Search

This study investigates the role of education in modulating the effect of ICT on governance in 53 African countries between 2002 and 2020. The Two-Step System Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) strategy is adopted to address the potential endogeneity problem. Governance is computed as a composite index that encompasses the six indicators of the Worldwide Governance Indicators (Control of corruption, rule of law, political stability, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, and voice and accountability). ICT is measured by the number of individuals using the internet, mobile cellular subscribers and fixed broadband subscription. The findings of the study reveal that the quality of governance in Africa is enhanced by growth in ICT. The findings further indicate that the interaction between ICT and education procure positive net effects on governance. In addition, we observed that ICT still enhances the quality of governance in African countries that have adopted the French civil law and the British common law system. The study suggests the design of policies for enhancing e-governance and ICT in African institutions, and are recommended to be used as part of the school curriculum for quality management.

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationships between financial development (FD), economic complexity and country stability. To achieve this objective, this paper applies a finite mixture model to a sample of 92 developing countries over the period 1995–2018. The study posits that the effect of FD on economic complexity differs across groups of countries with similar but unobserved characteristics. The study finds that the effect of FD on economic complexity varies across four classes of countries, which differ according to their level of economic, political and financial stability. Furthermore, the study argues that stable countries are more likely to be in class 1, including more performing countries – that is, the group of countries where FD spurs economic complexity. This finding remains consistent even when alternative measures of FD and economic complexity are considered. Hence, efforts by developing countries to undertake sound reforms to reduce economic, political and financial risks could help leverage the benefits of FD in fostering the development of sophisticated and complex economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 Sustainable Development Goal Report reveals that Africa is still struggling in its pursuit to achieve universal healthcare coverage. However, financial risk protection and human capital development could come to the rescue by facilitating the attainment of quality healthcare services. This study examines the effect of financial inclusion on healthcare in Africa, spanning from 2000 to 2021. Healthcare is proxied by life expectancy at birth, the immunisation rate, and the lifetime risk of maternal death. Financial inclusion is approached through access and usage of financial services. After controlling for the problem of potential endogeneity through the system generalised method of moment (GMM), the findings reveal that financial inclusion enhances healthcare in Africa, signifying that financially included individuals have a higher conditional probability of spending more on improving their health relative to the financially excluded individuals. Moreover, the findings indicate that education and technology diffusion are imperative in the quest for enhancing healthcare in Africa. In addition, after testing for sensitivity analysis by adopting different indicators of healthcare, the results remain consistent throughout the study, confirming the role of financial inclusion in enhancing healthcare in Africa. After computing the marginal effects, the findings depict that education and financial inclusion interact to produce positive synergy effects, signifying that the positive role of financial inclusion and education in enhancing healthcare outweighs the negative conditional effect. The results recommend policymakers establish a framework that promotes financial literacy for the enhancement of healthcare in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the determinants of military spending in Africa by considering the role played by institutions. With data obtained between the years 1996–2019, the Driscoll and Kraay fixed effects, the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM), and the Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) estimators are used. The findings suggest that government size, trade freedom, economic risk, and political risk decrease military spending, whereas government stability and military involvement in politics are found to raise it. Using alternative institutional variables, we find that corruption, government effectiveness, political stability, regulatory quality, the rule of law, and voice and accountability significantly diminish military spending in Africa. In addition, concerning the economic determinants, the results reveal that trade openness and total natural resource rents reduce military spending, while GDP per capita, inflation, and foreign debt stocks increase it. Looking at strategic determinants, arms imports, urban population, and ethnic tensions positively affect African military expenditures. Robustness checks show that these results change once regional specificities are considered. The study concludes that institutional factors could be an engine for evolution in Africa's military spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on data for 48 African countries for the period 2000–2020, we analyse the effects of natural resources on renewable energy development and the mediating effects of governance on that relationship. For this purpose, the Ordinary Least Squares method was used to develop a baseline regression model, and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approach was used for the dynamic model regression. Quantile regression was used for robustness checking across the various distributions of renewable energy. First, we find that natural resources enhance renewable energy development in Africa and that the results are robust across alternative specifications of natural resources and governance, except for forest resources, which have a negative effect on renewable energy development. When robustness is checked through a quantile regression analysis, the results show that the positive effect depends on the conditional distribution of natural resources and the type of natural resource under consideration. The negative effect of total natural resources becomes weaker as we move towards higher quantiles. Second, governance interacts with natural resource rents to generate positive effects across different governance specifications and natural resources, except for coal rent. We thereby derive some relevant implications for renewable energy financing in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to identify the determinants of the adoption of electronic payment in SMEs in Cameroon. It considers data collected from 117 SMEs. The methodology involves principal component analysis and ordinal logistic regression. The results obtained are at least twofold. First, the leading electronic payment tools adopted by these companies are mobile money, card and Internet payments. Second, their choice can be explained on the one hand by the characteristics of these payment tools such as convenience and cost of use, and on the other hand by contingency factors such as integration level and ICT's mastery level of the manager. Accordingly, companies should be encouraged to use electronic payment tools based on the driving role they could play in providing basic infrastructure and guarantee financially secure transactions between economic agents. The original contribution of this paper is at least twofold. Firstly, methodologically, this study uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and ordinal logistic regression. Secondly, while previous studies were limited to mobile money adoptions, this study further integrated online and card payments in the analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Methodology Results Conclusions Regions with multi‐ethnicity like Africa benefit from religiosity and freedom for improved mental and physical well‐being. Although religious freedom in its original sense advocates for peace, there are questions about whether it results in making healthy decisions that are beneficial to one's well‐being. This argument is made in light of the crimes carried out globally in the name of religious freedom, even though it is considered to be wrongly expressed if the expression does not improve well‐being. As a symbol of democracy, religious freedom is expected to boost sentiments of personal authenticity and belonging, and enhance support networks. This study explores the impact of freedom of religion on basic welfare in 49 African countries from 2000 to 2020.To control for potential endogeneity, the authors adopted the smoothed instrumental‐variables quantile regression strategy. The outcome variable of basic welfare is measured using an index that includes life expectancy, literacy rate, and calorie supply while religious freedom is proxied on a 4‐point scale that indicates the extent to which individuals could freely express their religious beliefs.The findings reveal a statistically significant positive impact of freedom of religion on basic welfare in Africa. It manifests itself in protecting the rights of individuals, especially the most vulnerable, and promotes social belonging and cohesion. In addition, the results reveal that freedom of religion enhances basic welfare in both former British and French African colonies when the differences in the legal systems are considered.The study's findings support the religious freedom‐welfare enhancing relationship and are consistent after considering life expectancy and literacy rate as indicators of basic welfare. Policymakers are encouraged to promote democracy and healthy religious behaviors that enhance basic well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]