Publication Project Africa Yearbook
In Unit Three of the new volume of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook, Volume 16, with the title "Macroeconomic Policy Formation in Africa" new macroeconomic and structural developments in West Africa are highlighted. Focus in the Unit Three is mainly on country case studies for Nigeria and Senegal, but in the context of the planned and existing economic and monetary zones in the area. While Senegal is a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Nigeria is part of the WAMZ (West African Monetary Zone) project. The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) is attempting since many years to harmonize economic policies and to integrate the Francophone and the Anglophone countries in the area by merging - in the medium to long term - the two monetary zones. Because of the great importance of Nigeria for the success of WAMZ there are essays in the Unit on Nigeria's public expenditure policies in the context of macroeconomic policy formation and about the impact of Nigeria's macroeconomic policies on sectoral development. The two Unit Editors have written an Introductory Essay and have highlighted the strategic framework for a double and then harmonized West African monetary integration process and for a sound and effective macroeconomic policy formation in these countries.
Dr. Osmund O. Uzor is the lead editor of the Unit Three, and Professor Wohlmuth served as the co-editor. Dr. Osmund O. Uzor, a research associate of IWIM, holds a PhD from the University of Bremen; he used his contacts to universities in Nigeria to make this Unit possible. The two Unit Editors used their contacts with WAMA (West African Monetary Agency) and WAMI (West African Monetary Institute) to involve experts for guiding the Editors of the Yearbook on the issue and for writing on the theme of WAMZ. The analysis of the prospects of WAMZ reveals that Maastricht type criteria of convergence (four primary and six secondary convergence criteria) play a role in the foundation of the Second Monetary Zone for West Africa, but that the Euro crisis leads to new reflections among West African policymakers on the modalities, the feasibility and the future perspectives of the project. These issues as related to the Euro crisis are also covered in Unit 1 of the new volume of the Yearbook - with various essays on General Issues of Macroeconomic Policy Formation in Africa (see the synopsis of the new issue of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook).
Im Rahmen der Vortragsreihe "Vom Sudan nach Namibia", organisiert vom Rektorat und dem International Office der Universität Bremen in Verbindung mit Institutionen der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit in Bremen, hielt Professor Karl Wohlmuth einen Vortrag über "Sudan und Süd-Sudan: Vom Konflikt zur Kooperation?. Frau Prof. Dr. Yasemin Karakasoglu, Konrektorin für Interkulturalität und Internationalität, eröffnete den Vortragsabend. Der Professor ging zunächst auf die Phasen des Sudanprojektes an der Universität Bremen (Sudanforschungsgruppe Bremen) seit den 70er Jahren bis zur Gegenwart ein und analysierte dann die Ursachen der Konflikte zwischen dem Sudan und dem Süd-Sudan. Auf Möglichkeiten und Chancen einer zukünftigen Kooperation der beiden Länder wurde eingegangen.
Im Vortrag wurden fünf Themen behandelt: Erstens, die Konflikte im Sudan: Ursachen, Einflussfaktoren, Perioden; zweitens, das sudanesische Wachstumsmodell und die Konflikte; drittens, die Geographie, Intensität und Dynamik der Konflikte im Sudan/Süd-Sudan; viertens, Ansätze für eine Lösung der Konflikte durch eine grundlegend neue Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik; und fünftens, Ansätze für eine Lösung der Konflikte durch eine strategische ökonomische Kooperation zwischen Sudan und Süd-Sudan. Eine lebhafte Diskussion über die Thesen des Bremer Sudanforschers schloss sich an den Vortrag an. Die Präsentation wird auf Grund des bekundeten Interesses nun einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht (Link: PDF Präsentation). Ein Draft Paper zum Vortrag und Aufsätze des Referenten zu den behandelten Themen liegen vor (vgl. Publikationen von Karl Wohlmuth). Über diese Themen wird im Rahmen der Sudanforschungsgruppe der Universität Bremen in den kommenden Jahren weiter gearbeitet (Link: Sudanforschungsgruppe).
Die Universität Bremen dokumentiert ihre Zusammenarbeit mit afrikanischen universitären Partnern im Rahmen von Ausstellungen und einer Vortragsreihe vom 30. April 28. Mai 2013 im DGB-Haus am Hauptbahnhof (vgl. den Flyer zu der Veranstaltung: http://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/international/Aktuelles/IO_Vom_Sudan_nach_Namibia_Flyer_20130318_RZ.pdf ).
Sowohl die Kooperation von Wissenschaftlern der Universität Bremen mit Namibia als auch jene mit dem Sudan währt nun schon über 35 Jahre. In der Zwischenzeit sind zahlreiche weitere Kooperationen mit Afrika dazugekommen und prägen Lehre und Forschung der Exzellenzuniversität.
Professor Karl Wohlmuth wird am 28. Mai 2013 zum Thema "Sudan und Süd-Sudan: Vom Konflikt zur Kooperation" einen Vortrag halten (vgl. Synopse unter: http://www.uni-bremen.de/international/profil-international/aktuelles-und-berichte/aktuelles/vom-sudan-nach-namibia.html). Berichtet wird über die Projekte der Zusammenarbeit mit dem Sudan und über die aktuellen Forschungen zu den Entwicklungen nach der Unabhängigkeitserklärung des Süd-Sudan vom 9. Juli 2011 (vgl. dazu ausführlich: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/EconomicPoliciesInSudan.htm und http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/forschung/forsch-sudan.htm ).
Die Veranstaltung wird am 30. April 2013 von Frau Prof. Dr. Yasemin Karakasoglu, Konrektorin für Interkulturalität und Internationalität, und von S. E. Neville Gertze, Botschafter der Republik Namibia, feierlich eröffnet. Prof. Dr. Manfred Hinz hält den Eröffnungsvortrag.
Schwerpunktheft Afrika: Entwicklungspotential und Risiko
Im Schwerpunktheft Afrika der "Berichte" des Forschungsinstituts der Internationalen Wissenschaftlichen Vereinigung Weltwirtschaft und Weltpolitik (IWVWW) e. V. geht es um Entwicklungspotentiale und um Sicherheitsrisiken in Afrika beim internationalen Einsatz von Fachkräften. Nach dem auszugsweisen Abdruck der Rede des Bundespräsidenten Joachim Gauck auf der Sitzung der ständigen Vertreter der Afrikanischen Union in Addis Abeba/Äthiopien vom 18. März 2013 finden sich Beiträge über den Mali-Konflikt als Spätfolge libyscher Destabilisierungspolitik in den Sahara-Saaten und über Sicherheitsrisiken bei der internationalen Entsendung von Fachkräften nach Afrika. Der Beitrag des Bremer Professors Karl Wohlmuth geht auf Wissenschaft, Technik und Innovation als Triebkräfte der afrikanischen Entwicklung ein. Besonders thematisiert wird der Stellenwert von Wissenschaft, Technik und Innovation für die Förderung von Landwirtschaft, Agroindustrie und Agribusiness in Afrika.
Die beiden Institute kooperieren seit über 20 Jahren in vielfältiger Form (Link: http://www.iwvww.de/).
In a collaborative research project directed by Professor Hans H. Bass, Director of the Institute for Transport and Development/ITD, at Bremen University of Applied Sciences, the potentials of indigenous crops and fruits in West Africa for rural and urban domestic markets and for export markets are analyzed. Included in the research programme (covering Mali, Ghana and Nigeria) are the actual and potential value chains for indigenous fruits such as mangoes; the transformation of these fruits into sauces, syrups, and juices is studied and also the services needed for marketing these products in local, regional and international markets are investigated. The same type of value chain analysis is applied to products such as karate (shea) which is part of a complex agro-forestry eco-system with uses for cosmetic and pharmaceutical products; also cashew is included which is offering also huge potentials for processing in downstream industries such as in pharmacology. The research project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung/BMBF). The various phases of the research project are described in the Annual Report of ITD (see the Annual Report 2011/2012 of ITD/Institute for Transport and Development, Faculty Of Business And Economics, Hochschule Bremen/University Of Applied Sciences, Directors and Editors: Professors Hans-Heinrich Bass and Hans-Martin Niemeier; see Web Access: http://www.hs-bremen.de/internet/forschung/einrichtungen/itd/profil/itd_annual_report_final_version_100dpi.pdf).
Professor Karl Wohlmuth from the University of Bremen has contributed to this research project with an article on the role of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for promoting agriculture, agro-industries and agribusiness in Africa. As country cases Nigeria and Ghana were considered in the essay. See on the publication details:
Wohlmuth, Karl, 2013, Promoting agriculture, agro-industry and agribusiness in Africa. The role of science, technology and innovation (STI), pp. 22-28, in: Promoting the Production of Cashew, Shea, and Indigenous Fruits in West Africa, edited by Hans-Heinrich Bass, published in: Institute for Transport and Development, ITD Annual Report, Supplement 2, Bremen: Bremen University of Applied Sciences, March 2013; Web Access at SSOAR (Social Science Open Access Repository) under http://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/33846 and Persistent Identifier (PID): http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-338461; the study is also accessible at University of Bremen's e-lib in: http://elib.suub.uni-bremen.de/edocs/00103145-1.pdf. Professor Wohlmuth has researched since 2009 intensively on issues of STI policies and agro-industrial development in Africa (see Publications Karl Wohlmuth).
In various essays Professor Wohlmuth outlines the role of Science, Technology and innovation (STI) as drivers of African Development (Link on Publications: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/publikationen/pub-wohlmuth.htm ). Considered are the major economic problems in Africa requesting significant STI inputs to be overcome (stagnation of agriculture, especially of cereals production; de-industrialization and low share of manufacturing in GDP; difficulties to transform trade structures at regional and global levels towards a higher value added content of exports). The African Union (AU) initiatives undertaken in this regard are characterized area by area. Main focus is on public interventions and on public-private partnerships to use STI infrastructure and STI policies more effectively. Three action levels are discussed to show how STI-based development can work towards value addition, employment creation and poverty reduction. The three action levels (building linkages between agriculture and agro-industry subsectors and STI infrastructure; incorporating STI inputs into agro-industrial value chains at all levels and ranks; and converting comparative advantages into competitive advantages by using specific STI inputs) are discussed in detail and matter in a new Agenda for African Development based on STI. The papers benefitted from consultancy work for UNIDO and participation and discussion at UNIDO/FAO/AU conferences in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Abuja, Nigeria (see also the project context of these researches: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/Agro-IndustrialDevelopment.htm).
Nicht nur im "Handbuch Sozialpolitiken der Welt", sondern auch im Band "Sozialpolitik in Entwicklungsländern" ist der Bremer Wirtschaftsprofessor Karl Wohlmuth mit einem Beitrag über die Sozialpolitik in den Republiken Sudan und Süd-Sudan vertreten. Die besondere Bedeutung dieses Bandes ergibt sich aus der Tatsache, dass die Sozialpolitik zu einem wichtigen Prüfkriterium für die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, insbesondere auch der Europäischen Union, geworden ist (vgl. Publikationen Karl Wohlmuth).
Der zweite European Report on Development (ERD) für das Jahr 2010 hat den Titel "Social protection for inclusive development - a new perspective in EU co-operation with Africa" (vgl. Link: http://erd.eui.eu/erd-2010/final-report/). In der Zwischenzeit liegt der vierte ERD vor (vgl. Link: http://www.erd-report.eu/erd/index.html) und thematisiert ebenfalls Fragen der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, und zwar mit dem Fokus auf die Post-2015 Global Agenda.
Zudem wird das Thema der Sozialpolitik für die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und für die nationale Politik in Entwicklungsländern immer wichtiger, weil die Reaktion der Staaten auf die Weltfinanzkrise 2008/09 gezeigt hat, dass Entwicklungsländer mit einer aktiven Sozialpolitik Krisen schneller und besser überwinden können. Einkommens- und Beschäftigungsverluste sowie negative Folgen der Krise für Ernährung, Bildung und Gesundheit können eher bewältigt werden. Auch für die makroökonomische Steuerung ergeben sich Vorteile. Zudem wird die Politik der Armutsbekämpfung wesentlich effektiver, wenn grundlegende Elemente einer Sozialpolitik vorhanden sind und systematisch ausgebaut werden.
Sozialpolitik im Sudan und im Süd-Sudan, in:
Sozialpolitik in Entwicklungsländern - ein Handbuch, Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2013
(New Publication: Social Policies in Sudan and South Sudan,
in: Social Policies in Developing Economies - A Handbook, Berlin 2013)
Economic Policy for Peace, Development and Cooperation between Sudan and South Sudan:
This is the title of a paper proposed by Professor Karl Wohlmuth for the Annual Conference 2013 of the Graduate College and the Directorate of Scientific Research and Cultural Relations of the University of Khartoum, Republic of the Sudan. Professor Wohlmuth was invited to this event by the Graduate College and the Directorate of Scientific Research and Cultural Relations of the University of Khartoum. The theme of the conference is: "Towards a Confident Renaissance". The conference is held at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum and at the University of Khartoum-Main Campus.
The theme Economic Policy for Peace, Development and Cooperation between Sudan and South Sudan as submitted to the conference is based on the recent research work by Professor Karl Wohlmuth on Strategic Economic Cooperation between Sudan and South Sudan (see about the research program and the research output the link: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/EconomicPoliciesInSudan.htm).
Researches on the Sudan at the University of Bremen have a long history dating back to the year 1978 (see the list of selected publications of the Sudan Economy Research Group/SERG with the link: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/files/dateien/1535_serg_38_2_2011.pdf).
In Unit 1 of the forthcoming volume 16 of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook with the title "Macroeconomic Policy Formation in Africa" there will by analyses of new macroeconomic policy approaches being of relevance for Africa.
First, it is analyzed how African governments can increase the macroeconomic policy space and especially the fiscal space for employment creation and social safety; new macroeconomic policy approaches are investigated in this direction and country cases are reviewed. An important result of the researches is that macroeconomic policy reforms and reforms of the relevant macroeconomic policy institutions can be quite effective in reducing unemployment and youth unemployment in Africa. This is important as growth in Africa is not inclusive enough in terms of employment creation and poverty reduction.
Second, the implications of the Euro crisis for African economies and their economic policies are analyzed; this is not only done for those countries whose currencies are pegged to the Euro, but also for other African country groups with different economic characteristics. As regional integration in Africa favors not only preferential trade agreements, free trade zones and customs unions but also more and more currency unions, the Euro crisis has lessons for Africa to be learned.
Third, it is analyzed how Africa is responding to the globalization trends and what this means for economic governance reforms and for macroeconomic policies and institutions. By reviewing the trends in economic governance and economic globalization it is possible to derive conclusions on policy reforms so that the frameworks and institutions for macroeconomic policies in Africa can then be changed and improved. Various country groups in Africa show in their macroeconomic policies quite different responses to globalization trends and to changes of governance systems.
Fourth, aspects of inclusive growth are discussed and related to macroeconomic policy reforms as traditional ("mainstream") macroeconomic policy approaches and frameworks have consistently neglected social issues (employment creation, social safety and cohesion, poverty reduction) and, more generally, inclusive growth and sustainable development strategies. Improving macroeconomic stability in a rather narrow sense was the main objective of these policies so far. Guidelines for new macroeconomic policies which aim at targeting inclusive growth are presented in the new volume of the Yearbook.
The Research Group of African Development Perspectives Bremen has cooperated with senior ILO experts and with leading researchers in the field to make this Unit 1 possible. While the Global Financial Crisis gave a push to the new macroeconomics for sustainable African growth and development, there are still gaps in regard of concrete guidelines so as to change the macroeconomic policies and institutions in Africa pro-actively. These gaps are filled by the researches and proposals in this volume of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook. The Yearbook is edited since 1989 by the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen (see the link to the prior issues of the Yearbook: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/africa/africanyearbook.htm).
Most of the work is done for this new publication project of the Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen, and it is expected that the new volume of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook with the title "Macroeconomic Policy Formation in Africa" will be released by the publisher in June 2013. Major issues are covered in the context of promoting inclusive and sustainable growth in Africa by improving macroeconomic policies and especially by streamlining the process how these policies are managed (see the project description).
Beside of analytical surveys various country case studies and region-wide studies are presented. "Understanding the Economics of the Arab Spring Countries" is an issue which is discussed in a whole section of the book. A major issue is also throughout the book how macroeconomic policies and macroeconomic policy institutions can support the consolidation and the broadening of the growth process in Africa. Many examples are presented in the book of ways for increasing the policy space in this direction.
This is the volume 16 of a series which has taken up most important thematic issues of Africa's development since 1989. Scientific Coordinator of the program is Professor Karl Wohlmuth from the University of Bremen. Managing Editor of the Yearbook is Dr. Tobias Knedlik from IWH Halle an der Saale. A description of all the former issues is available (Link: http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/africa/africanyearbook.htm).
An International Call for Papers for Volume 17 of the Yearbook will be published in the second half of 2013.