An important stylized fact about African economic development is the phenomenon of urbanization without structural transformation. This paper provides a political economy analysis of the lack of structural transformation in African cities, drawing on the Deals and Development framework. It...

This study investigated two key questions: what is the impact of industrialisation on urbanisation in Africa? and to what extent does financial development affect this industrialisation- urbanisation nexus? To elicit answers to these questions, data from thirty-three (33) African countries over...

We analyze demographic and health surveys to examine the progress of African countries in achieving six of the seven millennium development goals (MDG) set forth by the United Nations. Our results paint a discouraging picture. Despite some noteworthy progress, the evidence suggests that, in the...

The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 has refocused global attention on the centrality of sustainability to the development discourse. Meanwhile, African countries are prioritizing structural transformation in their national...

Differences in key features of the development process across rich and poor countries can provide clues to the sources of the large variation of cross-country income. Kuznets included structural transformation as one of six stylized facts of economic development, nding that developed countries...

Differences in key features of the development process across rich and poor countries can provide clues to the sources of the large variation of cross-country income. Kuznets included structural transformation as one of six stylized facts of economic development, nding that developed countries...

This study investigated two key questions: what is the impact of industrialisation on urbanisation in Africa? and to what extent does financial development affect this industrialisation- urbanisation nexus? To elicit answers to these questions, data from thirty-three (33) African countries over...

This research examines the economic origins and spread of Islam in the Old World and uncovers two empirical regularities. First, Muslim countries and ethnic groups exhibit highly unequal regional agricultural endowments. Second, Muslim adherence is systematically higher along the pre-Islamic...

A dozen countries had weak institutions in 1960 and yet sustained high rates of growth subsequently. We use data on their characteristics early in the growth process to create benchmarks with which to evaluate potential constraints on sustained growth for sub-Saharan Africa. This analysis...

This paper characterizes economically optimal investments into Africa's road network in partial and general equilibrium - based on a detailed topography of the network, road construction costs, frictions in cross-border trading, and economic geography. Drawing from data on 144 million...