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Blog post
Women’s Financial Inclusion: 5 Reasons Why it Matters for Mozambique
The IGC recently published a policy brief that discusses the obstacles to financial inclusion in Mozambique. It tackles two of the main challenges: the low levels of financial literacy and the absence of interoperability. Novella Maugeri (Country Economist, IGC Mozambique) analyses this brief from the perspective of gender empowerment. How do you get your money from the...
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Blog post
The multiplier effect of Mozambique’s natural gas discovery and FDI bonanza
In the two years following the discovery, FDI inflows, driven by new projects in new industries, increased by 58%. There was also strong growth in manufacturing, retail, business services and construction, accompanied by substantial job creation. Natural resources and growth Natural resources are often thought of as a curse, slowing economic growth in resource-rich...
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Blog post
Unintended voter polarisation by political elites: Experimental evidence from Turkey
A door-to-door information campaign in Turkey unintentionally polarised the electorate over their vote in a policy referendum. The degree to which citizens are informed and have accurate beliefs affects the functioning of democracies. Numerous studies have shown that with more access to information, through channels such as higher newspaper circulation and radio...
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Blog post
Food security and international trade
As the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference is in progress at Buenos Aires, this column looks at the role trade plays in ensuring food security through increased enhanced international cooperation on a multilateral scale. Although food security has long been recognized as a universal human right, 815 million people worldwide remained undernourished in 2016. In addition, the...
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Blog post
Guardians of accountability: A field experiment on corruption and inefficiency in Peru’s local public works
A field experiment tested the extent to which civil society oversight can curb corruption in public infrastructure, when supported by the relevant authority. Districts that received the monitoring intervention spent, on average, 75,000 US dollars less per project. Corruption in Latin America Lava Jato is Latin America’s largest corruption scandal to date. Brazilian...
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Blog post
All Peas in One Basket: Lessons from the 2017 Pigeon Pea Crisis
In recent years, the rapid expansion of pigeon pea production provided a boost to the rural economy of Central and Northern Mozambique. However, the 2017 price collapse created a crisis in the main production areas that calls attention to the need to improve the monitoring of market trends and to launch a joint effort aimed at diversification. During the past decade, the...
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Blog post
Todas as Fichas num Único Feijão: Lições da Crise de Feijão Bóer de 2017
Nos últimos anos, a rápida expansão da produção de feijão bóer dinamizou a economia rural na Zona Centro-Norte de Moçambique. Porém, a queda drástica do preço em 2017 gerou uma crise nas zonas de maior produção e chama a atenção para a necessidade de se melhorar o acompanhamento das dinâmicas do mercado e de um esforço conjunto para a...
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Blog post
A socio-economic crisis in rural Mozambique
The districts of Middle and Upper Zambézia, in Central Mozambique, were most affected by the fall of the pigeon pea price in 2017. Most farmers did not have any financial return to their investment in the previous agricultural season, which created multiplier effects in the local economy. Mozambique has been going through difficult economic times since 2015. This has been...
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Blog post
A Crise Socioeconómica no Meio Rural Zambeziano
Os distritos da Média e Alta Zambézia sofreram o maior impacto da queda do preço de feijão bóer em 2017. O grosso dos produtores não teve retorno financeiro do investimento feito na última campanha agrícola, o que provocou efeitos multiplicadores na economia local. Moçambique tem atravessado tempos de crise económica desde 2015, provocada pela descoberta de...
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Blog post
Assessing the economic benefits of transit trade in Tanzania
Tanzania benefits significantly from transit trade, serving as a potential driver of economic growth, welfare and local enterprise development. This highlights the indispensable role of the government in promoting transit trade in the country. The untapped potential of transit trade in Tanzania One of the highlights of the Tanzanian 2017 budget speech was the abolishment...
Blog post
Is GDP an adequate measure of development?
An increasing GDP is often seen as a measure of welfare and economic success. However, it fails to account for the multi-dimensional nature of development or the inherent short-comings of capitalism, which tends to concentrate income and, thus, power. In this blog post, André Castro and Manish Prasad, make a case for using alternate measures of development such as the...