{"title":"International Reserves Accumulation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Is the Membership of the Franc Zone an Obstacle?","authors":"Christophe Martial Mbassi","doi":"10.1111/1467-8268.70059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.70059","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Motivated by the fact that the abundant existing literature fails to provide a fully satisfactory explanation of the dynamics of international reserves in various developing regions, the present article assesses the role of the currency zone. Specifically, we examine the role of Franc zone on international reserves in a sample of 42 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, over the period 1990–2018. Based on various panel data methods, we find that the Franc zone is negatively and significantly associated with reserves in SSA countries. This result is robust to the use of alternative measures of reserves as well as to the change in estimation technique. We show that these potential effects are channeled through trade intensity between member countries. Furthermore, the article shows that some heterogeneities, such as institutional quality, the size of the informal sector, climate shocks, economic complexity, economic uncertainty, geopolitical risks, the 1994 devaluation, the launch of the Euro in 1999, and the 2008 financial crisis, may have influenced the role of the Franc zone in reserves accumulation. Taken together, our results suggest reforms aimed at improving the institutional arrangements linking the Franc zone to France, as well as policies to promote structural transformation, aimed at intensifying intra-zone trade as well as countries' attractiveness.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148166925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Determinants of Fiscal Discipline in West Africa: Does Democracy Matter?","authors":"Ozoemena Stanley Nwodo","doi":"10.1111/1467-8268.70060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.70060","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study investigates the impact of democracy on fiscal discipline in West Africa, focusing on four fiscal outcomes: overall balance, primary balance, the cyclically adjusted primary balance, and changes in the debt-to-GDP ratio. Using panel data for 14 countries and employing fixed effects, Driscoll–Kraay, and instrumental variable estimators, the analysis accounts for unobserved heterogeneity, cross-sectional dependence, and endogeneity. The results show that democracy, on its own, does not exert a robust or consistent disciplining effect on fiscal outcomes. However, democratic institutions conditionally improve overall balances when embedded within credible fiscal rule frameworks, particularly for observed fiscal and primary balances. In contrast, democracy has little explanatory power for debt dynamics and structural fiscal effort once cyclical factors are removed. Debt adjustment is driven mainly by inherited debt levels, while resource-rich countries exhibit faster debt accumulation. Overall, the findings suggest that in West Africa, democracy can enhance fiscal discipline, but its effectiveness depends on broader institutional credibility.</p>","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8268.70060","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148174858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148089690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148076651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148070834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148070833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mamoudou Sebego, Idrissa M. Ouedraogo, Abiodun O. Folawewo
{"title":"An Investigation of Economic Implications of Withdrawal of Alliance of Sahel States (AES) From ECOWAS","authors":"Mamoudou Sebego, Idrissa M. Ouedraogo, Abiodun O. Folawewo","doi":"10.1111/1467-8268.70051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.70051","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This paper investigates the potential economic implications of the withdrawal of Sahelian countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger), called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), from the Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS). Specifically, the paper investigates the potential impact of the AES withdrawal on trade flows (exports and imports), economic growth, migrants' remittances, and tax revenue in the Sahel States and the ECOWAS. An impulse response function (IRF) analysis, inspired by Bernanke et al., is applied using a Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregressive (FAVAR) model, with annual data from 1980 to 2022. We find that a shock to ECOWAS intra-community total import would lead to a marginal decline in the tax revenue of Burkina Faso and Mali. Counterintuitively, a shock to ECOWAS intra-community exports would increase Mali's exports to the rest of ECOWAS. Moreover, trade diversion effects arising from the exit of the AES countries could increase exports for ECOWAS's three lead economies (Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria). In this regard, AES countries should leverage the existing favorable trade dynamism with their respective neighboring countries (Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria) through the development of bilateral cooperation initiatives and strengthen trade cooperation among them.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147615016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meriam Jerbi, Friedrich Schneider, Faouzi Abdennour
{"title":"Off the Radar: Estimating the Size of the Shadow Economy in Tunisia","authors":"Meriam Jerbi, Friedrich Schneider, Faouzi Abdennour","doi":"10.1111/1467-8268.70053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.70053","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study estimates the size of the shadow economy in Tunisia over the period 1988–2023 using the Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model, which assesses a latent variable based on its causes and indicators. The analysis was carried out in three steps: identifying the main causes (tax pressure, unemployment, trade openness, and corruption) and key indicators (GDP growth, M0/M2 ratio, labor force participation rate); constructing a shadow economy index from the estimated coefficients of the causal variables, and calibrating it as a percentage of GDP. The results reveal an average size of 39.08%, with peaks during the 2011 Revolution (41.70%) and the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 (46.62%), illustrating its sensitivity to shocks. The persistence of these activities in Tunisia underscores the need for structural reforms in tax, regulatory, institutional, and labor market policies to foster integration into the formal economy.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147568272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Appreciation to Article Reviewers","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/1467-8268.70054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.70054","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147567144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Access to Clean Cooking Technologies in Africa: Do Taxes on International Trade Matter?","authors":"Jean-Claude Kouladoum. Mousseuknadji, Gracia Mokondi. Mosunga","doi":"10.1111/1467-8268.70052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.70052","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study examines the linear and the non-linear effects of international trade taxes on access to clean cooking technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2023. The study adopts several robust estimation strategies, including the Driscoll–Kraay cross-sectional dependence estimation, the two-step system GMM approach, and the Dynamic Panel Thresholds strategy. The findings reveal a dual effect: while international trade taxes exert a positive linear impact at moderate levels, they produce a negative non-linear effect once the tax rate surpasses a dynamic threshold of 5.039. The estimated dynamic threshold of 5.039% marks the turning point beyond which trade taxes negatively affect clean cooking access. The results are consistent across rural and urban populations, low and middle-income economies, as well as between countries with low versus high energy import dependence, with the non-linear effect most severe among high importers. Complementary factors such as internet penetration, trade openness, governance quality, and domestic credit significantly enhance access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. These results underscore the need for “smart” taxation policies that balance fiscal space generation with household affordability. Policy recommendations emphasise differentiated tariff regimes, strengthened credit markets, improved governance, and regional trade cooperation to accelerate universal clean cooking access in SSA.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47363,"journal":{"name":"African Development Review-Revue Africaine De Developpement","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147564649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}