The effect on commercial banks of exposure to large amounts of developing country debt has been a topic of increasing concern in recent years. Fear of default on the part of the debtor countries has led to fears for the solvency of the creditor banks since in many cases the total of outstanding...

Shortages of wood for burning and construction have begun to create serious environmental problems in sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya is of particular interest both because of its high population pressure and its commitment to au active reforestation movement. This paper examines the contribution that...

This paper discusses the effects of Angola’s mineral wealth on the process of agricultural development. Though Angola has a rich agricultural resource base its history of civil war and extreme real exchange rate distortions has resulted in agricultural stagnation through many parts of the...

This paper surveys the current macroeconomic situation in Guinea Bissau in light of proposals to increase the integration of the country with international markets. Major issues are continuing instability in the government, poor infrastructure particularly the port) and a very high degree of...

Cashew is by far the most important cash crop grown in Guinea Bissau. Indeed, the degree of export dependence on this crop exceeds even the export dependence of most members of OPEC on oil exports. This paper provides an overview of the current system of cashew production in Guinea Bissau and...

This paper details the current situation in Guinea Bissau regarding infrastructure needs and suggests policies for the future. In particular it is noted that the degradation of the country’s only port in Bissau is a serious concern given the likelihood that the port will in a few years cease...

The existence of a “shadow economy” which is defined here as economic activity which is unrecorded in official statistics and hence not subject to normal taxation and regulation, is a phenomenon which has been much studied in both western industrial countries and in post- Soviet era...

This paper discusses the policy issues facing the country of Sno TomJ e PrRncipe, a small island country in the Gulf of Guinea, given the discovery and imminent exploitation of large reserves of oil in its territorial waters. While presenting huge opportunities, the history of other African...

GDP accounts are customarily compiled in several alternative ways, each aggregating transactions in different ways, but all (at least in theory) adding to the same total. Two of the most common aggregations are that focused on expenditures (based on the standard national income accounting...

This paper attempts to answer the following question: How, in economic terms, was being colonized by Portugal “different” for Lusophone African countries than was being colonized by France or Britain? Gervase Clarence-Smith addressed this question for the period after 1825, and comes to the...