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Abstract - Financial Deepening and Sustained Economic Growth in Nigeria: What Nonlinear Models Reveal
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Abstract: Motivated by the desire to expose a possible nonlinearity and non-proportionality in linking financial deepening and economic growth, we investigated the finance-growth nexus from a linear and nonlinear perspective using dataset from Nigeria for 1981: Q1 to 2017: Q4. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Nonlinear Autoregressive distributed Lag (NARDL) models, and it was found that economic growth tends to adjust nonlinearly to financial deepening than it does linearly. This is expected to guide policy makers towards ensuring that the linearity and nonlinearity polarity of the finance-growth nexus are always factored-in while formulating policies relative to driving sustained growth through financial deepening. Keywords: ARDL, NARDL, Financial Deepening, and Economic Growth. |
Abstract - Zimbabwe’s Special Maize Programme for the Import Substitution (Command Agriculture) Scheme: A Hit-and-Miss Affair
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Abstract: Increasing food insecurity levels and large import expenditure have been major concerns for the government of Zimbabwe in recent years, leading to the development and implementation of different policies aimed at addressing these issues. In the wake of the devastating drought of 2015, in which only a quarter of the country’s annual maize requirement was produced, the Zimbabwean government instituted a targeted command agriculture scheme known in policy terms as the Special Maize Programme for Import Substitution (SMPIS). The programme aimed to increase maize production and to reduce the grain import expenditure of the country. The scheme, although viewed by many as a panacea to the country’s increasing food insecurity levels, was equally criticised by many as a drain on the highly depleted financial resources of the country, and arguments have emerged on the merits and demerits of the scheme for the struggling economy. This paper analyses the impact of the SMPIS on maize production and importation in Zimbabwe, as well as the gains and losses of the programme to the Zimbabwean economy. Keywords: Command Agriculture, Maize, Imports, Government, Inputs, Subsidy. |
Abstract - Investigating the Link between Economic Complexity Index and Monetary Policy Lending Rates in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries
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Abstract: This article investigates if there is a link between economic complexity index and monetary policy lending rates in selected Sub-Saharan African countries. Economic complexity index (ECI) as a measure of productive capabilities and a mix of sophisticated products that countries export, has been found to influence some economic indicators such as economic growth and inequality. Little attention has been paid to ECI’s link to lending rates in monetary policy bank lending rate transmission mechanism. In this paper, the ECI-lending rate nexus has been investigated using a panel autoregressive distribution lag methodology. Results indicated a long-run significant relationship with the Kao and Johansen combined cointegration. It was further illustrated in the long-un that ECI estimates have a negative and significant impact on monetary policy lending rates. The series could correct to equilibrium at a significant rate of 25%. These results provided new insights needed for appropriate development economic policy to reduce monetary policy lending rates. Keywords: Monetary policy transmission mechanism, economic complexity index, panel auto-regressive distributed lag model, Sub-Saharan Africa. |
Abstract - Lessons from Foreign Owned Spaza Shops in South African Townships
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Abstract: In 2014, the World Bank pronounced how the informal sector is probably responsible for half of the GDP in developing countries. This sector can no longer be ignored as it is embedded in most developing countries’ economies. In a country like South Africa, the informal sector is a gateway to economic freedom where the historically deprived groups were left behind and could not participate in the formal economic sectors, as they would have liked. This was due to racially skewed policies of the apartheid regime. The country saw black racial groups marginalised from acquiring appropriate skills, education and resources to allow them to participate in the formal economy. The barrier to entry into formal economies resulted in the significant rise of the informal economy. One of the most prevalent business forms in this sector has been Spaza Shops. In fact, in South Africa, Spaza Shops have become synonymous with the informal sector. Post-apartheid, with the opening of the country’s borders over the years, there has been an increase in foreign owned Spaza Shops both legally and illegally, at the expense of locally owned ones. Using an exploratory research design, this paper sought to uncover various practices and procedures that have been accredited to the success of foreign owned Spaza’s in townships. Through qualitative engagement with relevant literature published over a period of six years, a relationship between foreign owned businesses and locally owned businesses in the townships of South Africa was investigated. The study outcomes identified motives for increased and successful foreign owned businesses in townships. These are Networking and Economies of Scales; Socio-Economic Motivators; Geographic Location; Financial Management, Entrepreneurial Orientation and Business practice. All of these motives are seen as equally important and can be used to upskill and motivate local informal traders to be as competitive within the township economy. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, apartheid, xenophobia, innovation and township economy. |
