African economic progress over the last twenty years has been bleak. Severe policy distortions at both the macroeconomic and sectorial levels led to economic stagnation. Industrial import substitution strategies failed to contribute to vitality in the manufacturing sector, while extensive...

Uneven tax administration in Africa is a major contributor to revenue shortfalls that augment inflationary pressure while depriving governments of resources with which to provide public goods. It also stimulates resort for more easily collected taxes on foreign trade, with associated efficiency...

What is the relative importance of state and non-state institutions of contract and contract enforcement for economic activity? In particular what is the role of state institutions in governing transactions? In both developed and developing countries, contracts are governed by a multitude of...

Like many other developing countries, Ghana tried to use the creation of state-owned enterprises as instruments of development in the 1960s through the 1980s. Since the late 1980s she has embarked on a program to privatize the state-owned enterprises. Aiding economic development, capturing...

The growth of state-owned enterprises (SOE’s) in Nigeria between 1960 and 1970 was motivated by five basic objectives: (1) to provide basic social services, (2) to promote economic development, (3) to assume the risk of capital intensive projects adjudged too large for the Nigerian private...

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was created in 1969 to provide political rich insurance to promote U.S. direct (private) investments in less developed countries. This study examines the effect of the program on the overall levels of U.S. direct investments in Africa. Results...

Can integration be the answer to economic growth and development in West Africa? With the changing dynamics of multilateral trade, it is probable to think that integration would serve as a catalyst for development and prosperity for West Africa. Regional integration has become an attractive...

A number of African economies have highly concentrated export and import sectors. Moreover, their export revenues are highly unstable due to recurrent and sharp variations in the prices of main export goods. This paper examines the role of external shocks, which are represented by the...

There are two different schools of thought on the relationship between pricing and measures of market structure such as concentration and market share in the banking industry. The structure-conduct-performance (market power) school suggests that concentration is empirically evident via the...

As African countries strive toward economic development, they have had the need to borrow marketing knowhow from the developed countries as part of their tool-bag of development techniques. Although this is commendable, debate persists in the literature as to the applicability/relevance of...