The idea of local “ownership” of development policies is now popular among the donor community, but without a reduction of conditionality on aid disbursements, enhanced ownership will be difficult to achieve. While there are still strong reasons for attaching certain kinds of conditionality...

The “raw materials curse” is far from being an inevitability, as shown by Norway and Chile. Both examples offer valuable lessons to developing countries on how to sensibly manage mining and oil resources. Following Norway’s example, Chile could build upon its experience and become a key...

Financial actors from developing countries are playing with other OECD financial giants as equals through their Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs). SWFs could become major actors of development finance if they chose to allocate 10 per cent of their portfolio to emerging and developing economies over...

The Democratic Banker (03/2007) (Other Languages : FR / ES) Policy Insights No.38 by Javier Santiso Banks contribute not only to the economic development of emerging countries but also to political development. International bank flows in an emerging country tend to grow during the three years...

China's growing influence on Africa and on Latin America has, to some extent, overshadowed the rise of another emerging market giant in the East: India. This other Asian emerging presence is also symbolic of the rapid redesigning of the global economic map. Europe, Japan and the United States...

The long-term decline in political instability continued in 2006 and armed conflicts, though still widespread, have diminished. Multiparty elections have taken place in several African countries and progress towards participative democracy is encouraging. Progress in economic governance is still...

Are the financial markets politically correct? In other words, do they have preferences when it comes to political regimes or partisans? This issue has often been explored with regard to foreign direct investment (FDI) or public development aid, but rarely in relation to portfolio flows in...

China’s and India’s strong appetite for energy and metal has boosted international prices and the volume and value of African exports. China in particular has become the main trade partner for a number of African countries providing cheap manufactured goods and reducing Africa's dependence...

China’s trade impact on Latin America is positive via an export boom and indirectly better terms of trade. Its emergence is also a wake up call for the region: more reforms are needed, especially in infrastructure, in order to maintain Latin America’s comparative advantage. The Chinese...

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been one of the principal beneficiaries of the liberalisation of capital flows over recent decades, and now constitutes the major form of capital inflow for many developing countries, including low-income ones like Chad, Mauritania, Sudan and Zambia. But while...