This paper examines agriculture growth performance in 20 countries in West and Central Africa over 2001–23. Most countries in the region continued to depend on land expansion to raise agricultural output. However, two countries in West Africa, Ghana and Senegal, stand apart. Over these two...

Studies have called for exploring authentic leadership in diverse contexts, as organizations expressed a need for credible leadership amid challenging business times and societal volatilities. However, there has been limited consideration of the cultural and contextual boundaries of authentic...

We show that mobile connectivity transforms household livelihoods in ways that foster food market integration in WAEMU countries. Using cross-sectional data on nearly 60,000 households and 146 food products traded across 5,000 enumeration areas in eight member states (2018-2019), we combine...

Demographic structure plays a crucial role in shaping economic growth, particularly in regions undergoing rapid population changes. West Africa, characterized by a young population, high fertility rates, and urbanization, presents both opportunities and challenges for economic development. While...

The Gulf of Guinea (GoG) spans over 6 000 km of coastline and 19 states. The region is rich in natural resources: it holds significant reserves of gas (2.7% of total world reserves) and oil (4.5%), as well as other valuable minerals including diamonds, tin, bauxite, manganese and cobalt. While...

The Gulf of Guinea (GoG) spans over 6 000 km of coastline and 19 states. The region is rich in natural resources: it holds significant reserves of gas (2.7% of total world reserves) and oil (4.5%), as well as other valuable minerals including diamonds, tin, bauxite, manganese and cobalt. While...

Purpose - This paper aims to empirically investigate the factors attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses secondary data from the World Bank and the Global State of Democracy Indices of 16 West African countries...

Markets for millet and rice in the Western Sudan became much more integrated over the course of the twentieth century. Drawing on a new dataset of prices from across French West African colonies, this paper documents that price dispersion as measured by the coefficient of variation roughly...

This study explores the role of climate conditions in shaping return migration intentions among international migrants. Using original survey data of over 1,000 first-generation migrants from West Africa living in Germany, we correlate observational data on temperature increases in the...

I combine multiple rounds of geo-coded household survey data with a globally gridded climate dataset to quantify the impact of heat exposure on child disease incidence in sub-Saharan Africa. I construct hour-degree bins of temperature exposure and find that 10 additional hours of exposure to...

The empirical outcomes of previous studies examining the relationship between economic growth and socio-economic indicators have been inconclusive and conflicting. To further probe into the study area, the current research employed a dynamic panel model estimated via three robust dynamic panel...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes domestic revenue mobilization (DRM) in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). DRM is critical for financing economic and social development and ensuring debt sustainability in WAEMU, especially in light of rising interest, high security...

This paper presents IMF staff report on common policies for member countries of West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Economic growth continues to be strong in the WAEMU. Inflation has fallen back to its target range, and recent improvements in regional external imbalances are...

This paper employs various empirical methods to test the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) hypothesis in West and Central Africa, considering countries within the WAEMU, CEMAC, CFA, and ECOWAS currency zones and four possible numeraire currencies-U.S. dollar, euro, renminbi, and the CFA franc. Using...

This quantitative model for Macrofinancial Policy Analysis for the WAEMU was developed to deepen the Fund's engagement in macrofinancial surveillance in the region. By analyzing unobserved credit cycle dynamics and risks, and emphasizing macrofinancial linkages, the model helps assess the...

WAEMU members' trade openness, integration into global value chains (GVCs), and export diversification remain limited. Tariffs, non-tariff measures (NTMs, obstacles to trade that arise mainly from differences in national regulations), and a challenging trade environment (e.g., cumbersome Customs...

Sharing used injection equipment is one of the main ways in which drug users run the risk of infection (e.g., with HIV, or hepatitis B and C). This has led to the introduction of harm reduction (HR) strategies, such as needle exchange programmes (NEPs). Injection use is considered to be less...

The African Single Electricity Market aims to create the world's largest electricity market by 2040. This initiative faces the challenge of interconnecting a continent with significant geographical, cultural, and political differences, and addressing energy poverty for over 500 million people....

This Brief seeks to address the lack of systematic, comparable data on Russia's engagement in West Africa. Such data is crucial for assessing the threat posed by Russian-sponsored FIMI, which often serves as a tool to advance broader strategic objectives in regions where Russia seeks to expand...

This Brief seeks to address the lack of systematic, comparable data on Russia's engagement in West Africa. Such data is crucial for assessing the threat posed by Russian-sponsored FIMI, which often serves as a tool to advance broader strategic objectives in regions where Russia seeks to expand...

This article proposes to take a fresh look at Germany’s colonial past and its key players in order to trace the particular influence of economy in colonial contexts. It presents the Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH) as a colonial actor outside the sectors typically explored in the context of the...

Most power utilities in West Africa are not financially sustainable. Several interrelated factors cause these performance issues, but dependence on liquid fuels, poor governance, insufficient use of information technology (IT), and weak balance sheets are particularly common and acute...

This paper is one of a series of three that aim to help West African utilities and governments and the development financiers that support them - better understand and respond to these issues. The focus in the papers is primarily on utilities with a distribution function (that is,...

Most power utilities in West Africa are not financially sustainable. Several interrelated factors cause these performance issues, but dependence on liquid fuels, poor governance, insufficient use of information technology (IT), and weak balance sheets are particularly common and acute...

Although microenterprises are the most prevalent employer in Africa, boosting their productivity remains a development challenge. Theoretically, microenterprise business associations could foster technology, improve access to inputs, pool risk, ensure coordination, and facilitate credit for...

This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the CFA franc (XOF) compared to the euro (EUR) within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). It is among the first to assess both currencies under systemic stress by combining event studies, risk metrics, and ARDL regressions....

This study examines the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) and revealed comparative advantage (RCA) on non-alcoholic trade in West Africa. The study considered data from 1995 to 2023 for 15 West African countries. It utilised the pooled mean group estimator, capturing ICT...

This paper provides measures of compliance with labour regulations that vary across space, time, and type of regulation, allowing for a rich analysis of worker vulnerability. We compute a multidimensional index of labour violations that covers minimum wages, leave benefits and social security in...

This study used an emic approach to examine the dynamics of online romance fraud, focusing on the migration of offenders from Nigeria to Ghana. We collected data through qualitative methods, such as semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Ghanaian police officers and Nigerian law...

Africa is one of the fastest-growing crypto markets in the world, with its crypto transactions peaking at $20 billion per month in mid-2021, with Nigeria contributing to the world's third largest bitcoin-holding. Evidence continues to grow, showcasing criminals who seek to use cryptocurrencies...

This study examines the dynamic relationship between external debt and unemployment in West Africa, employing the Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (P-ARDL) method with the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimator. Annual data from 16 West African countries (1991-2021) were analysed. The results...