Financial inclusion is an important enabler of economic development and aligns with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In most sub-Saharan African countries, financial inclusion efforts take place in the presence of concentrated and bank-dominated systems. This study...

This report explores the potential of maturing technologies to address specific health financing challenges in East and Southern Africa. To the extent possible, it draws on examples from countries in the region and shows how some technologies have been used in other sectors that could inform...

The objective of this contribution is to investigate the processes that condition and shape the emergence of agricultural frontiers, i.e. regions with rapid development of natural resource exploitation and land-use changes, in territories considered as marginal in terms of agricultural...

Understanding the relationship between health capital and economic performance is crucial for policymakers in Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. This study explores this relationship in 14 SADC countries over a 14-year period (2005-2019), with GDP per capita as a measure of...

A severe drought is currently affecting southern Africa and the Zambezi basin, with extremely dry and warm conditions from October 2023 to March 2024. Heatwaves are exacerbating the impacts of the lack of precipitation. The average temperature is abnormally high, registering record values since...

This study investigates the association between infrastructure development in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to southern Africa, using a propensity score matching-difference-in-difference (PSM-DID) regression. The empirical examination is based...

Purpose - This paper aims to assess the impact of digital financial innovation on financial system development in Common Market for eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). This paper evaluates the dynamic relationship between digital financial innovation measures and financial system development...

The report (Volume 1) is structured in the following way: The first section provides an overview ofthe condition of the physical infrastructure and some of the challenges in maintaining and improving the network. The second section looks at the projected growth on the transport network up to...

In Sub-Saharan Africa, health care facilities face critical challenges in water supply, sanitation, and hygiene services; health care waste management; and environmental cleanliness. With coverage below 50 percent, these deficiencies pose significant health risks to patients and health care...

In addition to performing their basic fiscal functions, governments in developing economies are constantly challenged by new and re-emerging socioeconomic issues such as insecurity, hunger, natural disaster, collapsing infrastructure and disease outbreaks. These piles of challenges have made the...

Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries are under pressure to commit themselves to sustainable environmental activities. This study employed data from 2007 to 2021 using quantile regression to determine the heterogenous effects of industrialisation on environmental degradation in SACU...

This paper examines the key determinants of firm growth in three Southern African countries of Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia and assesses whether exporting activity and use of information communication technology play any role in growth of the firms. The paper uses data collected by the World...

In addition to performing their basic fiscal functions, governments in developing economies are constantly challenged by new and re-emerging socioeconomic issues such as insecurity, hunger, natural disaster, collapsing infrastructure and disease outbreaks. These piles of challenges have made the...

External shocks disrupt the effectiveness of the central bank in stabilising prices. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of exchange rate movement on consumer prices in the SACU region for the period from 1990 to 2021 (31 observations for each nation). To achieve this, panel...

Revealing the harsh reality of trafficking in persons and forced labour within the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Region, the Regional Baseline Assessment sheds light on prevalent challenges and critical gaps in addressing these criminal activities. Despite efforts to combat trafficking,...

The levels of human capital and skills differ widely between continents and over time. While skills and human capital on the African continent have improved over time, a gap with other continents remains (Penn 2019). Of more concern, the gap in human capital between Africa and the rest of the...

According to the GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) 2022 update for the East and Southern Africa (AFE) region, eight countries are in group A or B, and the remaining 18 countries are in group C or D, exhibiting medium to low focus on GovTech initiatives in general. GovTech initiatives were primarily...

Services are the fastest growing portion of world trade and now account for nearly a quarter of global exports. This presents opportunities for emerging economies to adapt and enter new markets. Many countries in southern Africa have struggled to diversify from a heavy reliance on primary...

Africa has had a renewed strategic importance in the 21st century. It is related to the uprise of new actor in international system that search markets and strategic partners. Whitin those new actors are Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs). In this context this paper seek to understand how...

The struggle to combat climate change remains complex and challenging. Currently, two climate change approaches, namely, mitigation and adaptation, have been widely supported. These are empirical, requiring further explanation of the main drivers of carbon emissions. This research seeks to...

Access to drinking-water is a governance issue and central to Covid-19 prevention, yet it remains a critical challenge for marginalised and vulnerable households. This study assesses how local formal institutions in Malawi address equitable access to drinking-water for marginalised households...

The mining sector has become a focal point for the Malawian government, cited in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy II 2012-2016 as a priority sector, accompanied by growth in contributions to GDP over the last decade. Harnessing the country’s resources can spur on national...

With the 14 members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) having set the objective of adopting a common currency for the year 2018, an expanding empirical literature has emerged evaluating the benefits and costs of a common-currency area in Southern Africa. This paper reviews that...

Africa has had a renewed strategic importance in the 21st century. It is related to the uprise of new actor in international system that search markets and strategic partners. Whitin those new actors are Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs). In this context this paper seek to understand how...

A study of the harmonisation of national mining policies conducted by the United Nations Economic Council for Africa (UNECA) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 2009 concluded that “As large-scale mining activities increase, Malawi should benefit from a SADC-wide approach to...