A large, untapped reservoir of potential partnerships between private financial institutions (banks, asset managers, private equity firms, etc.) and aid donors remains to be fully exploited. Banks, private equity and asset management firms are important parts of a broad set of private actors in...

. Developing countries will account for almost all the increase in the world's labour force over the next 25 years; most countries, especially in Africa, will experience very rapid labour force growth. . Labour-intensive development has been spectacularly successful in some countries and others...

. Lowering interest rates and, thus, the cost of borrowing in the rand zone (Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa) is a priority to promote investment and economic growth. . Local-currency interest rates in these countries are driven by those on rand-denominated transactions. Reducing...

. A growing recognition of the need to delimit the role of the government, to promote the market framework, and to rely on the private sector as the engine of growth, offers the prospect of a new beginning in rural development in Africa. . Rural people must take a more dominant role, both in...

• Environmental policy should be inspired by the recognition that the environment is everyone’s business; all social actors must be involved in environmental management • Policies that implicitly subsidize a wasteful and environmentally destructive use of resources are pervasive: reforms...

It might seem obvious discovering an asset such as oil or copper would be wonderful news for the country making the find. Yet the opposite is often true. The windfall can bring poverty, civil strife, corruption, inequality, slower growth and undemocratic practices. The phenomenon is known as the...

Latin American sovereign bonds represent a significant share of the emerging debt class (50 per cent by early 2001) and so have considerably shaped the dynamics of this market. Recent financial turmoil, contagion episodes and investors’ renewed concerns with debt default call for a better...

In this paper we aim to answer the following two questions: <I>1) has the Common Monetary Area in Southern Africa (henceforth CMA) ever been an optimal currency area (OCA)? 2) What are the costs and benefits of the CMA for its participating countries?</I> In order to answer these questions, we carry...</i>

Political cycles represent a core issue for capital markets in developing and emerging countries. This paper analyses the intricate links between financial markets and emerging democracies and highlights changes in the ways analysts and investors react to political cycles in emerging markets....

The paper addresses two core questions: do investment banks’ recommendations have an impact on the allocation of portfolio flows in the emerging-markets asset class? Above all, are these recommendations related to the business of investment banks? In order to answer these questions, we...