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UNECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) and the University of Bremen (Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen) will launch the two recent volumes of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook in a three days ceremony in Kigali, Rwanda (see Launch of Yearbook). Speakers from the United Nations (UNECA, UNESCO, UNCTAD), from the Government of Rwanda (Ministry of EAC Integration, Central Bank of Rwanda), from Universities in Rwanda, Representatives from Media, Authors of the two editions, and the Management Staff of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen will launch in their statements the new volumes (see the Flyers: Wohlmuth Cover Band 18 and Cover Volume 19).

A Press Conference on Day One, a Scientific Workshop on Day Two, Visits to present the volumes at the Universities in Kigali and a Visit to the Genocide Memorial on Day Three are part of the programme (see the Preliminary Programme of the Launch Event as a Launch of Yearbook). Ms. Valentine Rugwabiza, Minister of East African Community Integration, Republic of Rwanda, will give the Keynote Presentation to launch the new editions of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook. Various Staff from the Ministry will have official functions in the event. Andrew Mold, Acting Director, UNECA for Eastern Africa, the Mastermind of the Event, will lead through the Event. Professor Karl Wohlmuth, Director of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives, intends to publish a Documentation following the event in Kigali, Rwanda.

A new study edited by Elke Grawert and Zeinab Abul-Magd highlights the role of “Businessmen in Arms” for the MENA region (including countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Syria). The comparative study was published by Rowman & Littlefield (See Contents and Cover). The contribution on Sudan was done by Professor Atta El-Battahani, a long-term co-operator of  IWIM during the years of IWIM’s “Governance and Social Action in Sudan” project. The project lasted over five years and was supported by the Volkswagen Foundation; it was directed by Karl Wohlmuth and Elke Grawert. Elke Grawert is now Senior Researcher with BICC/Bonn International Center for Conversion in Bonn and Senior Lecturer at the University of Bonn (Link: https://www.bicc.de/about/staff/staffmember/member/46-grawert/ ). In this book the role of military businesses, the economic interests of retired military officers, and the web of funding of non-state armed groups in these countries are analysed.

In the chapter on Sudan, a broad historical overview of the interactions between military and businesses is presented and the political consequences of the transformation of the Sudanese Armed Forces  (SAF) are outlined. The role of the military in the various political regimes and phases of development in Sudan (up to the oil export economy since 1999 and the South Sudan separation in 2011) are presented. See the excerpts from the contribution by Professor Atta El-Battahani in the book (Link) and the related short study “The Sudan Armed Forces and Prospects of Change” which was worked out for CMI/Chr. Michelsen Institute in Bergen (Link: https://www.cmi.no/publications/file/5790-the-sudan-armed-forces-and-prospects-of-change.pdf ). The “CMI Insight” concludes that the current regime has led to ambiguous effects with regard to SAF; it expanded SAF’s role in the economy and in business, while at the same time it weakened it as a professional army. The consequence is that these features make predicting which role the military may take in political affairs of Sudan in the future very difficult.

In cooperation with Airneth, G.A.R.S. and the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, the Centre for Public Management (zep) of the City University of Applied Sciences Bremen (HSB) hosts the First Workshop on Aviation in Africa and the Annual G.A.R.S. Student Research Workshop. Professor Karl Wohlmuth will give a presentation on “New Growth and Poverty Alleviation Strategies – Spatial Development Matters” in the Session I “New Strategies for Inclusive Economic Growth in Africa I” on Thursday, June 30th 2016, 9:15 – 10:45, Venue: City University AS Bremen, Werderstraße 73. Professor Wohlmuth will also participate at Session V: Panel Discussion: Air Transport and Inclusive Growth for Africa; the panelists are: Robert Kappel (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg), Karl Wohlmuth (University of Bremen), Ken Button (George Mason University), and Nicole Adler (Hebrew University). The Panel will be chaired by Ofelia Betancor, Univer. de Las Palmas. See the Programme Details: PDF Preliminary Bremen Workshop Programme

On November 20-21, 2015, researchers and international experts on socio-economic processes in national economies met in Hanover, Germany, for a Herrenhausen Conference. With its Herrenhausen Conferences the Volkswagen Foundation provides international experts as well as junior researchers with a platform for an intensive interdisciplinary dialogue on exciting new areas of research and innovative methodological approaches. Starting form the question “Why are we so rich and they so poor?” (a phrase attributed to David Landes) the conference attempted to answer the question by calling for a better understanding of long-term processes of economic development. Crises in the world economy show that economic development is not a relatively stable process of growth. In reality socio-economic development processes by no means follow long-term, relatively stable paths of equilibrium. These processes are subject to upheavals, asynchronies, and asymmetries and give now and then rise to crises of varying severity and duration.

In three Sessions the work was structured:

Session 1: Determinants of Long-run Development and Global Differences in Economic Performance

Session 2: Transitions and Crises as Determinants of Development?

Session 3: Learning for the Future: The Role of Demographic Change, Preferences, Culture and Experience

Professor Karl Wohlmuth from the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen was invited by the Volkswagen Foundation to attend this important conference in Hanover. The Conference gave impulses to his work on Perspectives of African Development and the Role of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as a Driver of Global Development.

The Documentation of the Conference shows how rich the event in Hanover was:

The Conference Documentation of "Long-Term Processes of Socio-Economic Development" can be accessed via:

https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/veranstaltungen/veranstaltungsberichte/berichte/documentation-herrenhausen-conference-long-term-processes-of-socio-economic-development.html

The Programme can be accessed via:

https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/fileadmin/downloads/programme/2015_Veranstaltungsprogramme/Program_HK_Socio_Economics.pdf

The Summary Report can be accessed via:

https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/fileadmin/downloads/publikationen/veranstaltungsberichte/2015/HH_Conference_Socio-Economic_Development_2015_-_Summary_Report.pdf

Professor Badr El Din A. Ibrahim, President of the Microfinance Unit at the Central Bank of Sudan, a former IWIM guest professor who has published the studies with the numbers 34 and 35 in SERG (Sudan Economy Research Group) Discussion Papers, discusses why Shari’ah-compliant financing is key. He considers in a two-part series the perspectives on Islamic, or interest-free, microfinance (see PDF BA25 and PDF BA 26). Badr El Din A. Ibrahim writes (p. 35, The Case for Islamic Microfinance in Africa): “Interest-free finance can capture un-tapped microfinance opportunities arising in the continent that the conventional approach cannot. This conviction is not unfamiliar as interest-free microfinance is a new concept in African countries such as Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya, to name a few. And as the IMF paper (see source IMF 2014 below) pointed out, Sub Saharan Africa’s growing middle class, combined with its young population, is an opportunity for interest-free finance to expand its services in Africa side-by side with conventional banking.

Access to Badr El Din A. Ibrahim’s essays in Banker Africa:

Microfinance Part 1: http://www.cpifinancial.net/flipbooks/BA/2015/25/#34
Microfinance Part 2: http://www.cpifinancial.net/flipbooks/BA/2015/26/#36
Sarah Owermohle, Editor, Banker Africa, www.bankerafrica.com

Other relevant contributors to the debate on Islamic Banking and Growth in Africa:

IMF Working Paper, 2014, African Department, Islamic Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Status and Prospects, Prepared by Enrique Gelbard, Mumtaz Hussain, Rodolfo Maino, Yibin Mu, and Etienne B. Yehoue, IMF: Washington D.C., August 2014
Web Access: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2014/wp14149.pdf

IMF/International Monetary Fund, 2015,  WP/15/81, IMF Working Paper African Department, Is Islamic Banking Good for Growth? Prepared by Patrick Imam and Kangni Kpodar, IMF: Washington D.., April 2015
Web Access: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2015/wp1581.pdf

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), Microfinance Gateway
Web Access: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/library/islamic-banking-good-growth

A.T. Kearney, Inc., 2012, The Future of Islamic Banking, A.T. Kearney, Inc.
Web Access: https://www.atkearney.com/documents/10192/654853/Future+of+Islamic+Bankingpdf/27167edf-a96d-4465-b88a-83beb25ed4bd

All these contributions show that it is necessary to study carefully the role of Islamic Banking and of Islamic Microfinance for inclusive growth in Africa so as to reach the poor and the vulnerable. Islamic Microfinance may have a role in poverty reduction which is not yet assessed properly. SERG will continue to cooperate with Professor Badr El Din A. Ibrahim on these important issues.

Volume 18 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook for 2015/16 was released by the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen. In this Volume 18 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook with the title “Africa’s Progress in Regional and Global Economic Integration – Towards Transformative Regional Integration” major strategic and policy issues are analyzed. The guiding issue is how to make regional integration in Africa more transformative. So far regional integration in Africa was based on a conventional (linear) model, starting from preference zones and then moving to free trade areas, customs unions, monetary and economic zones, etc. This volume presents a new and integrated approach for regional integration in Africa. Essays and country cases are presented to highlight the issues.

See the Flyer for Volume 18: PDF Wohlmuth-Cover Band 18

Complementary to Volume 18 is Volume 19 with the title “Africa’s Progress in Regional and Global Economic Integration – Towards New Trade and Investment Policies”. Two major issues are discussed – first, the role of “New Trade Policies in Africa for Structural Change” and second, the role of “New Investment Policies in Africa for Structural Change”. The contribution to a more transformative regional integration agenda for Africa is presented. Volume 19 for 2017 is due to appear in September 2016.

Professor Karl Wohlmuth hat einen Wissenschaftsblog zum Thema „Die strategische Rolle der Universitäten in Tunesien“ verfasst. Der Professor geht auf die Rolle der Universitäten in Tunesien bei der Wirtschaftsreform und der Reindustrialisierung ein. Obwohl die Universitäten selbst unter erheblichem Reformdruck stehen, wird dennoch ein Beitrag dieser Institutionen zur Dynamisierung der tunesischen Wirtschaftsstruktur erwartet. Vgl. zu dem Blog: Wohlmuth, Karl, 2016, Die strategische Rolle der Universitäten in Tunesien, Impulse - Der Wissenschaftsblog, Universität Bremen, Webaccess: blogbeitrag__tunesien___wohlmuth_2_2018c.pdf
 

IMPULSE – Der Wissenschaftsblog
Der Wissenschaftsblog der Universität Bremen ist mit der erste seiner Art: Ein Blog, auf dem Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler fachübergreifend und aus ihrer Perspektive über ihre Forschung berichten.
IMPULSE – Der Wissenschaftsblog stellt wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse und Zusammenhänge für die Öffentlichkeit verständlich dar. Interessierte Bürgerinnen und Bürger haben durch die Kommentarfunktion die Möglichkeit, direkt Kontakt zum Autor aufzunehmen und darüber möglicherweise sogar neue Fragestellungen und damit Impulse an die Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler zu geben.

In den letzten Monaten war Professor Karl Wohlmuth sehr aktiv als Gutachter zu Buchprojekten (Routledge International Publishers, Palgrave Macmillan Publishers, und Oxford University Press), zu wissenschaftlichen Beiträgen (etwa für die renommierte Zeitschrift Comparative Economic Studies und für afrikanische Zeitschriften), und zu Forschungsprojekten (so im Rahmen der Innovations- und Technikanalyse (ITA) des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) in Berlin). Professor Karl Wohlmuth hat sich auch an der Evaluierung von Bachelor- und Masterstudiengängen an deutschen Hochschulen beteiligt, insbesondere auch von Dualen Hochschulstudiengängen, in denen neben der universitären Ausbildung die berufliche Praxis der zweite Schwerpunkt ist. Zudem ist der Professor auch an internationalen MBA-Programmen beteiligt, so etwa bei der Begutachtung von Masterarbeiten mit Bezügen zu ökonomischen Schwerpunktthemen Afrika.

In recent months Professor Karl Wohlmuth has done a number of evaluations and reviews, of book proposals, book manuscripts, and book endorsements (for Routledge International Publishers, Palgrave Macmillan Publishers, and Oxford University Press), of journal articles (for prestigious Comparative Economic Studies and for African journals), and of research projects (so for the Innovation and Technology Analysis (ITA) initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) in Berlin). Also, Professor Wohlmuth was active in evaluating international Bachelor and Master study programmes at German universities and of Dual Higher Study Programmes (combining higher education with practical work in enterprises). Professor Karl Wohlmuth was also invited to support International MBA Programmes with regard of Master Theses on Africa-related Business and Economics Issues.

Zur Problematik der Ökonomie in der Ukraine; die Bremer Presse berichtet am 10. 3. 2015 über ein fragwürdiges Engagement in der Ukraine unter dem Titel: "Steinbrück und die Oligarchen": Link: http://www.weser-kurier.de/startseite_artikel,-Steinbrueck-und-die-Oligarchen-_arid,1075517.html

Die Forschungsstelle Osteuropa der Universität Bremen berichtet regelmäßig in ihren „Ukraine-Analysen“ über die aktuellen Ereignisse und Entwicklungen: Link: http://www.laender-analysen.de/ukraine/ . Die Ukraine-Analysen werden gemeinsam mit der DGO (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde e. V.) herausgegeben.