A sustainable structural transformation depends, causally, on a society’s widespread confidence in its food security. However, sustaining this confidence in food security at a societal level requires, causally, a successful structural transformation. This mutual dependence of structural...

Over the past 50 years, while the world’s population has more than doubled, the quantity and real value of agricultural output has more than trebled, even though land in agriculture increased by only about one-tenth (Alston and Pardey 2014). This remarkable accomplishment belied predictions in the...

In his 1974 Nobel Prize lecture titled “The Pretence of Knowledge,” Friedrich von Hayek chastised his fellow economists about their love affair with analytical approaches that mimicked physics or biology, especially after their discipline had “been conceded some of the dignity and prestige of the...

L’accélération du phénomène d’urbanisation observé ces dernières années dans les grandes agglomérations en Afrique n’est pas sans conséquence sur les comportements de mobilité. Selon le rapport du département des affaires économiques et sociales des Nations unies, plus de la moitié de la population...

Factors of production—labour, capital and technology—feature prominently in endogenous and exogenous growth theories. The efficiency and intensity of their use, and their productivity levels, have varied widely before and during South Africa’s period of democracy. In the four decades before the...

In the past few years, there has been significant emphasis on institutional reforms. Reforms have even become major criteria for financial and other forms of assistance from international organisations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other donor agencies. The...

La question de l’intégration économique en général et de l’intégration monétaire en particulier n’est pas nouvelle. Elle remonte aux arrangements monétaires en Europe à la fin de la seconde guerre mondiale et au débat sur la politique de change au Canada (Friedman, 1953 ; Meade, 1957 ; Scitovsky,...

This paper explores the question of structural transformation and income distribution through the eyes of Simon Kuznets, the pioneer in such analysis. It argues that Kuznets’ 1955 paper stands the test of time in that it provides illuminating insights into current phenomena like the evolution of...

AS the AfDB Vice Presidency for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, marks its first 100 days, the Climate Change and Green Growth Department (PECG) has set itself on firm ground to play a pivotal role in delivering the High 5s through innovative solutions including finance aimed at addressing...