Info Allgemein
Impacts of the Global Financial Crisis on the Economic Reforms in Africa: The Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen releases the new volume 15 of the Yearbook, dealing with the impacts of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) on Economic Reform Processes in Africa. Covered are: first, analytical studies on the impacts of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) on growth, trade, employment, living standards and poverty, finance and development, banks and capital markets, and on government reform policies; second, country case studies (for Nigeria, Botswana, and Cameroon); and third, a sub-regional analysis of impacts and a detailed economic outlook for an important sub-region (for ECOWAS). Professor Karl Wohlmuth is one of the editors of the publication. Professor Hans Heinrich Bass has organized the conference where the first drafts were presented. Dr. Tobias Knedlik, Researcher at IWH Halle an der Saale, the Managing Editor of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook since Volume 15, invites submissions for Volume 16 of the Yearbook on the theme “Macroeconomic Policy Formation in Africa” (link zum Call for Papers Band 16).
PhD Study on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria: How they operate, how they cluster, how they innovate, how they network, and how they can be supported by government, by business actors and by international donors. These are the main issues of the new publication on Nigeria’s SMEs. Mister Osmund O. Uzor has now published his study on the important role of SMEs in Nigeria. Based on field researches and a thorough review of the literature, he develops a model (ISMED) how productive investment can transform the SME sector in Nigeria. Professor Karl Wohlmuth was the supervisor of the research programme on a “New Policy Framework for SMEs in selected States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” and has written a Preface to highlight the importance of the study for the policymakers in Nigeria. Mister Osmund O. Uzor has also written various contributions to IWIM publications during his time as an IWIM associate (hier link zu Blue Series Discussion Papers), and he has also contributed to various editions of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook (hier link zu den Yearbook editions).
Publication Details: Osmund Osinachi Uzor, Clusters, Networks, and Innovation in small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), The Role of Productive Investment in the Development of SMEs in Nigeria, European University Studies, Series V, Economics and Management, Volume/Band 3373, Frankfurt am Main et al.: Peter Lang 2011, 422 pages
International Expert Group releases its Africa Report: Edited by the Director General of UNIDO, Kandeh K. Yumkella and other UNIDO staff a Report on Africa’s agro-based industrialization was released. The Report has the title Agribusiness for Africa’s Prosperity. The study is related to the Strategy for the Implementation of the Plan of Action for the Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa (AIDA), adopted by the Conference of African Ministers of Industry in Durban in October 2008 and the African Agribusiness and Agro-industries Development Initiative (3ADI), endorsed by the African Heads of State and Government at the High-level Conference on the Development of Agribusiness and Agro-industries in Africa, held in Abuja, Nigeria in March 2010.
The book comprises three parts. Part A outlines the current status of agribusiness and agro-industrial activities in Africa. Part B presents the seven development pillars of agribusiness and agro-industry development that form the basis of the new strategy. Part C covers the visions, strategies and institutions for Africa’s agribusiness and agro-industry development and the way forward towards converting plans into action.
The President of IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, highlights in the Foreword to the Report the importance of the study for Africa’s agro-industrialization process. He argues that the seven development pillars identified and analyzed in the Report give the basis for a new development strategy for Africa. The President of IFAD shares the opinion that the findings of the Report can be helpful for initiating an agribusiness and agro-industrial revolution in Africa that is needed for sustainable growth and poverty reduction. IFAD was a collaborative partner in this initiative from the very beginning.
Professor Karl Wohlmuth has worked in his Chapter 6 for the Report on Strengthening technological effort and innovation capabilities. This development pillar is so far neglected in the discussion on Africa’s industrial development. Professor Karl Wohlmuth addresses also the role of comprehensive STI (Science, Technology, Innovation) strategies and policies for initiating an agro-industrial revolution in Africa (see also New Project Agro-Industry Development Africa).
New Publication on the Economy of Sudan and South Sudan: A new study about the Sudan with the title "Institutions and Investment in Sudan" has just appeared as volume 18 in the Book Series of the Institute for World Economics and international Management (IWIM). The Book Series of IWIM is the flagship publication of the institute (link to the IWIM Book Series). The study was written by Dr. Berhanu Denu-G., a lecturer from Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was directed and supervised in this project by Professor Karl Wohlmuth from the University of Bremen. The study was generously financed by the Volkswagen Foundation. Dr. Berhanu has spent various field research visits to South Sudan to generate new data on the transactions costs of business activity there after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of January 9, 2005. The author shows convincingly in the study how the environmental conditions affect business and how these conditions can be improved by institutional reforms (see Cover Berhanu and Contents Berhanu).
The study is of crucial importance for reforms in South Sudan as in few weeks – on July 9, 2011 – South Sudan will become the 54th state in Africa. The new republic has then the huge task of reconstructing the economy after the devastations of civil war and the uncertainty and insecurity since the CPA of 2005 till now. However, a cooperation with the North of Sudan will be important so as to avoid new conflicts about border and nationalization issues and about the international marketing of its oil production being located largely in the South Sudan. Another study by the author was recently published in the SERG Series (see SERG Paper 39). The SERG Series is edited by Professor Karl Wohlmuth from the University of Bremen and focuses on new economic developments and crucial economic policy issues in Sudan and South Sudan. Professor Wohmuth also directs a new research project on "Economic Policies in Sudan after the Referendum of January 9, 2011" to discuss issues following from the Independence of South Sudan for the economic policy of both states of Sudan (see the International Call for Papers).
Evaluierung von wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Studienprogrammen der Universität Göttingen: Professor Dr. Karl Wohlmuth wurde in ein Gremien zur Begutachtung der elf wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Studiengänge der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen berufen. Die elf Studiengänge (vier Bachelorstudiengänge, sechs Masterstudiengänge, ein Promotionsstudiengang) werden von der Expertengruppe hinsichtlich der Erfüllung der Bologna/Lissabon-Kriterien geprüft. Die Georg-August-Universität Göttingen ist forschungsstark und wird vom Exzellenzprogramm des Bundes gefördert.
Neue UNIDO-Studie: Eine neue Studie der UNIDO, herausgegeben vom Generaldirektor der UNIDO, Kandeh K. Yumkella und von anderen UNIDO-Experten, zur Industrialisierung von Afrika auf der Basis dynamischer landwirtschaftlicher Entwicklung ist soeben erschienen. Im Kapitel 6 geht Professor Karl Wohlmuth auf die Stärkung der technologischen Leistungsfähigkeit, auf die Schaffung von Innovationskapazitäten und auf die Durchsetzung einer umfassenden Wissenschafts-und Technologiepolitik als Basis für eine agrar-industrielle Entwicklung in Afrika ein (vgl. Neues Projekt Agro-Industrielle Entwicklung Afrika).
Neue Publikation der Bremer Sudanforschung: Eine neue Studie über den Sudan mit dem Titel "Institutionen und Investitionen im Sudan" ist soeben als Band 18 in der Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Weltwirtschaft und Internationales Management (IWIM) erschienen. Die Schriftenreihe des IWIM wird seit 1993 herausgegeben (link zu IWIM Schriftenreihe). Die Studie von Herrn Dr. Berhanu Denu-G. aus Addis Abeba, Äthiopien ist unter der Projektleitung und Beratung von Professor Dr. Karl Wohlmuth erstellt worden und wurde von der Volkswagenstiftung finanziert. Mehrere Feldforschungsaufenthalte von Herrn Dr. Berhanu im Süd-Sudan haben neue Daten zu den Transaktionskosten für Unternehmenstätigkeiten vor Ort geführt. Der Autor zeigt Wege auf, wie die Rahmenbedingungen für Investitionen im Sudan und im Süd-Sudan durch institutionelle Reformen verbessert werden können (vgl. Cover Berhanu und Contents Berhanu).
Die Studie ist sehr aktuell, da in wenigen Wochen – am 9. Juli 2011 - der Süd-Sudan als 54. Staat in Afrika unabhängig werden wird und vor der schweren Aufgabe steht, den Wiederaufbau seiner Wirtschaft zu beschleunigen. Gleichzeitig ist aber auch eine weitgehende Kooperation mit dem Nordsudan notwendig, um Konflikte über Grenzfragen und Nationalitätenfragen lösen und die Ölressourcen international zu vermarkten zu können. Eine weitere Studie zu den konkreten Reformaufgaben im Norden und im Süden des Sudan ist von Herrn Dr. Berhanu kürzlich in der von Professor Wohlmuth herausgegebenen SERG-Reihe publiziert worden (vgl. SERG Paper 39). Unter Leitung von Professor Wohlmuth wird ein neues Forschungsprojekt über den Sudan durchgeführt, das die wirtschaftspolitischen Änderungen im Norden und im Süden des Sudan nach der Unabhängigkeitserklärung des Süd-Sudan vom 9. Juli 2011 zum Thema hat (vgl. International Call for Papers).
Research Group on African Development Perspectives Bremen: Adam Swallow, an associate of our Research Group who has supported over many years the Yearbook Project during his time at UNU/WIDER in Helsinki, was appointed as Commissioning Editor, Economics and Finance, Academic Division, Oxford University Press (OUP). We wish him the best for his important new task. He invites high-quality sub
Evaluation of study programmes in economics and business studies at Göttingen University: Professor Karl Wohlmuth was appointed to a committee for the evaluation of the eleven study programmes in economics and business studies of the Georg-August-University Göttingen. The assessment of the expert group is done along the Bologna and Lisbon criteria. The eleven study programmes (four bachelor programmes, six master programmes, and one PhD study programme) are related to the strong research competence of the Göttingen University which is supported by the Excellence Programme for Universities of the Federal Republic of Germany.
An Agenda for Institutional Reforms in Sudan/South Sudan: This is the title of a new research report by Berhanu Denu-G. published as SERG Discussion Paper Number 39 (link zu den SERG Discussion Papers). As only few weeks are left to the Independence Declaration of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, this is a very timely publication for policymakers, donors and the international research community. The new Research Report presents an Agenda for Institutional Reforms for both states in Sudan (Republic of Sudan and Republic of South Sudan). The study was supported by the Volkswagen Foundation and is part of the new research, training and networking project at IWIM “Economic Policies in Sudan after the Referendum of 2011” (see link to the new project). Further papers on economic policies and institutional reforms in the two republics of Sudan are forthcoming, and proposals and abstracts for other papers along these lines can still be submitted to Professor Karl Wohlmuth (see International Call for Papers Sudan after the Referendum of 2011).