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An authoritative assessment of the reform efforts in African economies during the 1980s and early 1990s. The focus is on the reform process in the socialist countries which began from a position of pervasive state intervention. The impact of the subsequent economic liberalization and the changing role of the state during the period of transition is the focus of this theoretical overview, with particular coverage of macroeconomic management and the privatization of state enterprises. A companion volume (0-333-71237-4) contains in-depth country studies. These books are the first in an important new series in association with the Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
An authoritative assessment of the reform efforts in African economies during the 1980s and early 1990s, with the focus on economic liberalization in those socialist countries which began from a position of pervasive state intervention. A companion theoretical volume (0-333-66545-7) examines the changing role of the state during the period of transition. This volume examines the important debate on agricultural reforms in the period, and provides in-depth country studies of the transition economies, covering Congo, Madagascar, Tanzania and the impact of war on transition in Angola and Mozambique. These books are the first in an important new series in association with the Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
November 1998 Standard Bank of South Africa's innovative E Bank program demonstrates how a commercial bank can use market information to bundle services needed by the urban poor-and valued by the poorer clients to justify a fee high enough to cover costs. Much of the research on financial services in low-income countries has focused on microcredit programs. Much less attention has been paid to the design of depository services, although many more low-income people use depository services than get access to credit. Having access to depository services is important for household well-being: to safeguard funds, to save for large purchases, and as insurance against unexpected expenditures. Econo...
This Book explains why African countries have remained mired in a disastrous economic crisis since the late 1970s. It shows that dynamics internal to African state structures largely explain this failure to overcome economic difficulties rather than external pressures on these same structures as is often argued. Far from being prevented from undertaking reforms by societal interest and pressure groups, clientelism within the state elite, ideological factors and low state capacity have resulted in some limited reform, but much prevarication and manipulation of the reform process, by governments which do not really believe that reform will be effective.
This book breaks new ground by exploring the challenges, constraints, and opportunities of national financial systems in developing countries, while noting that all such systems must be considered small when viewed in the context of global finance. Banking, securities, contractual savings, and systemic macroeconomic aspects are all considered.
August 1999 Argentina's recently privatized provincial banks generate much of their income through service contracts with the provinces, and the transition to commercial banking has been challenging. Available evidence suggests improvements in post-privatization performance, but it is uncertain whether these are sustainable. At the very least, however, a fiscal burden has been lifted from the provinces. Argentina's provinces offer a unique opportunity to study bank privatization because so many transactions took place there in so short a period in the 1990s (1994-98). As the decade started, every province owned at least one bank, performance in publicly owned provincial banks was substantial...
This, the second title in the World Bank Policy Research Reports (the first was the headline-making The East Asian Miracle), discusses the economic situation in Africa as it has evolved over the past several decades. To reverse the economic decline that began in the 1970s, many sub-Saharan African countries have undertaken efforts to restructure their economies. This has included liberalizing trade, deregulating markets and prices, privatizing public enterprises, and strengthening management of the financial and public sectors. Implementation has been uneven in different countries, and even those countries that have attempted major reforms have not achieved policies that are considered sound by international standards. A key finding is that improving policies paid off in higher GDR and sectoral growth rates, which are vital to reducing poverty; but in countries where policies deteriorated economic performance worsened. The report also shows that, despite the importance of reforming economic policies, countries need to invest more in human capital and infrastructure, expand their institutional capacity, and develop better governance.
After more than a decade of reform efforts in Africa, much of the optimism over the continent's prospects has been replaced by widespread Afropessimism. But to what extent is either view well founded? Democratic Reform in Africa plumbs the key issues in the contemporary African experience - including intrastate conflict, corruption, and the development of civil society - highlighting the challenges and evaluating the progress of political and economic change. Case studies of Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa complement the thematic chapters, exploring the interactions between democracy and development.