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Studies on the causes of income differences between the rich and the poor have received an extensive attention in the inequality empirics. While ethnic diversity h asalso been identified as one of the fundamental causes of income inequality, the role of institutions as a mediating factor in the ethnicity-inequality nexus has not received the scholarly attention it deserves. To this end, this study complements the existing literature by investigating the extent to which institutional framework corrects the noisy influence originating from the nexus between "ethnic diversity" and inequality in 26 sub -Saharan African countries for the period 1996-2015. The empirical evidence is based on pooled OLS, fixed effects and system GMM estimators. The main findings reveal that the mediating influences of institutional settingsaredefective, thus making it extremely difficult to modulatethe noisy impacts of ethno-linguistic and religious heterogeneity on inequality. In addition, the negative influencesorchestrated by ethnolinguistic and religious diversities on inequality fail toattenuate the impact of income disparityeven when interacted with institutions. On the policy front, institutional reforms tailored toward economic, political and institutional governances should be targeted.

This paper examines the role of health and population growth on inclusive growth in selected 14 African countries from 1995 to 2012. Using the Fixed effect method, the findings indicate that finances from the health sector have greater impact towards the inclusiveness of growth in Africa. It indicated that adequate financing of the health sector is fundamental to improve pro-poor growth in Africa. The population growth of African countries was found to deteriorate the achievement of inclusiveness of growth. Thus, African countries need to make use of her rising population as a blessing and not as threat, so that pro-poor growth can be achieved in the region. In addition, there is need for more government involvement in financing the health sector by providing adequate health care facilities.Keywords: health, population, pro-poor growth, Africa.JEL Classification: H51, I15, Q56

This paper examines the role of health and population growth on inclusive growth in selected 14 African countries from 1995 to 2012. Using the Fixed effect method, the findings indicate that finances from the health sector have greater impact towards the inclusiveness of growth in Africa. It indicated that adequate financing of the health sector is fundamental to improve propoor growth in Africa. The population growth of African countries was found to deteriorate the achievement of inclusiveness of growth. Thus, African countries need to make use of her rising population as a blessing and not as threat, so that pro-poor growth can be achieved in the region. In addition, there is need for more government involvement in financing the health sector by providing adequate health care facilities.

This study discussed in details the structure, importance, challenges and consequences of the newly adopted cashless policy programme in the Nigerian banking sector. The cashless policy is mainly instituted to enhance the effectiveness of flow of financial resources among economic agents in the economy at least cost possible as well as ensuring prompt cash transfers within the system. The Central of Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cashless initiative is geared towards eliminating the continuous use of physical cash in most daily transactions at the business unit of the economy, as well as regulating, controlling, and securing the financial system. A critical analysis at the policy as contained in this report as identified major constraints that can hinder the effectiveness of the cashless banking without prompt attention by the concerned authority.

The precise relationship between population growth and per capita income has been inconclusive in the literature and the nexus has been found not clearly explain the determinants of rapid population growth in developing countries that lacks fertility control and management framework. This forms the rationale for this study to access the trend of factors that influence rapid population growth in developing countries between 1980 and 2010. This paper examined the comparative trend review of population growth determinants between developing countries (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria) and developed nations (Germany and United States). The trend analysis revealed that fertility rate, crude death rate, birth rate, mortality rate, and life expectancy are the major determinants of rapid population growth rate, while youth dependency ratio of young people below age 15 has also been attributed as one of the leading causes of population growth and growth threat in developing countries. However, the analysis further indicated that excluding Mexico from the Upper Middle Income group, developed economies (United State and Germany) with large population size have a higher real economic well-being as measured by the Real GNI per capita, compared with selected developing economies in the world. The study then proffered the need for population control framework and provision of essential infrastructures for the rapid growing population size in developing countries in order to enhance their welfare.