Francis Kwame Owusu - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Francis Kwame Owusu

This paper examines whether marriage increases the risk of HIV infection among women aged 15-24 i... more This paper examines whether marriage increases the risk of HIV infection among women aged 15-24 in Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. We fi nd that in all the three countries, the risk of infection is signifi cantly lower for never-married young women than ever-married young women; however, the difference in risk disappears when we control for age, educational attainment, household wealth, and area of residence. Thus, our result highlights the importance of socio-economic and demographic factors in analyzing the link between marital status and HIV risk among young women. Particularly, our fi ndings show that age and education play a crucial role in determining the level of HIV/AIDS risk for young women. The result also implies that marriage as an institution does not necessarily elevate the risk of HIV infection among young women

Local groups are increasingly being promoted as vehicles for effective involvement of community m... more Local groups are increasingly being promoted as vehicles for effective involvement of community members in development initiatives in the Global South, with the expectation of successful and sustained achievements. Previous studies on participation and leadership in groups have yielded mixed results, implying a need for more contextualized and validated assessments. In this study, using 281 household interviews and discussions with 21 farmers' groups in southeast Uganda, we established that group participation was positively associated with age of household head, household size, and proximity to trading and health facilities. Group leadership was positively associated with the educational level of the household head, land size, and non-agricultural sources of income: the latter two indicating wealth of an individual. Implications for development programs and policies included special efforts to support the participation of youth, as well as dedicating extra effort to reach remote households and groups. Regarding leadership, groups were recommended to facilitate the taking up of leadership roles by non-educated members; enable youth to benefit from the government policy of Universal Primary Education; and establish measures to avoid elite capture.

Journal of African Development, 2010

This paper examines whether marriage increases the risk of HIV infection among women aged 15-24 i... more This paper examines whether marriage increases the risk of HIV infection among women aged 15-24 in Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. We find that in all the three countries, the risk of infection is significantly lower for never-married young women than ever-married young women; however, the difference in risk disappears when we control for age, educational attainment, household wealth, and area of residence. Thus, our result highlights the importance of socio-economic and demographic factors in analyzing the link between marital status and HIV risk among young women. Particularly, our findings show that age and education play a crucial role in determining the level of HIV/AIDS risk for young women. The result also implies that marriage as an institution does not necessarily elevate the risk of HIV infection among young women.

The development prospects of any country or region requires a complex interaction of internal and... more The development prospects of any country or region requires a complex interaction of internal and external factors, as well as the availability and optimum combination of necessary and sufficient conditions, specifically human and physical resources. One particular variable and the source of intense interest has been the state of infrastructure, its quality within and beyond the national context. This interest has assumed a particularly significant place in the face of the growing relevance of regionalism in the development prospects of Africa. Indeed, infrastructure is of immense significance to regionalism, especially in the environment of contemporary globalization. Disciplines Architectural History and Criticism | Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis | Historic Preservation and Conservation | Urban, Community and Regional Planning Comments This is an accepted manuscript of a book chapter from Contemporary Regional Development in Africa, 2015.; Chapter 7; 139-158. Pos...

Africa Under Neoliberalism, 2017

In the much of the popular media, the discourse around Africa has changed. Whereas stories of the... more In the much of the popular media, the discourse around Africa has changed. Whereas stories of the "coming anarchy" or the "hopeless continent" abounded a little over a decade ago, it was, until the recent collapse in commodity prices, increasingly seen as the final global investment frontier, with rapid uptake of cellular technology and economic growth. Although much of this growth has been propelled by natural resources, the current conjuncture offers opportunities as well as challenges for African urban areas and raises questions about the role of cities in the continent's future development as they continue to become more deeply informalised. The response of many city authorities to the deepening informalisation of their economies has been to try to connect to the global economy in new ways, through the creation of new financial service, high-tech and elite residential areas. In this paper we explore these developments through the Foucaudian lens of heterotopia. These new developments attempt to erase their associations with the cities from which they originate in favour of new connections outwards. However the creation of these new enclaves is filled with socio-spatial contradictions, which make them unlikely to achieve their ostensible objectives.

Africa Today, 2019

Globalization is one of the most important socioeconomic processes of recent decades, but it has ... more Globalization is one of the most important socioeconomic processes of recent decades, but it has elicited a reactionary backlash in some countries, leading to calls for reform. President Trump's rise to power in the United States and his determination to rewrite his country's involvement in globalization have brought substantial changes to foreign policy, including the US-Africa relationship. His administration's policies appear undeveloped, but we can determine distinct trends and tendencies. This article examines the effects of these policies on Africa to argue that they go beyond a return to the benign neglect shown by many US presidents before the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, to include a malign governmental gaze, exemplifying a retreat from US global hegemony through selective delinking in aid, and manifesting economic and security interests in Africa in particularly detrimental ways.

Community Development Journal, 2015

Mutual learning in international development partnerships, especially learning by the developed c... more Mutual learning in international development partnerships, especially learning by the developed country, helping partners, is not well understood, despite convincing arguments supporting the possibility and desirability of such learning. This research explores the process of learning and its relationship to power in the 'Bridging the Gap' project, an international agricultural development partnership in which Iowan farmers were the helping partners and Ugandan farmers were the benefi y partners. Data were collected through semistructured interviews of twenty-eight Ugandan farmers, seven Iowan farmers, and four programme staff and were analysed using a grounded-theory based approach. The results showed that both Ugandan and Iowan farmers learned through the project. Learning by members of both groups included ordinary learning, which helped them achieve their pre-existing goals, and transformational learning, which shifted their frames of reference and the goals and power relations embedded therein. The greater power of the Iowan farmers however presented some cognitive barriers to their learning from the Ugandan farmers. These power differences reduced slightly over time as both groups of farmers learned from each other, particularly when both groups recognized that the Iowan farmers could and did learn from the Ugandan farmers. The experiences of farmers involved in this project are consistent with the arguments that power presents barriers to learning and that learning by the helping partner can reduce power differences in international development partnerships. Comments This article is published as Learning and power in international development partnerships: a case study of Iowan farmers in Uganda, Community Development Journal (co-author Stephen Lauer): 2016. 10.1093/ cdj/bsv041. Posted with permission.

Local groups are increasingly being promoted as vehicles for effective involvement of community m... more Local groups are increasingly being promoted as vehicles for effective involvement of community members in development initiatives in the Global South, with the expectation of successful and sustained achievements. Previous studies on participation and leadership in groups have yielded mixed results, implying a need for more contextualized and validated assessments. In this study, using 281 household interviews and discussions with 21 farmers’ groups in southeast Uganda, we established that group participation was positively associated with age of household head, household size, and proximity to trading and health facilities. Group leadership was positively associated with the educational level of the household head, land size, and non-agricultural sources of income: the latter two indicating wealth of an individual. Implications for development programs and policies included special efforts to support the participation of youth, as well as dedicating extra effort to reach remote ho...

International Journal of Leadership in Education, 2015

This study explores the meaning and competencies of 'research leadership' in the African context ... more This study explores the meaning and competencies of 'research leadership' in the African context and investigates strategies for developing it. Data for the study were gathered through an online survey that targeted recipients of research grants/support from key research funders to selected African institutions. The recipients of these grants were either research leaders or team members. The study employs a mixed methodology approach with empirical data drawn from focus group discussions and online surveys of English-speaking research leaders and research teams whose research work was supported by the selected funding institutions. In line with literature of leadership styles in Africa, our results suggest that preferred research leadership style for African researchers is different in some ways, especially with its attention to the 'human touch'. Respondents preferred 'people/relationship orientated', 'task-orientated' and 'democratic/ participative' styles of leadership, all of which have strong elements of Ubuntu (humaneness). The study also showed that leadership development for many in Africa involves mostly 'learning by doing' and informal mentoring, and less formal training opportunities. We explore policy implications of our findings with reference to research leadership development in African institutions, paying particular attention to challenges faced by female research leaders, and stress that research leadership development in Africa must be seen as a long-term and continuous activity and calls for more formal leadership development opportunities to complement the existing informal approaches. Disciplines

Political Geography, 2007

For the first time since the era of the slave trade, African trade is arguably reorienting from t... more For the first time since the era of the slave trade, African trade is arguably reorienting from the â€oeGlobal North†to the â€oeGlobal East.†Chinese investment and trade with Africa is rising quickly. At the same time, the U.S. has increased its strategic engagement with Africa very significantly since the terrorist attacks of 2001. As a Previous Previous article Next Next article Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution.

Managing Africa's Natural Resources

Issues of Taxation in the Oil and Gas Sector in Selected Countries: Lessons for Ghana undertakes ... more Issues of Taxation in the Oil and Gas Sector in Selected Countries: Lessons for Ghana undertakes a review of petroleum taxation in selected countries around the world and seeks to fashion a way for Ghana's infantile petroleum industry. In other words, the study seeks to facilitate a smooth tax regime and policy for Ghana. The study is based on literature arising from desk research as well as through telephone interviews. Petroleum taxation regimes of the countries under study portend to mitigate the current inconsistencies and resulting contentions from tax payers in Ghana.

The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien, 2001

Many African countries experienced economic crisis in the 1970s and are currently restructuring t... more Many African countries experienced economic crisis in the 1970s and are currently restructuring their economies under the tutelage of the World Bank and the IMF. The restructuring process has had pervasive effects on the livelihood strategies of many people, as their established means of income generation have been disrupted. While survival of the urban poor has been studied, little is known of strategies of other social groups. Using Ghana as a case study, I argue that although urban poverty predates the implementation of structural adjustment program (SAP), the policies have created a favorable environment for the intensification of multiple livelihood strategies among of salaried employees. The paper finds that multiple livelihood strategies are practiced by a large number of salaried employees, but their involvement depends on many factors, including individual, family and household characteristics; access to capital and resources; opportunities offered by the urban economy; and the nature of formal employment. Key words-Economic reforms, African urban economies, multiple modes of livelihood typically focused on the urban poor 1 and their desperate attempt to survive through the so-called informal sector. Emphasis on the poor has led to the use of 'survival strategies' to describe responses to economic crisis (Pellow and Chazan 1986; Yeboah, 1997). But as Redclift (1986) argues, strategic responses to economic change are not limited to the poor; many other social groups are also involved. The use of the term 'survival strategy' precludes the possibility that the strategies may in fact be a means of accumulation. This paper employs 'livelihood strategies' as a framework to capture all responses to economic change, including those meant to ensure survival as well as those employed to accumulate resources. Using the concept of multiple modes of livelihood (MML), this paper examines the livelihood strategies of salaried employees. 2 The purpose is to demonstrate that people of diverse backgrounds employ multiple livelihood strategies both as survival and accumulation strategies. It also highlights the magnitude and complexity of livelihood strategies, as well as factors influencing participation in such strategies. The remainder of the paper is divided into six sections. The next section conceptualizes the relationship between economic decline, urban poverty and the proliferation of multiple livelihood strategies. The subsequent four sections provide brief descriptions of the sources of data and the case study areas, estimate the magnitude of multiple livelihood strategies, examine the nature of MML activities, and discuss the general correlates of MML participation. The final section addresses the policy and theoretical implications of the study. Urban Impoverishment and Multiple Modes of Livelihood: Exploring the Connections Many Africa economies experienced severe economic crisis in the 1970s and early 1980s. A series of external economic shocks, domestic policy mismanagement, political instability and corruption plagued the economies and brought them to the verge of collapse (World Bank 1981; IMF 1989; Jespersen 1992). The urban areas experienced rapid growth characterized by unemployment and underemployment, and a fall in real income that wiped out the colonial legacy of high wage economies (Weeks, 1971). In Uganda, for instance, "the minimum wage fell to 10 to 15 percent of its 1972 value in the 1980s and the monthly wage would have brought no more than a week's supply of food" (Jamal and Weeks 1993, 37-38). Regrettably, the World Bank-and the International Monetary Fund-supported structural adjustment programs (SAPs)

Public Administration and Development, 2005

The public sector in Africa is riddled with widespread ineffectiveness. Although some countries h... more The public sector in Africa is riddled with widespread ineffectiveness. Although some countries have implement various reform programs with the support of international development agencies, the results so far have been disappointing. One reason for the failure is that, the policies have focussed more on achieving macroeconomic stability than making the organizations effective. This paper explores a fundamental problem of the policies-the need to focus on the human component of organizational performance. Using education and health organizations in Ghana as examples, the paper advances a hypothesis that the livelihood strategies of public sector employees and the performance of their organizations are interconnected. Specifically, it is argued that as public sector employees have become more dependent on multiple sources of income, they have developed multiple social identities, which influences the culture of their organizations. The organizational culture may have encouraged employee effectiveness in some cases, but for most organizations, it has resulted in practices that perpetuate inefficiency and poor performance. To be successful therefore, public sector reform policies must involve deliberate efforts to change organizational cultures.

Progress in Development Studies, 2012

This special issue attempts to further a line of critical inquiry in African politics, administra... more This special issue attempts to further a line of critical inquiry in African politics, administration and development discourse, which we refer to here as the 'posts'. In our terminology, the 'posts' constitute a body of narratives, which critique the heterogeneous assortment of orthodoxies in the mainstream African development discourse. The 'posts' , although part of the mainstream thinking, interrogate themes within that discourse for their disingenuous intellectual and policy approaches to African problems (see Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1999 for a general discussion of the subject). The 'posts' charge that mainstream discourses, far from being beacons of enlightenment about Africa, often reflect a broad intellectual inertia, manifested in failed policies to address poverty-alleviation, the region's main development challenge.

Progress in Development Studies, 2012

Reforming Africa’s public sector has been on the agenda of African governments and their developm... more Reforming Africa’s public sector has been on the agenda of African governments and their development partners for decades and yet the problem persists. This failure can be attributed to two related factors: solutions to the ‘African public sector problem’ have been dictated by external interests, and the policies have ignored the experiences of organizations within those countries. This article contributes to the search for effective reform policies by making the case for inclusion of the experiences of organizations within each country. Using the concept of organizational culture as a framework, I propose an approach based on the following claims: In every country there are some public organizations that perform relatively well, given their constraints; there is the need to understand why and how there are poor and good performing organizations within the same country; and information from such analysis should form the basis of public sector reform policies. The applicability of th...

Journal of Planning Education and Research, 2007

The usefulness of the informal sector and the survival strategies approaches for understanding Af... more The usefulness of the informal sector and the survival strategies approaches for understanding African urban economies has been undermined by the transformations in urban livelihood strategies brought about by the continent's economic crises and neoliberal economic reform policies. Contemporary livelihood strategies in many African cities involve participation in multiple economic activities, usually in both the formal and informal sectors. This paper proposes the “multiple modes of livelihood” (MML) approach as a framework for capturing this emerging livelihood strategy and presents evidence to show the magnitude of the strategy and the kind of activities undertaken. Development and planning implications of this strategy include the following: i) planning theories must reflect the changing livelihood in African cities; ii) the different geographies of such activities within and between urban areas, the proliferation of home-based enterprises in the middle- and professional-clas...

Development Policy Review, 2012

Using data from the Demographic and Health Survey, this article analyses the relationship between... more Using data from the Demographic and Health Survey, this article analyses the relationship between HIV status and the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of adults in Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. It constructs the risk profile of the average adult, computes the values of age, education and wealth where the estimated probability of infection assumes its highest value, and determines the percentage of adults for whom these three factors are positively correlated with that probability. It finds that in all four countries: (i) the probability of being HIV-positive is higher for women than for men; (ii) the likelihood of infection is higher for urban than for rural residents; and (iii) there is an inverted-U relationship between age and HIV status. Also that, unlike gender, rural/urban residence and age, the relationship between the probability of infection and wealth, education and marital status varies by country. The results provide support for country-specific and more targeted HIV policies and programmes.

Development Policy Review, 2006

This paper uses survey data from Ghana to examine whether there are significant differences in th... more This paper uses survey data from Ghana to examine whether there are significant differences in the characteristics of poor and good performing public organizations. The analysis show that good and poor public organizations differ in two respects: remuneration and hiring criteria. We argue that transforming poor performing organizations is more complex than simply addressing these differences-it requires fundamental changes in the cultures of the organization. We make recommendations for designing comprehensive public sector reform strategies that focus on changing organizational cultures of poor performing institutions.

Canadian Journal of African Studies, 1997

The American Review of Public Administration, 2013

The desire to increase domestic revenue mobilization has made tax reform a priority for governmen... more The desire to increase domestic revenue mobilization has made tax reform a priority for governments in many developing countries. Addressing the tax problem, however, is often a complex process that involves reforming the tax system, as well as setting up effective administrative structures to administer that system. Many see the revenue authority (RA) model as the solution to these problems. Developing an RA model in Ghana began in the mid 1980s; it was not, however, fully operational and integrated until 2010. Using social learning theory, we argue that Ghana’s successful readoption of the RA model can be attributed to the lessons learned both in its own first attempts and from the successful tax reform experiences of other countries.

This paper examines whether marriage increases the risk of HIV infection among women aged 15-24 i... more This paper examines whether marriage increases the risk of HIV infection among women aged 15-24 in Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. We fi nd that in all the three countries, the risk of infection is signifi cantly lower for never-married young women than ever-married young women; however, the difference in risk disappears when we control for age, educational attainment, household wealth, and area of residence. Thus, our result highlights the importance of socio-economic and demographic factors in analyzing the link between marital status and HIV risk among young women. Particularly, our fi ndings show that age and education play a crucial role in determining the level of HIV/AIDS risk for young women. The result also implies that marriage as an institution does not necessarily elevate the risk of HIV infection among young women

Local groups are increasingly being promoted as vehicles for effective involvement of community m... more Local groups are increasingly being promoted as vehicles for effective involvement of community members in development initiatives in the Global South, with the expectation of successful and sustained achievements. Previous studies on participation and leadership in groups have yielded mixed results, implying a need for more contextualized and validated assessments. In this study, using 281 household interviews and discussions with 21 farmers' groups in southeast Uganda, we established that group participation was positively associated with age of household head, household size, and proximity to trading and health facilities. Group leadership was positively associated with the educational level of the household head, land size, and non-agricultural sources of income: the latter two indicating wealth of an individual. Implications for development programs and policies included special efforts to support the participation of youth, as well as dedicating extra effort to reach remote households and groups. Regarding leadership, groups were recommended to facilitate the taking up of leadership roles by non-educated members; enable youth to benefit from the government policy of Universal Primary Education; and establish measures to avoid elite capture.

Journal of African Development, 2010

This paper examines whether marriage increases the risk of HIV infection among women aged 15-24 i... more This paper examines whether marriage increases the risk of HIV infection among women aged 15-24 in Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. We find that in all the three countries, the risk of infection is significantly lower for never-married young women than ever-married young women; however, the difference in risk disappears when we control for age, educational attainment, household wealth, and area of residence. Thus, our result highlights the importance of socio-economic and demographic factors in analyzing the link between marital status and HIV risk among young women. Particularly, our findings show that age and education play a crucial role in determining the level of HIV/AIDS risk for young women. The result also implies that marriage as an institution does not necessarily elevate the risk of HIV infection among young women.

The development prospects of any country or region requires a complex interaction of internal and... more The development prospects of any country or region requires a complex interaction of internal and external factors, as well as the availability and optimum combination of necessary and sufficient conditions, specifically human and physical resources. One particular variable and the source of intense interest has been the state of infrastructure, its quality within and beyond the national context. This interest has assumed a particularly significant place in the face of the growing relevance of regionalism in the development prospects of Africa. Indeed, infrastructure is of immense significance to regionalism, especially in the environment of contemporary globalization. Disciplines Architectural History and Criticism | Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis | Historic Preservation and Conservation | Urban, Community and Regional Planning Comments This is an accepted manuscript of a book chapter from Contemporary Regional Development in Africa, 2015.; Chapter 7; 139-158. Pos...

Africa Under Neoliberalism, 2017

In the much of the popular media, the discourse around Africa has changed. Whereas stories of the... more In the much of the popular media, the discourse around Africa has changed. Whereas stories of the "coming anarchy" or the "hopeless continent" abounded a little over a decade ago, it was, until the recent collapse in commodity prices, increasingly seen as the final global investment frontier, with rapid uptake of cellular technology and economic growth. Although much of this growth has been propelled by natural resources, the current conjuncture offers opportunities as well as challenges for African urban areas and raises questions about the role of cities in the continent's future development as they continue to become more deeply informalised. The response of many city authorities to the deepening informalisation of their economies has been to try to connect to the global economy in new ways, through the creation of new financial service, high-tech and elite residential areas. In this paper we explore these developments through the Foucaudian lens of heterotopia. These new developments attempt to erase their associations with the cities from which they originate in favour of new connections outwards. However the creation of these new enclaves is filled with socio-spatial contradictions, which make them unlikely to achieve their ostensible objectives.

Africa Today, 2019

Globalization is one of the most important socioeconomic processes of recent decades, but it has ... more Globalization is one of the most important socioeconomic processes of recent decades, but it has elicited a reactionary backlash in some countries, leading to calls for reform. President Trump's rise to power in the United States and his determination to rewrite his country's involvement in globalization have brought substantial changes to foreign policy, including the US-Africa relationship. His administration's policies appear undeveloped, but we can determine distinct trends and tendencies. This article examines the effects of these policies on Africa to argue that they go beyond a return to the benign neglect shown by many US presidents before the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, to include a malign governmental gaze, exemplifying a retreat from US global hegemony through selective delinking in aid, and manifesting economic and security interests in Africa in particularly detrimental ways.

Community Development Journal, 2015

Mutual learning in international development partnerships, especially learning by the developed c... more Mutual learning in international development partnerships, especially learning by the developed country, helping partners, is not well understood, despite convincing arguments supporting the possibility and desirability of such learning. This research explores the process of learning and its relationship to power in the 'Bridging the Gap' project, an international agricultural development partnership in which Iowan farmers were the helping partners and Ugandan farmers were the benefi y partners. Data were collected through semistructured interviews of twenty-eight Ugandan farmers, seven Iowan farmers, and four programme staff and were analysed using a grounded-theory based approach. The results showed that both Ugandan and Iowan farmers learned through the project. Learning by members of both groups included ordinary learning, which helped them achieve their pre-existing goals, and transformational learning, which shifted their frames of reference and the goals and power relations embedded therein. The greater power of the Iowan farmers however presented some cognitive barriers to their learning from the Ugandan farmers. These power differences reduced slightly over time as both groups of farmers learned from each other, particularly when both groups recognized that the Iowan farmers could and did learn from the Ugandan farmers. The experiences of farmers involved in this project are consistent with the arguments that power presents barriers to learning and that learning by the helping partner can reduce power differences in international development partnerships. Comments This article is published as Learning and power in international development partnerships: a case study of Iowan farmers in Uganda, Community Development Journal (co-author Stephen Lauer): 2016. 10.1093/ cdj/bsv041. Posted with permission.

Local groups are increasingly being promoted as vehicles for effective involvement of community m... more Local groups are increasingly being promoted as vehicles for effective involvement of community members in development initiatives in the Global South, with the expectation of successful and sustained achievements. Previous studies on participation and leadership in groups have yielded mixed results, implying a need for more contextualized and validated assessments. In this study, using 281 household interviews and discussions with 21 farmers’ groups in southeast Uganda, we established that group participation was positively associated with age of household head, household size, and proximity to trading and health facilities. Group leadership was positively associated with the educational level of the household head, land size, and non-agricultural sources of income: the latter two indicating wealth of an individual. Implications for development programs and policies included special efforts to support the participation of youth, as well as dedicating extra effort to reach remote ho...

International Journal of Leadership in Education, 2015

This study explores the meaning and competencies of 'research leadership' in the African context ... more This study explores the meaning and competencies of 'research leadership' in the African context and investigates strategies for developing it. Data for the study were gathered through an online survey that targeted recipients of research grants/support from key research funders to selected African institutions. The recipients of these grants were either research leaders or team members. The study employs a mixed methodology approach with empirical data drawn from focus group discussions and online surveys of English-speaking research leaders and research teams whose research work was supported by the selected funding institutions. In line with literature of leadership styles in Africa, our results suggest that preferred research leadership style for African researchers is different in some ways, especially with its attention to the 'human touch'. Respondents preferred 'people/relationship orientated', 'task-orientated' and 'democratic/ participative' styles of leadership, all of which have strong elements of Ubuntu (humaneness). The study also showed that leadership development for many in Africa involves mostly 'learning by doing' and informal mentoring, and less formal training opportunities. We explore policy implications of our findings with reference to research leadership development in African institutions, paying particular attention to challenges faced by female research leaders, and stress that research leadership development in Africa must be seen as a long-term and continuous activity and calls for more formal leadership development opportunities to complement the existing informal approaches. Disciplines

Political Geography, 2007

For the first time since the era of the slave trade, African trade is arguably reorienting from t... more For the first time since the era of the slave trade, African trade is arguably reorienting from the â€oeGlobal North†to the â€oeGlobal East.†Chinese investment and trade with Africa is rising quickly. At the same time, the U.S. has increased its strategic engagement with Africa very significantly since the terrorist attacks of 2001. As a Previous Previous article Next Next article Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution.

Managing Africa's Natural Resources

Issues of Taxation in the Oil and Gas Sector in Selected Countries: Lessons for Ghana undertakes ... more Issues of Taxation in the Oil and Gas Sector in Selected Countries: Lessons for Ghana undertakes a review of petroleum taxation in selected countries around the world and seeks to fashion a way for Ghana's infantile petroleum industry. In other words, the study seeks to facilitate a smooth tax regime and policy for Ghana. The study is based on literature arising from desk research as well as through telephone interviews. Petroleum taxation regimes of the countries under study portend to mitigate the current inconsistencies and resulting contentions from tax payers in Ghana.

The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien, 2001

Many African countries experienced economic crisis in the 1970s and are currently restructuring t... more Many African countries experienced economic crisis in the 1970s and are currently restructuring their economies under the tutelage of the World Bank and the IMF. The restructuring process has had pervasive effects on the livelihood strategies of many people, as their established means of income generation have been disrupted. While survival of the urban poor has been studied, little is known of strategies of other social groups. Using Ghana as a case study, I argue that although urban poverty predates the implementation of structural adjustment program (SAP), the policies have created a favorable environment for the intensification of multiple livelihood strategies among of salaried employees. The paper finds that multiple livelihood strategies are practiced by a large number of salaried employees, but their involvement depends on many factors, including individual, family and household characteristics; access to capital and resources; opportunities offered by the urban economy; and the nature of formal employment. Key words-Economic reforms, African urban economies, multiple modes of livelihood typically focused on the urban poor 1 and their desperate attempt to survive through the so-called informal sector. Emphasis on the poor has led to the use of 'survival strategies' to describe responses to economic crisis (Pellow and Chazan 1986; Yeboah, 1997). But as Redclift (1986) argues, strategic responses to economic change are not limited to the poor; many other social groups are also involved. The use of the term 'survival strategy' precludes the possibility that the strategies may in fact be a means of accumulation. This paper employs 'livelihood strategies' as a framework to capture all responses to economic change, including those meant to ensure survival as well as those employed to accumulate resources. Using the concept of multiple modes of livelihood (MML), this paper examines the livelihood strategies of salaried employees. 2 The purpose is to demonstrate that people of diverse backgrounds employ multiple livelihood strategies both as survival and accumulation strategies. It also highlights the magnitude and complexity of livelihood strategies, as well as factors influencing participation in such strategies. The remainder of the paper is divided into six sections. The next section conceptualizes the relationship between economic decline, urban poverty and the proliferation of multiple livelihood strategies. The subsequent four sections provide brief descriptions of the sources of data and the case study areas, estimate the magnitude of multiple livelihood strategies, examine the nature of MML activities, and discuss the general correlates of MML participation. The final section addresses the policy and theoretical implications of the study. Urban Impoverishment and Multiple Modes of Livelihood: Exploring the Connections Many Africa economies experienced severe economic crisis in the 1970s and early 1980s. A series of external economic shocks, domestic policy mismanagement, political instability and corruption plagued the economies and brought them to the verge of collapse (World Bank 1981; IMF 1989; Jespersen 1992). The urban areas experienced rapid growth characterized by unemployment and underemployment, and a fall in real income that wiped out the colonial legacy of high wage economies (Weeks, 1971). In Uganda, for instance, "the minimum wage fell to 10 to 15 percent of its 1972 value in the 1980s and the monthly wage would have brought no more than a week's supply of food" (Jamal and Weeks 1993, 37-38). Regrettably, the World Bank-and the International Monetary Fund-supported structural adjustment programs (SAPs)

Public Administration and Development, 2005

The public sector in Africa is riddled with widespread ineffectiveness. Although some countries h... more The public sector in Africa is riddled with widespread ineffectiveness. Although some countries have implement various reform programs with the support of international development agencies, the results so far have been disappointing. One reason for the failure is that, the policies have focussed more on achieving macroeconomic stability than making the organizations effective. This paper explores a fundamental problem of the policies-the need to focus on the human component of organizational performance. Using education and health organizations in Ghana as examples, the paper advances a hypothesis that the livelihood strategies of public sector employees and the performance of their organizations are interconnected. Specifically, it is argued that as public sector employees have become more dependent on multiple sources of income, they have developed multiple social identities, which influences the culture of their organizations. The organizational culture may have encouraged employee effectiveness in some cases, but for most organizations, it has resulted in practices that perpetuate inefficiency and poor performance. To be successful therefore, public sector reform policies must involve deliberate efforts to change organizational cultures.

Progress in Development Studies, 2012

This special issue attempts to further a line of critical inquiry in African politics, administra... more This special issue attempts to further a line of critical inquiry in African politics, administration and development discourse, which we refer to here as the 'posts'. In our terminology, the 'posts' constitute a body of narratives, which critique the heterogeneous assortment of orthodoxies in the mainstream African development discourse. The 'posts' , although part of the mainstream thinking, interrogate themes within that discourse for their disingenuous intellectual and policy approaches to African problems (see Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1999 for a general discussion of the subject). The 'posts' charge that mainstream discourses, far from being beacons of enlightenment about Africa, often reflect a broad intellectual inertia, manifested in failed policies to address poverty-alleviation, the region's main development challenge.

Progress in Development Studies, 2012

Reforming Africa’s public sector has been on the agenda of African governments and their developm... more Reforming Africa’s public sector has been on the agenda of African governments and their development partners for decades and yet the problem persists. This failure can be attributed to two related factors: solutions to the ‘African public sector problem’ have been dictated by external interests, and the policies have ignored the experiences of organizations within those countries. This article contributes to the search for effective reform policies by making the case for inclusion of the experiences of organizations within each country. Using the concept of organizational culture as a framework, I propose an approach based on the following claims: In every country there are some public organizations that perform relatively well, given their constraints; there is the need to understand why and how there are poor and good performing organizations within the same country; and information from such analysis should form the basis of public sector reform policies. The applicability of th...

Journal of Planning Education and Research, 2007

The usefulness of the informal sector and the survival strategies approaches for understanding Af... more The usefulness of the informal sector and the survival strategies approaches for understanding African urban economies has been undermined by the transformations in urban livelihood strategies brought about by the continent's economic crises and neoliberal economic reform policies. Contemporary livelihood strategies in many African cities involve participation in multiple economic activities, usually in both the formal and informal sectors. This paper proposes the “multiple modes of livelihood” (MML) approach as a framework for capturing this emerging livelihood strategy and presents evidence to show the magnitude of the strategy and the kind of activities undertaken. Development and planning implications of this strategy include the following: i) planning theories must reflect the changing livelihood in African cities; ii) the different geographies of such activities within and between urban areas, the proliferation of home-based enterprises in the middle- and professional-clas...

Development Policy Review, 2012

Using data from the Demographic and Health Survey, this article analyses the relationship between... more Using data from the Demographic and Health Survey, this article analyses the relationship between HIV status and the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of adults in Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. It constructs the risk profile of the average adult, computes the values of age, education and wealth where the estimated probability of infection assumes its highest value, and determines the percentage of adults for whom these three factors are positively correlated with that probability. It finds that in all four countries: (i) the probability of being HIV-positive is higher for women than for men; (ii) the likelihood of infection is higher for urban than for rural residents; and (iii) there is an inverted-U relationship between age and HIV status. Also that, unlike gender, rural/urban residence and age, the relationship between the probability of infection and wealth, education and marital status varies by country. The results provide support for country-specific and more targeted HIV policies and programmes.

Development Policy Review, 2006

This paper uses survey data from Ghana to examine whether there are significant differences in th... more This paper uses survey data from Ghana to examine whether there are significant differences in the characteristics of poor and good performing public organizations. The analysis show that good and poor public organizations differ in two respects: remuneration and hiring criteria. We argue that transforming poor performing organizations is more complex than simply addressing these differences-it requires fundamental changes in the cultures of the organization. We make recommendations for designing comprehensive public sector reform strategies that focus on changing organizational cultures of poor performing institutions.

Canadian Journal of African Studies, 1997

The American Review of Public Administration, 2013

The desire to increase domestic revenue mobilization has made tax reform a priority for governmen... more The desire to increase domestic revenue mobilization has made tax reform a priority for governments in many developing countries. Addressing the tax problem, however, is often a complex process that involves reforming the tax system, as well as setting up effective administrative structures to administer that system. Many see the revenue authority (RA) model as the solution to these problems. Developing an RA model in Ghana began in the mid 1980s; it was not, however, fully operational and integrated until 2010. Using social learning theory, we argue that Ghana’s successful readoption of the RA model can be attributed to the lessons learned both in its own first attempts and from the successful tax reform experiences of other countries.