Professor Tarp has four decades of experience in academic and applied development economics research and teaching. His field experience covers more than two decades of in-country work in 35 countries across Africa and the developing world more...
This project aims to define some of the key constraints facing African economies as they attempt to maintain a long-run economic growth and development trajectory. The work will provide the analytical basis for policy recommendations and value-added guidance to domestic policymakers in the fast-growing economies of Africa, as well as for the broader global community interested in the development of the region.
The project will also offer a set of common lessons, from which the next generation of high-growth African economies could potentially learn. Despite a general view that Sub-Saharan Africa is the last great untapped market, ripe for rapid growth and development, there is very little research on the relationship between economic growth and employment outcomes at the country level. Hence, the extent to which this notion of a mass consumer market on the continent needs to be realized ex ante through the creation of a significant number of jobs – is arguably absent in the current research agenda on Africa.
A better understanding of the structure of each country’s workforce and the implications it has for human capital development, the vulnerably employed and the working poor is critical to informing the future development policy agenda, and is thus the focus of the individual country studies presented in this project.
This is part of the 'Macro-economic management (M-EM)' project.
Team
Focal point: Finn Tarp
Assistant: Charlie Ovink
Communications: Annett Victorero
In partnership
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Book
Africa's LionsExamining the economic forces that will shape Africa’s future Africa’s Lions examines the economic growth experiences of six fast-growing and/or economically dominant African countries. Expert African researchers offer unique perspectives into the...
Blog
African Lions - Tapping the potential of Kenya's economic growthFrom 2000-2014, like many other sub-Saharan African countries, Kenya experienced high growth, at an average of 4.37 percent. Unfortunately, the 2007...
Blog
African Lions - Ghana's job creation successes and obstaclesOver the past two decades, Ghana’s economy experienced an average annual growth rate of 5.8 percent, and became a low-middle income country in 2007...
Research Brief
Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South AfricaWhile South Africa’s democratic transition precipitated a period of growth, this growth was not inclusive and both poverty and inequality remain high A significant trend in the South African labour market has been the rising share of workers in the...
Blog
African Lions - Unpacking labor trends and growth in MozambiqueMozambique, over the last two decades, has experienced explosive growth, with an average GDP growth rate of almost 8 percent between 1997-2015. Not...
Blog
African Lions - Nigeria's jobless growthNigeria, sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, has recorded high growth in recent years. Indeed, real GDP growth rate was 6...
Working Paper
Ethiopia – an agrarian economy in transitionEthiopia has experienced rapid economic growth since 2005. Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an average rate of 10.5 per cent per annum for the period between 2004–05 and 2013–14. Public investment in key infrastructure and interventions in...
Working Paper
Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South AfricaThis paper looks to uncover the growth traps and opportunities for the South African economy, with a focus on underlying labour market dynamics. We explore the potential of South Africa’s demographic dividend. We also consider the structure of the...
Working Paper
Understanding Ghana’s growth success story and job creation challengesGhana’s status as one of the African Lions is linked to the country’s remarkable growth performance, which culminated in the attainment of lower middle-income status. However, employment response to growth has been weak. Additionally, growth has been...
Working Paper
The African LionsThis paper mainly analyses the drivers of economic growth in Kenya and the linkages to the labour market dynamics, with a focus on population growth, its structure, and the prospects of reaping a demographic dividend. This is in recognition that...
Working Paper
Understanding the relationship between growth and employment in NigeriaThis study examines the relationship between growth and employment in Nigeria to gain insights into the country's paradox of high economic growth alongside rising poverty and inequality. The methodology adopted is the Shapley decomposition approach...
Working Paper
Understanding Mozambique’s growth experience through an employment lensOver the past twenty years, Mozambique has achieved remarkable progress in promoting macroeconomic growth and stability. Nonetheless, poverty rates remain high and labour market activity is dominated by smallholder farming. We use recent household...
Context
Main subject
Theme: 2014-18, Transformation