to worsening macroeconomic fundamentals. Yet many of the world’s poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa have shown they can reform and improve governance.
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.
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.
Total Factor Productivity in South African Manufacturing Firms
Introduction The importance of manufacturing and industry in economic growth is well documented in the Kaldorian tradition.1 Manufacturing firms are generally more productive than firms in the agricultural or services sectors and are an important source of job creation.2 Several studies support the primacy of the manufacturing sector in determining output growth and employment creation (Wells and Thirlwall, 2003; Millin and Nichola, 2005; Li and Zhang, 2008; Mahmood et al., 2014).3 The...
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.
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.
Kenya’s election 2017: Unique concerns for a unique country
Kenya holds its general election this coming Tuesday, August 8, 2017, the second time since the promulgation of the country’s new constitution in August 2010. This constitution established a devolved system of government with a national government and 47 county governments. As such, in this election, Kenyans will elect the president, county governors, county members of the Senate, county women representatives, members of parliament, and members of county assemblies.
Kenya’s election 2017: Same concerns, different approaches
Only the Jubilee Party of Kenya and the National Super Alliance have shared manifestos on their aspirations for the populace. With the manifestos generally aligned to the aspirations in Kenya Vision 2030, the issues brought forth are similar, with differences in their approaches. It is important to note that the Kenya Vision 2030 aims to make Kenya an upper-middle-income country, emphasizing economic, social, and political transformation. Economic issues have dominated the political campaigns.
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.
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: DRC election delay, Huawei-WorldRemit partnership, and new UNESCO World Heritage African landmarks
Congolese government states holding elections may not be feasible this year Last Friday, the head of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) national election commission announced that holding the presidential elections “will not be possible before December.” Congolese President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power since 2001, saw his presidential term end in December 2016 and has yet to step down.
The G-20’s new Compact with Africa: A promising initiative requiring sustained commitment | Brookings Institution
At their meeting in Hamburg on July 7-8, G-20 leaders will formally launch the new G-20 Compact with Africa—the flagship Africa program of Germany’s G-20 Presidency. While there has been a long history of G-7 initiatives relating to Africa, this is the first major initiative of its kind between the G-20 and Africa. Given the wider composition of the G-20, the initiative includes all of Africa’s important economic partners—particularly China.
Figure of the week: Extractive resource governance in Africa | Brookings Institution
Last week, the Natural Resource Governance Institute launched its 2017 Resource Governance Index (RGI) and report, which indicated that many African countries continue to struggle when governing their natural resources, though in a variety of ways.
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.
Notes from the G-20 High-Level Conference on the Compact with Africa | Brookings Institution
Last week, I spent two days at the Euref-Campus in the Schöneberg district of Berlin, more precisely in a gasometer built in the early 1900s—an impressive 78-meter high structure and the third largest in Europe at the time. This old gasometer, which reminds visitors of Germany’s historical industrial prowess, serves as the launch venue for the Compact with Africa (CWA)—the flagship Africa program of Germany’s G-20 presidency.
Puntland’s problems | Brookings Institution
On June 8, the Somalian terrorist group al-Shabab overran a military base in Puntland’s town of Af Urur, killing between 38 and 61 soldiers (with the government of Puntland reporting the lower number and al-Shabab the higher, as is often the case) and injuring others. The assault came days after the government of Puntland, in Somalia’s northeast, sentenced members of al-Shabab to death.
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.
Fall armyworm outbreaks in the SADC region: How to respond? | Brookings Institution
Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, was reported for the first time in Africa in early 2016 in Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and São Tomé and Príncipe. While Africa has a native species of armyworm, Spodoptera exempta, which eats mainly the leaves of maize plants, the effects of fall armyworm are more devastating because it eats not only the vegetative parts of the plants but also the reproductive parts by eating the cob itself.
Even before the U.S. left the Paris Agreement, Africa stepped up to the plate on climate change | Brookings Institution
Though the United States will no longer be leading the fight against climate change, Africa has already been stepping up to the plate. At the moment, Africa currently accounts for the smallest share of global greenhouse gas emissions (3.8 percent compared to China’s 23 percent, the U.S.’s 19 percent, and the European Union’s 13 percent).
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.
Understanding the constitutional crisis in Congo | Brookings Institution
Despite being required to step down after his second term ended in 2016, Congo’s President Joseph Kabila, relying on a dubious reading of the constitution, remains in office today. Elections that were due last year did not occur, and new elections are now set to take place by the end of 2017. However, there is plenty of reason to question whether that will happen. In the interim, President Kabila was to lead a transitional government, yet talks on that have broken down.
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.
Industrial clusters: Who benefits?
Manufacturing production in both developed and developing economies tends to be highly geographically concentrated in cities and industrial clusters. Firms are drawn together for a variety of reasons, mostly motivated by the desire to reduce the costs of transporting goods, people, and ideas. In Vietnam, for example, large firms are surrounded by thousands of small enterprises in two major industrial clusters near Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
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