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  5. Issues on African Development I
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Issues on African Development I

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 7, 2022 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (EST)

Hosted By: African Finance and Economics Association
  • Chair: Samuel Amponsah, Tokyo International University

Gendered Entrepreneurship, Social Media Platforms Influencers and Dietary Choices

Gbadebo Odularu
,
Bay Atlantic University
Iraoya Augustine Okhale
,
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa-Abuja Nigeria

Abstract

: Social media platforms are increasingly shaping many aspects of our cultural, political, and economic decisions, including entrepreneurship, migration, trade, fashionomics, investment, mobility, education, and health. Most enterprises categorize their social media efforts and performance as a form of public relations due its level of brands and consumer interactions. Thus, the unique nature of social media disallows the lag time of old-fashion and conventional media, thereby allowing for immediate response and interaction with public which in turn enhance brand. Consequently, individuals’ profiles with large followings have been used as endorsers, influencers, and brand ambassadors.
Based on this background, the study examines the entrepreneurial engagement of selected African influencers’ followers, then analyze the content with the most engagements with focus on food choices and food systems. This research will deploy both deidentified individual-level data and publicly available aggregated entrepreneurship data on social media among African countries. The findings from this study will inform African governments and policy makers on effective strategies for optimizing social media platforms for understanding followers’ food choices and digital entrepreneurship and among women in the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Institutional Framework and Disaster Risk Management in Nigeria: A Conceptual Framework

Evans Osabuohien
,
Covenant University
Jeremiah Ejemeyovwi
,
Covenant University
Olanrewaju Omosehin
,
Federal University of Technology
Oseghale Ihayere
,
National Institute of Construction Technology
Angie Osarieme Igbinoba
,
Covenant University

Abstract

Evidence abounds on the increase in disasters which mostly emanates from managed and unmanaged risks that reflect current condition and historical factors. Disaster risk management is a necessity for building resilience, and an act focused on different stages of a disaster, including mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery, whether natural or not. Nigeria as a country, during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, made frantic efforts to mitigate the effect of this disaster in various forms by establishing institutions, formulating policies to manage the risk but this has not been adequately quantified and managed. To this effect, the study sets out to review and assess the policies and practice of disaster risk management viz a viz institutional framework in Nigeria. It will also utilize available data and policy documents for the review and examination, further examine Nigeria's institutional framework, and carry out implicative scenario analysis based on the current institutional framework to match the disaster risk management trends. The result of this review will proffer solutions on how best institutions could drive proper management of disaster risk. Also, the study will conclude by highlighting the strength, opportunities, gap and constraints associated with disaster and risk reduction in Nigeria.

Building a Monetary Union in West Africa: Why Would We Never See a Macroeconomic Convergence

Boris Houenou
,
Viasat Inc.

Abstract

Countries in the economic community of west Africa (ECOWAS) have adopted a multilateral surveillance mechanism for the economic and financial policies to fast-track the establishment of an economic and monetary union. Besides the implementation of different legal instruments, countries must converge towards certain macroeconomic criteria to kick off the creation of the eco currency, the flagship project of the community. Continuous monitoring of the convergence trend is reported periodically. Using the reports, we investigate whether the macroeconomic convergence is a feasible strategy considering the coordination it requires for economies that have structural differences. We approach the question from both econometrical and algorithmic perspectives. We use count data panel regression to estimate the expected macroeconomic convergence. The algorithmic approach relies on text data extracted from the reports, and employs natural language processing techniques such as topic modeling and documents similarity analysis. Preliminary results show that, even in the context of a reduced number of macroeconomic criteria, convergence is unlikely. Reports over years are similar for most of the evaluation metrics that we model, pointing to no directional move, let alone a positive one toward a macroeconomic convergence.

International Ownership and SMEs in Middle Eastern and African Economies

Mina Baliamoune-Lutz
,
University of North Florida
Mohamed A. K. Basuony
,
American University-Cairo
Stefan Lutz
,
University of Applied Sciences for Media, Communication and Management (HMKW)
Ehab K. A. Mohamed
,
German University-Cairo

Abstract

Empirical evidence suggests that international ownership of local firms supports firm performance and growth through various channels such as financing, technology transfer, and improved access to international markets. The relationship between firm performance and international ownership has been well explored for firms in developed economies but this is not the case for firms in developing economies, especially in Africa. Largely due to lack of relevant cross-country financial data, existing literature on African firms has presented survey-based evidence on firm performance while evidence based on detailed financial information remains lacking. The present paper aims at filling this research gap. We identify African firms operating in the formal sector and examine the impact of ownership structure on firm performance. We use cross-sectional financial data covering about 22,000 companies in 51 African countries for the years 2006 to 2014. Our results reveal a clear ownership-specific pattern. More specifically, international ownership is found to have a significant positive association with firm performance.

Discussant(s)
Matthias Cinyabuguma
,
World Bank
Adugna Lemi
,
University of Massachusetts-Boston
Gbadebo Odularu
,
Bay Atlantic University
Samuel Amponsah
,
Tokyo International University
JEL Classifications
  • O1 - Economic Development
  • O5 - Economywide Country Studies