This paper investigates the maximization of economic returns from mining for African countries. We focus on gold mining, a significant sector in at least 34 African countries. Our point of departure in the paper is the well-documented reality that a large number of resource-rich African...

This study analyzes the global manganese value chain, with the objective of understanding types and sources of project finance, and the role of development finance institutions (DFIs). We find that DFIs participation in transactions involving the iron group of metals, which encompasses...

This paper discusses the potential role that SWFs could play in African economies, both as recipient countries and home countries. We use new hand collected data to document the landscape of African SWFs as well as SWFs interventions on the continent. Our analysis shows that African SWFs are...

This paper describes how Africa’s wind energy markets have evolved over the years and the structural characteristics affecting the development of wind energy projects on the continent; providing what we believe is the first mapping of the continent’s wind energy market. Results from our...

Using new data from 42 African countries, we investigate the effects of public and private credit registries on firms’ access to finance as well as the effect of public credit registries’ design on the severity of the financing constraint. Our results show that access to finance is on...

This paper estimates the enrollment impact of a nation-wide scholarship program for female secondary students in The Gambia implemented to reduce gender disparity in education. In the regions where the scholarship program was implemented, all girls attending public middle and high schools were...

This paper analyzes the determinants of firms exiting the formal sector after registering at start-up. Using a unique and new dataset from four African countries (Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal) with detailed information on firms that have transitioned between formal and informal...

Using data from the Household Poverty Surveys in 2003 and 2010, this paper analyzes characteristics of immigrants in The Gambian labor market. The analysis indicates that immigrants are relatively young, low-skilled (though with skill levels comparable to Gambians) and mainly come from...

Using three nationally representative surveys from the country, we estimate the private rates of returns to education in The Gambia. To obtain consistent estimates, we exploit exogenous variation in school availability in the country at the district level at the time current wage earners where...

The literature has long identified lack of rural diversification and low intensity of input use as two key constraints to sustainable and pro-poor growth in Uganda. We use data from a large nationally representative survey to demonstrate that broader access to agricultural extension could...