This study aims to draw key lessons for the African Continental Free Trade Area using evidence from within the region. Although drawing lessons from the rest of the world is essential, given the unique features of economies in the Africa region, the most relevant lessons can be drawn from the...

Measures taken to curtail the spread of COVID-19 have led to a sharp contraction of the global economy and an even larger decline in trade, with significant implications on the livelihoods of people in Africa. Despite the relatively low number of cases, the region's economy would be hard hit due...

This study documents the impacts of climate change on firm-level productivity by matching a globally comparable and standardized survey of nonagricultural firms covering 154 countries with climate data. The findings show that the overall effects of rising temperatures on productivity are...

This study examines the relationship between food insecurity and trust using the 2014-17 waves of the Gallup World Poll and the Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Insecurity Experience Scale. Trust improves public institutions, social capital, public health interventions, and economic...

Industrialization drives the sustained growth in jobs and productivity that marks the developmental take-off of most developed economies. Yet, academics and policy makers have questioned the role of manufacturing in development for late industrializers, especially in view of rapid advancements...

Africa represents a small share of global production and trade, while hosting half of the extreme poor worldwide. To catch up with the rest of the world, there is no alternative: the continent needs to link its production and trade to the global economy to take advantage of unlimited demand and...

Sub-Saharan Africa's recovery from the pandemic is expected to decelerate in 2022 amid a slowdown in global economic activity, continued supply constraints, outbreaks of new coronavirus variants, climatic shocks, high inflation, and rising financial risks due to high and increasingly vulnerable...

This paper utilizes data for African countries to analyze the extent to which financial development affects the dynamics of the relationship between exchange rate flexibility and economic growth. The findings indicate that financial development exerts a positive influence on the relationship...

This study examines the impact of the African Growth and Opportunity Act using the synthetic control method, a quasi-experimental approach. The novelty in the approach is that it addresses problems of estimation that are prevalent in nonexperimental methods used to analyze the impact of...